Difference between revisions of "Ehud"

<li> The son of Gera, of the tribe of [[Benjamin]] (Judges 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" (Judges 3:12-30 ). (See QUARRIES [2].) But in the south-west the [[Philistines]] reduced the [[Israelites]] to great straits (Judges 5:6 ). From this oppression [[Shamgar]] was raised up to be their deliverer. <div> <p> [[Copyright]] StatementThese dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated [[Bible]] Dictionary, [[Third]] Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. Entry for 'Ehud'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/e/ehud.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> (Hebrews Ehud', אֵהוּד, union), the name of two or three Benjamites, and apparently hereditary in that tribe, like [[Gera]] (q.v.). </p> <p> 1. (Sept. ῎Ωδ v.r. Ἀώδ ; Vulg. Ahod.) A descendant of Benjamin, progenitor of one of the clans of [[Geba]] that removed to [[Manahath]] (1 Chronicles 13:10). The name is there written אֵהוּד, Echud', either for אֵהוּד as above, or altogether erroneously for אֵחַי, Echi. i.e. EHI (See [[Ehi]]) (q.v.), the grandson of Benjamin, which appears in the parallel list of [[Genesis]] 46:21, and as a son of [[Belah]] according to the Sept. version of that passage. He seems to be the same as AHI-RAM, אֲחַירָם, in the list in Numbers 26:38, and, if so; [[Ahiram]] is probably the right name, as the family were called Ahiramites. In 1 Chronicles 8:1, the same person seems to be called אֵחְרִח, AHARAH, and perhaps also אֲחוֹחִ, AHOAH, in 1 Chronicles 8:4 (Sept. Ἀχιά, and in Cod. Vatic. Ἀχιράν ), אֲחַיָּה (Ἀχιά ), Ahiah, 1 Chronicles 8:7, and אִחֵר (Ἀᾠρ ), Aher, 1 Chronicles 7:12. (See [[Shaharaim]]). These fluctuations in the orthography seem to indicate that the original copies were partly effaced by time or injury. (See [[Becher]]);(See [[Chronicles]]). </p> <p> 2. (Sept. Ἀμείδ v. r. Ἀώθ; Vulg. Aod.) The third named of the seven sons of Bilhan, the son of Jediael, and grandson of the patriarch [[Jacob]] (1 Chronicles 7:10). B.C. post 1856. </p> <p> 3. (Sept. Ἀώδ; Vulg. Aod; [[Josephus]] ᾿Ηούδης .) The son of Gera (there were three others of this name, Genesis 46:21; 2 Samuel 16:5; 2 Samuel 1 Chronicles 8:3), of the tribe of [[Benjamin]] (Judges 3:16, marg. "son of Jemini," but vid. Gesenius, Lex. sub v. בַּנְיָמַין ), the second judge of the Israelites, or, rather, of that part of [[Israel]] which he delivered from the dominion of the [[Moabites]] by the assassination of their king Eglon. These were the tribes beyond the Jordan, and the southern tribes on this side the river. In the [[Bible]] he is not called a judge, but a deliverer (i.e.); so [[Othniel]] (Judges 3:9), and all the judges (Nehemiah 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. (See [[Eglon]]). In Josephus he appears as a young man (νεανίας). He was very strong, and left-handed. So A.V.; but the more literal rendering is, as in the margin, "shut of his right hand." The words are differently rendered: 1. left- handed, and unable to use his right; 2. using his left hand as readily as his right. For 1. Targum, Josephus, Syr. (impotem), Arab. (aridum), and [[Jewish]] writers generally; Cajet., Buxtorf, Parkh., Gesen. (impeditus): derivation of אַטֵר from אָטִר, the latter only in Psalms 69:16, where it = to shut. For 2. Sept. (ἀμφιδέξιος ), Vulg. (qui utraque manu pro dextran utebatur), Corn. a Lap., Bonfrer., [[Patrick]] (comp. περιδέξιος, Hom. II. 21:163; Hipp. Aph. 7, 43); Judges 20:16, sole recurrence of the phrase, applied to 700 Benjamites, the picked men of the army, who were not likely to be chosen for a physical defect. As regards Psalms 69:16, it is urged that אָטִר may = corono = aperio; hence אַטֵר = apertus = expeditus, q.d. expedita dextra; or if "clausus," clausus dextr = cinctus dextra = περιδέξιος, ambidexter (vid. Poli Syn.). The feint of drawing the dagger from the right thigh (Judges 3:21) is consistent with either opinion. (See [[Ambidexter]]). </p> <p> [[Ehud]] obtained access to [[Eglon]] as the bearer of tribute from the subjugated tribes, and being left-handed, or, rather, ambidextrous, he was enabled to use with a sure and fatal aim a dagger concealed under a part of his dress, where it was unsuspected, because it would there have been useless to a person employing his right hand. The circumstances attending this tragical event are somewhat differently given in Judges and in Josephus (see Winkler, Unters. Schurer Schriftst. 1:45 sq.; Redslob, in the Studien v. Krit. 9:912 sq.; Ewald, Isr. Gesch. 2:375 sq.). That Ehud had the entree of the palace is implied in Judges 3:19), but more distinctly stated in Josephus. In Judges the [[Israelites]] send a present by Ehud (Judges 3:15); in Josephus. Ehud wins his favor by repeated presents of his own. Josephus represents this intimacy as having been of long continuance; but in Judges we find no mention of intimacy, and only one occasion of a present being made, viz., that which immediately preceded the death of Eglon. In Judges we have two scenes, the offering of the present and the death scene, which are separated by the temporary withdrawal of Ehud (Judges 3:18-19); in Josephus there is but one scene. The present is offered, the attendants are dismissed, and the king enters into friendly conversation (ὁμιλίαν ) with Ehud. In Judges the place seems to change from the reception-room into the "summer-parlor," where Ehud found him upon his return (comp. Judges 3:18; Judges 3:20). In Josephus the entire action takes place in the summer-parlor (δωμάτιον ). In Judges the king exposes himself to the dagger by rising apparently in respect for the divine message which Ehud professed to communicate (Patrick, ad loc.); in Josephus it is a dream which Ehud pretends to reveal, and the king, in delighted anticipation, springs up from his throne. The obesity of Eglon, and the consequent impossibility of recovering the dagger, are not mentioned by Josephus (vid. Judges 3:17, fat, ἀστεῖος, Sept.; but "crassus," Vulg., and so Gesenius, Lex.). The "quarries that were by Gilgal," to which Ehud retired in the interval between the two interviews (Judges 3:19), are rendered in the margin better, as in Deuteronomy 7:25, "graven images" (Patrick, ad loc.; comp. Gesen. Heb. Lex. s.v. פְּסַילַים ). (See [[Eglon]]). </p> <p> After this desperate achievement Ehud repaired to [[Seirah]] (improp. Seirath; see Gesen. Lex. s.v.), in the mountains of [[Ephraim]] (3:26, 27), or Mount Ephraim (Joshua 19:50). To this wild central region, commanding, as it did, the plains east and west, he summoned the Israelites by sound of horn (a national custom according to Josephus; A.V. "a trumpet"). Descending from the hills they fell upon the Moabites, dismayed and demoralized by the death of their king (Josephus, not Judges). The greater number were killed at once, but 10,000 men made for the [[Jordan]] with the view of crossing into their own country. The Israelites, however, had already seized the fords, and not one of the unhappy fugitives escaped. As a reward for his conduct Ehud was appointed judge (Josephus, not Judges). The Israelites continued to enjoy for eighty years (B.C. 1509-1430) the independence obtained through this deed of Ehud (Judges 3:15-30). (See [[Judges]]). </p>