Ehud Aod

(strong, firm) (Judg. 3:15) — son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin, second judge of Israel, who delivered the Israelites from Eglon, king of Moab, who had oppressed them eighteen years. The Israelites sent Ehud with gifts to Eglon, as a token of their subjection. Under the pretext that he had a secret message for him, he obtained a private audience with Eglon, and then, being alone with him, drew a sword from his right thigh and, with his left hand (for, like many of the Benjamites, he was left-handed), gave the king a mortal wound in the belly.

The custom of delivering confidential messages privately, face to face, seems to have been so common that Eglon’s courtiers withdrew at once from the royal chambers as soon as they learned of Ehud’s request. According to travelers, this custom is preserved even to this day in Eastern countries: as soon as it becomes known that a messenger has something secret to say to the ruler, the audience hall is at once vacated by all except the one who has arrived. Ehud, having killed the king, went up to Mount Ephraim, sounded a trumpet to summon the oppressed Israelites to his aid, seized all the fords of the Jordan, and destroyed about ten thousand of the best Moabite warriors. Ehud was judge of Israel until his death, and the peace he secured lasted until his death (Judg. 3:12–30).