Underrated Bible stories #5: Lefty kills Fatty (Ehud & Eglon)

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Niemand
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Underrated Bible stories #5: Lefty kills Fatty (Ehud & Eglon)

Post by Niemand »

Southpaw Ehud kills the morbidly obese King Eglon and escapes through the bathroom
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Here's another story you're unlikely to hear in Mormon Sunday School. Despite being gory like Elisha and the Bears (#3 in this series) it seems some kids, especially young boys, love this story.

Israel had been praying for its freedom from the Moabites. That release came in an unexpected way... The incident ended the Moabites' dominance over the Hebrews. It's a reminder that the OT can be "earthy".

This is another one of the stories I've taken from another forum. I list some of the comments below
viewtopic.php?p=1333153&hilit=Eglon#p1333153
My primary school children loved it.
Lefty stabbed Fatty in the belly.
Ehud plunges an 18 inch sword into King Eglon's stomach who is so fat that it disappears up to the hilt.
It was my favorite Bible story since I was a little boy...always entertaining.
It's kind of gross and a favourite of mine to share with my pre-teen boys ‐ who love how weird it is.
he kills the glutenous (sic) king of Moab with a hidden dagger and jumps out the window Assassin's Creed style.
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Here's the story:

Judges 3
14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.

16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. 17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.

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."

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. 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:

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.

23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. 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. [i.e. they thought he was urinating - N.]

25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. 26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.

27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. 28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. 29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

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A few other details:
*It's not made clear in the KJV but when Eglon turned around to remove the blade, the servants saw him and thought he was peeing so left him alone. The New Living Translation is clearer.
So Ehud did not pull out the dagger, and the king’s bowels emptied. 23 Then Ehud closed and locked the doors of the room and escaped down the latrine. 24 After Ehud was gone, the king’s servants returned and found the doors to the upstairs room locked. They thought he might be using the latrine in the room, 25 so they waited.
*Eglon was alleged in rabbinical tradition to be the father of Ruth who has her own book in the Bible. If this is actually the case, then he would be part of Jesus' family tree!
* Eglon ruled over Israel for eighteen years.

Marc makes an interesting comment here comparing the story to Abraham & Isaac & Nephi & Laban, about the ethical quandary.
viewtopic.php?p=843087
marc wrote: March 16th, 2018, 11:25 am It is probably a very fine line to know when one is murdering another person or doing the Lord's will as with Nephi and potentially Abraham. Moses took a life and yet was brought into God's presence and became a deliverer in Israel. Another account is Ehud who was also a deliverer...
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Re: Underrated Bible stories #5: Lefty kills Fatty (Ehud & Eglon)

Post by marc »

Yup, I discovered this parallel many years ago and shared it here: viewtopic.php?p=225549#p225549

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Niemand
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Re: Underrated Bible stories #5: Lefty kills Fatty (Ehud & Eglon)

Post by Niemand »

Other underrated stories
I've done a series of posts on some Bible stories which don't garner a lot of attention. Here are eleven of them:
1 - Elisha and the Bears
viewtopic.php?t=69474

2 - Getting Naked with Jesus
viewtopic.php?t=69486

3 - Habakkuk's Hair-raising Experience
viewtopic.php?t=69509

4 - Simon of Cyrene
viewtopic.php?t=69537

6 - The Idol of Dagon Bows to the Real God
viewtopic.php?t=69574

7 - Jesus Breaks Up a Funeral
viewtopic.php?t=69681

8 - Hundreds Killed by Farm Implement
viewtopic.php?t=69697

9 - Peter Swims out to See Jesus
viewtopic.php?t=69720

10 - Lapping it up Like a Dog
viewtopic.php?t=70815

11 - Paul bores a Man to Death
viewtopic.php?t=71863

12 - Herod needs to be Wormed
viewtopic.php?t=73176

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Niemand
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13997

Re: Underrated Bible stories #5: Lefty kills Fatty (Ehud & Eglon)

Post by Niemand »

viewtopic.php?p=1464972#p1464972
Peeps2.0 wrote: February 29th, 2024, 1:25 am
blitzinstripes wrote: February 28th, 2024, 2:34 pm In that case, those of the Left Hand are NOT going to like this fellow much. 😉
According to the Bible, Benjamites were mostly south-paws. So being named son of the right hand, but mainly manifesting lefties, is probably significant in some spiritual way...
"Genetics and the Bible: the curious case of the left-handed Benjamites
Citation metadata
Authors: Boyd Seevers and Joanna Klein
Date: Sept. 2012

One of the most colorful stories in the Bible tells how Ehud, the left-handed Israelite judge from the tribe of Benjamin, freed Israel from Moabite domination (Judg. 3:12-30). When Ehud delivered Israel's annual tribute to the Moabites, he assassinated the fat Moabite king by using a double-edged dagger he had hidden on his right thigh. This story is famous not only for its gory detail ("the fat closed over the blade ... and the dung came out ... 'Surely he is relieving himself'"), but also for its hero who succeeds, in part, because he is left-handed. (1)

This mention of left-handed Ehud is one of only three places where left-handed people appear in the Bible. All of these left-handers appear in military contexts, (2) and all, curiously, come from the tribe of Benjamin. In addition to the left-handed Benjamite Ehud, Judges 20:16 refers to 700 Benjamites who could use the sling with great accuracy ("Every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss") and all were left-handed. Finally, 1 Chronicles 12:2 states that some of the Israelites who came to support David when he ruled in Hebron included some two dozen ambidextrous warriors who could use either the bow or the sling "with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjamites."

This consistent intersection of left-handedness and the tribe of Benjamin raises the question, did this one particular tribe produce an unusually high number of left-handers? If so, why? Could it have been because of some genetic or social factor, or perhaps both? Might modern genetic studies give us some insight into this curious case of the left-handed Benjamites? Perhaps it can.

The factors that influence handedness have been studied for years, (3) although there is still no clear .."


https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA ... -web-entry

Other underrated stories
13 ‐ Don't lose your (axe) head
viewtopic.php?t=73433

14: Jesus celebrates Hanukkah
viewtopic.php?t=73594

15: King David kills several more giants
viewtopic.php?t=74286

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