Judges 3:19-24
Judges 3:19
But
he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have
a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by
him went out from him.
Ehud
had left with the men who carried the gift but while he was at the quarries in
Gilgal he once again turned back to see the king.
The quarries were a place where graven images were carved out of rock.
Ehud had put the king at ease since he gained easy access to him.
He approached him and told him that he had secret business for the king
and that is when the king had ordered his subjects to leave the room and they
were to keep silent about the matter.
Judges 3:20
And
Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for
himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose
out of his seat.
The
summer parlour here was probably an upper chamber or a roof chamber where it was
cooler because of the breeze. This
was a private chamber that only the king had access to. Then Ehud proceeds to
tell Eglon that he has a message for him from God.
At that time Ehud had rose from where he was sitting.
This thing came from the Lord because it was definitely the beginning of
the delivery of the Israelites.
Judges 3:21
And
Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and
thrust it
into
his belly:
Now
Ehud had his chance as he took the dagger from under his clothing and now he
thrust it into the belly of Eglon.
The entrance point would have been below the Solar Plexis.
Judges 3:22
And
the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so
that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out.
Eglon
was so fat that when Ehud plunged the dagger into him, the handle had also gone
into the belly. The “haft” actually
means “that which is held,” it is the part of an instrument that is held in the
hand. The man was so fat that it
was packed very heavily to the point that the dagger could not be pulled out of
the belly and as a result of him plunging in the way that he did, all the kings
dirt had come out of his body. The
word behind “dirt” in the Hebrew carries with it the meaning of “feces.”
When the dagger went in, it must have penetrated his colon and as a
result all his feces came out.
Judges 3:23
Then
Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him,
and locked them.
Then
Ehud had made his escape through the porch and when he was out he had shut the
doors of the parlour behind him and locked them so no one could get in for a
while thus covering his exit. The
porch may have been the place where people waited to be admitted to see the
king, which was like a waiting room.
The early oriental locks were constructed of wooden slide which went from
side to side and placed with a string.
The slide also had teeth or catches to allow the door to be opened a
little bit while it was still locked.
Judges 3:24
When
he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of
the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer
chamber.