Ehud
c. 1300 BC· In the text
Placed by the story. The date is a rough guide. How the dates are worked out
uncertain — traditionally "united" · Hebrew
Lexicons do not agree on the derivation.
Son of Gera, a Benjamite and a left-handed man, raised up by the Lord as a deliverer after Israel had served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. Ehud made a two-edged blade and wore it under his clothes on his right thigh. Israel sent him to Eglon with a present, which some translations call tribute. He sent the bearers away and turned back. Alone with the king in his room, he said he had a message from God, drew the blade with his left hand and killed him. He locked the doors, escaped, and led Israel to take the fords of the Jordan. For eighty years the land had rest.
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