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'''Ehud''' was one of the [[Old Testament]] Israelite judges. He was the son of [[Gera the Benjaminite]]. After the Israelites did evil, [[Yahweh|the LORD]] allowed [[Eglon]], the king of [[Moab]], to conquer them. When the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance, God used Ehud to kill Eglon, and to defeat Moab. Ehud was noted in the [[Bible]] as being [[left-handed]]. The record of Ehud is in Judges 3: 12-30<ref>http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Judges%203:12-30&version=31;&interface=print [[New International Version]]</ref>.
'''Ehud''' ([[Hebrew]] '''אֵה֜וּד''', united, from '''אֵה֜ד''' ''echad'' one) (fl. 2662 AM–2724 AM) (fl. 1343/2 BC–1281/0 BC)<ref name=Jones>Jones, Floyd M., ''The Chronology of the Old Testament'', Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2004, p. 278</ref> was the fourth [[Judge]] of [[Israel]], and the one who perhaps had the longest career.
== Ancestry ==
The [[Bible]] says nothing of Ehud's ancestry, except the name of his father (Gera) and his tribe ([[Benjamin (tribe)|Benjamin]]).
== Career ==
In 2644 AM (on or about 1360 BC), King [[Eglon]] of [[Moab]] amassed a coalition force of Moabites, [[Ammon]]ites, and [[Amalek]]ites, and conquered Israel. He occupied the "city of palm trees," which some commentators identify as [[Jericho]]. For eighteen years he exacted an annual tribute from Israel.<ref name=Reid>Reid, David R., "[http://www.growingchristians.org/dfgc/ehud.htm Ehud and Eglon]," ''Devotions for Growing Christians'', n.d. Accessed December 15, 2008</ref><ref name=Konig>Konig, George, "[http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/p254.htm Ehud]," AboutBibleProphecy.com, n.d. Accessed December 15, 2008.</ref><ref name=Cox>Cox, Ken, "[http://www.hevanet.com/kort/SWORD1.HTM The Sword of Ehud]," n.d. Accessed December 15, 2008.</ref><ref name=Blank>Blank, Wayne, "[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2006/20061126.htm Ehud]," ''Daily Bible Study'', n.d. Accessed December 15, 2008.</ref><ref name=Britannica>"Ehud." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 15 December 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/180903/Ehud>.</ref><ref name=Easton>Easton, Matthew George. "Entry for Ehud". "Easton's Bible Dictionary". <http://www.biblestudytools.net/Dictionaries/EastonBibleDictionary/ebd.cgi?number=T1138>.</ref><ref name=Jastrow>Jastrow M, Mendelsohn CJ, and Barton GA, "[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=78&letter=E Ehud]," ''The Jewish Encyclopedia,'' n.d. Accessed December 15, 2008.</ref>
Then in 2662 AM, Ehud was chosen to carry the annual tribute to Eglon's stronghold. Eglon used this assignment as an opportunity to assassinate Eglon. Ehud had an additional advantage over most men: he was [[left-handed]], and so most men would not think to watch his actual weapon hand.<ref name=Reid/>
Ehud made for himself a double-edge sword one cubit long, and strapped it to his right thigh. Then, when he came to deliver the tribute, he said to Eglon that he had a private message for him. Eglon suspected nothing, and dismissed everyone else so that he could talk to Ehud alone. When he was alone with the king, Ehud told him, "It is a message from God." Then he reached under his cloak, drew his sword, and drove it into Eglon's abdomen.
Eglon was morbidly obese, and the flesh folded over the hilt of the sword after Ehud had thrust it.<ref name=Konig/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Blank/><ref name=Britannica/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=Jastrow/> The sword made an exit wound in Eglon's back, and from the description given in the Bible of what happened to Eglon, one may infer that the sword opened his large intestine.<ref name=Reid/>
Ehud escaped from the palace and was well away before the royal guards discovered the murder. Then he traveled into the hill country in [[Ephraim (tribe)|Ephraimite]] territory and recruited an army. This army rode out of the hills with Ehud in command, and secured the fords of the [[Jordan River]] opposite the land of [[Moab]]. A Moabite force of ten thousand men tried to dislodge them, and the Israelites killed them all.<ref name=Reid/><ref name=Konig/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Blank/><ref name=Britannica/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=Jastrow/>
Thereafter Ehud administered justice in Israel for sixty-two years, so that the total length of his story is eighty years. ({{Bible ref|book=Judges|chap=3|verses=12-30}})
== Commentary ==
Ehud's story is rich in symbolism. His name, meaning "united," speaks of believers united for a common purpose. [[Jericho]], a city that Israel had gained and then lost, is the result of a retreat from faith. Ehud's assignment represents an opportunity that any [[Christian]] might have to preach the Gospel, and his left-handedness, a common ground for discrimination, represents any problem that a Christian might turn to his advantage in advancing the faith. Eglon's excessive flesh represents flesh as a metaphor for sin, and excess as an inherent risk. Ehud's sword is a metaphor for the Word of God, which is often described as sharper than any two-edged sword.<ref name=Reid/>
Concerning the sword that Ehud used, at least one commentator familiar with the making and balancing of bladed weapons suggests that Ehud's sword had a ratio of hilt to blade of 1:1.618, i.e. the [[Golden ratio]], and would thus have had an ideal balance for a quick draw and thrust.<ref name=Cox/>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== See also ==
* [[Israel]]
{{nb Judges}}
{{nb Judges}}
[[Category:Biblical Persons]]
[[Category:Biblical Persons]]
[[Category:Jewish People]]
[[Category:Biblical Military Commanders]]
[[Category:Judges]]