Judges 3:12-30
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms. So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years. But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab. Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length; and he fastened it on his right thigh under his clothes. Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way. But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, ‘I have a secret message for you, O king.’ So the king said, ‘Silence!’ and all his attendants went out from his presence. Ehud came to him, while he was sitting alone in his cool roof-chamber, and said, ‘I have a message from God for you.’ So he rose from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’s belly; the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dirt came out. Then Ehud went out into the vestibule, and closed the doors of the roof-chamber on him, and locked them. After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof-chamber were locked, they thought, ‘He must be relieving himself in the cool chamber.’ So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not open the doors of the roof-chamber, they took the key and opened them. There was their lord lying dead on the floor. Ehud escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. He said to them, ‘Follow after me; for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.’ So they went down after him, and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and allowed no one to cross over. At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
Reflection
Once again Israel sins and God strengthens King Eglon of Moab, who crosses the Jordan from the east and captures Jericho (the city of palms), ruling over God’s people for eighteen years.
When Israel cries for help Ehud, from the tribe of Benjamin, is raised up as the deliverer; but the other elements of the paradigm are absent here. Surprisingly, after a massacre of the Moabites the land rests for 80 years. God isn’t overtly involved in the substance of this story, even though Ehud claims that God will give the victory when he enlists the support of his neighbouring Ephraimites.
Written in very coarse language, this is a bawdy tale that ridicules the Moabite Eglon, (whose name means ‘little calf’) as being fatted and ready for slaughter. His servants imagine he’s spending a long time in the loo, while his assassin escapes. Ehud (a name derived from a word associated with divine splendour), is presented as a left-handed trickster rather than an obedient servant of God. No rationale is given for Ehud’s massacre of the Moabites who, without their king, were no longer a threat to Israel. It is important to note that Ehud doesn’t go on to ‘judge’ Israel and his death is only mentioned in retrospect in 4:1.
The core story is probably an ancient folk tale intended to entertain groups gathered round campfires on dark evenings (akin to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). It features Moab, Israel’s traditional enemy (Gen.19:37; Num.25:1-5; Deut.23:3 etc) and presents a Benjaminite (the tribal roots of King Saul) as a hot-headed, unreliable leader.
The author of Judges incorporates this tale to show, from the outset, that ‘deliverers’ are not going to be obedient, effective leaders of God’s people. Its protagonist, Ehud, prepares us for more negative stories about Benjamin in chapters 19-21; he’s not someone we are invited to emulate.
This story might entertain, or disgust us; but it’s part of scripture that reveals many aspects of human nature and what can happen if we forget about God.
Prayer
Holy God,
it is hard to live as your faithful people
in our troubled world.
Sometimes we find ourselves
condoning the actions of unsavoury leaders;
sometimes we expect too much
of leaders who are only human, just like us.
Sometimes we characterise whole groups of people
as enemies and struggle to follow your command to love.
Help us to keep our eyes focused on Jesus
and to walk in his footsteps. Amen