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EHUD

(Heb. ʾēhûḏ)

1. The second judge of Israel, the son of Gera, a Benjaminite. The story of his delivering Israel from the power of Eglon king of Moab follows the standard formula for the major judges (Judg. 3:12-30). The extent to which the narrative is history or formula is debated. According to biblical chronology, this story should have taken place during the 12th century; however, the Moabite connection makes such an early date improbable.

Ehud is depicted as “restricted in his right hand,” forcing him to be left-handed; at the same time he is shown as very quick-witted. Both characteristics serve him in dealing with Eglon, who is presented as gullible. In the 18th year of Moabite rule the Israelites selected Ehud to deliver tribute to the Moabite king. The fact that Ehud could only use one hand probably caused Eglon to assume he was no threat. However, with a pun on “private word of the gods,” Ehud convinces Eglon to grant him an exclusive audience. This “secret thing of God” is a dagger which Ehud uses to assassinate Eglon in his own chamber. Securing the door between himself and the unsuspecting guards, Ehud escapes out the back to raise an army in Israel under his command in order to attack, and annihilate, the Moabite troops at the Jordan River. Israel then had 80 years of peace. The text never claims that Ehud ruled over Israel as it does of other judges, although the story of Deborah begins with reference to the death of Ehud (Judg. 4:1).

Bibliography. M. Z. Brettler, “Never the Twain Shall Meet? The Ehud Story as History and Literature,” HUCA 62 (1991): 285-304; B. Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon,” BibRev 4/6 (1988): 32-41, 44; L. K. Handy, “Uneasy Laughter: Ehud and Eglon as Ethnic Humor,” SJOT 6 (1992): 233-46.

2. One of seven sons of Bilhan listed in the Benjaminite genealogy at 1 Chr. 7:10.

3. A Benjaminite, the father of Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera (1 Chr. 8:6).

Lowell K. Handy

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

EHUD

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)