Judges 3:17
in Judges 3and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man.
KJV
And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.
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This verse in Judges 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseEglon was a very fat man - The איש בריא ish bari of the text is translated by the Septuagint ανηρ αστειος σφοδρα, a very beautiful or polite man, and in the Syriac, a very rude man. It probably means what we call lusty or corpulent.
This site's exposition
he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab
on Judges 3:17-19
Eglon was a very fat man is set down before the blade goes anywhere, and at verse 22 that detail is the reason the blade cannot come back out. The quarries by Gilgal are graven images in the Hebrew, standing at the place where Israel first camped in the land and where the messenger of 2:1 came up from. Ehud sends the tribute party away and turns back alone, and the words secret errand are enough to make the king clear his own room.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let's observe how Ehud, whose name means "praise," discharged his leadership. History teaches us, in its writings about King Eglon, how this most wise Ehud with particular skill and, if I may say, cunning but praiseworthy deception, would kill the tyrant Eglon, whose name means "round" or "circular." It was necessary, then, to have the quality of judges of our people as was this Ehud, whose name means "praise," so to cut through all his rolling motion and circuit of evil ways and to destroy the king of the Moabites. But Moabite is translated as "flow" or "effusion." Who can the ruler or leader of this flowing and dissolute people be seen or understood to be, therefore, other than the word of that philosophy which adjudges pleasure to be the highest good, a philosophy which the word of the gospel, which has been compared to a sword, killed and destroyed? And this prophetic word would become enclosed within their belly and lowest stomach by means of the "ambidextrous" judge's arguments, to extinguish the Moabites by assertion of the truth, enclosing also every sense of perverse doctrine and dull understanding "which extols itself and rises against the spiritual knowledge of Christ," so that by acting thus and by doing battle with the word of God, each judge of the church may also become a praising Ehud, about whom the Lord would say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few, so I will set you over many."
What did you mean by saying, two thousand fall at the side? Naturally, when the right hand is designated and the left is not, the side is named in place of the left hand. It would not be right, certainly, for the just man to have a left hand: "If someone strikes you on the right cheek," counsels the Lord, "turn to him the other also." Notice that he did not say, "the left also," for it is not the left cheek that is offered, but another right cheek.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he brought a present unto Eglon king of Moab,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
One gomed long. An abridged amoh. 5 The length of the forearm. (Rashbam to Bava Basra,:a). In German, 'daumen lang'. In old French, 'espan courte'.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּקְרֵב֙ | vaiyakrev | and he brought near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּנְחָ֔ה | haminchah | the tribute | H4503 → | 211 times |
| לְעֶגְל֖וֹן | leeglon | to Eglon | H5700 → | 13 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מוֹאָ֑ב | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| וְעֶגְל֕וֹן | veeglon | and Eglon | H5700 → | 13 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | [was] a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בָּרִ֖יא | bari' | fat | H1277 → | |
| מְאֹֽד׃ | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
וַיַּקְרֵב֙and he brought near
vaiyakrevH7126 →280 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמִּנְחָ֔הthe tribute
haminchahH4503 →211 times
לְעֶגְל֖וֹןto Eglon
leeglonH5700 →13 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
מוֹאָ֑בMoab
moavH4124 →181 times
וְעֶגְל֕וֹןand Eglon
veeglonH5700 →13 times
אִ֥ישׁ[was] a man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
בָּרִ֖יאfat
bari'H1277 →
מְאֹֽד׃very
meodH3966 →300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 15:27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
it leads to
- Psalms 17:10
They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 5:28
They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the…
- Isaiah 6:10
Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Psalms 73:7
From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
- Psalms 17:10
Through
Psalms 73:19How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:11
But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly…
- Daniel 5:6
his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
- Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
- Isaiah 47:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 20 (Ps 90); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JUDGES 4.1.