ehud Summary and Overview

union. (1.) A descendant of Benjamin (1 Chr. 7:10), his great-grandson. (2.) The son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. 3:15). After the death of Othniel the people again fell into idolatry, and Eglon, the king of Moab, uniting his bands with those of the Ammonites and the Amalekites, crossed the Jordan and took the city of Jericho, and for eighteen years held that whole district in subjection, exacting from it an annual tribute. At length Ehud, by a stratagem, put Eglon to death with a two-edged dagger a cubit long, and routed the Moabites at the fords of the Jordan, putting 10,000 of them to death. Thenceforward the land, at least Benjamin, enjoyed rest "for fourscore years" (Judg. 3:12-30). (See QUARRIES T0003032 [2].) But in the south-west the Philistines reduced the Israelites to great straits (Judg. 5:6). From this oppression Shamgar was raised up to be their deliverer.

(union). 1. Ehud son of Bilhah, and great-grandson of Benjamin the patriarch. #1Ch 7:10; 8:6| 2. Ehud son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin, #Jud 3:15| the second judge of the Israelites. (B.C. about 1370.) In the Bible he is not called a judge, but a deliverer (l.c.): so Othniel, #Jud 3:9| and all the Judges. #Ne 9:27| As a Benjamite he was specially chosen to destroy Eglon, who had established himself in Jericho, which was included in the boundaries of that tribe. He was very strong, and left-handed. [EGLON]

E'HUD (union). 1. A great-grandson of Benjamin. 1 Chr 7:18; 1 Chr 8:6. 2. A son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin, who delivered the Israelites from the oppression which they suffered under Eglon, king of Moab. Jud 3:15. The Israelites sent Ehud to pay some tax or tribute to Eglon as a token of their allegiance. Under the pretence that he had some secret message to the king, he obtained a private audience; and while they were together, Ehud drew a dagger which he had made expressly for the purpose, and gave him a mortal wound. The custom of delivering confidential messages in secret appears to have been so common that the attendants of Eglon left his presence as soon as Ehud's wish was known. Such is the custom in Eastern courts at this day; as soon as a confidential message is announced the audience-chamber is cleared of all but the messenger. Ehud fled toward Mount Ephraim; and summoning the oppressed Israelites to his help, they secured the fords of the Jordan, so that the Moabites, by whom their land was garrisoned, might not escape. As soon as he had collected a sufficient force he fell upon the Moabites, and cut them off in every direction. "And the land had rest fourscore years." Jud 3:26-30.

(See EGLON.) An hereditary name in Benjamin (1 Chronicles 7:10; 1 Chronicles 8:6). The second of the judges was son of Gera, also an hereditary name in Benjamin (Genesis 46:21; 2 Samuel 16:5; 1 Chronicles 8:3). Israel's "deliverer," under God, from the Moabite Eglon who had crossed the Jordan westward, and seized Jericho, in Ehud's tribe, Benjamin (Judges 3:9; Judges 3:12-30; Nehemiah 9:27, "saviors".) He could use his left hand as readily as his right hand (Judges 20:16). "He made him" a dagger; for, as under the Philistines (1 Samuel 13:19) so now under Moab the making of iron weapons publicly was forbidden. He girt on" his right thigh" where its presence would never be suspected, the left being the sword side and where to his left hand it would be most convenient. He may have been one of the 600 left-handed slingers who escaped to the Rock Rimmon just thirteen years before.