Judges 3:18
in Judges 3After Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he ushered out those who had carried it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people that bare the tribute.
KJV
And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.
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This verse in Judges 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseMade an end to offer the present - Presents, tribute, etc., in the eastern countries were offered with very great ceremony; and to make the more parade several persons, ordinarily slaves, sumptuously dressed, and in considerable number, were employed to carry what would not be a burden even to one. This appears to have been the case in the present instance.
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 when he had made an end to offer the present,....
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר | kaasher | just when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כִּלָּ֔ה | kilah | he had finished | H3615 → | |
| לְהַקְרִ֖יב | lehakriv | to bring near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּנְחָ֑ה | haminchah | the tribute | H4503 → | 211 times |
| וַיְשַׁלַּח֙ | vayshalach | and he sent away | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| נֹשְׂאֵ֖י | noseei | [who] bore | H5375 → | 656 times |
| הַמִּנְחָֽה׃ | haminchah | <of> the tribute | H4503 → | 211 times |
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רjust when
kaasherH834 →5497 times
כִּלָּ֔הhe had finished
kilahH3615 →
לְהַקְרִ֖יבto bring near
lehakrivH7126 →280 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמִּנְחָ֑הthe tribute
haminchahH4503 →211 times
וַיְשַׁלַּח֙and he sent away
vayshalachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
נֹשְׂאֵ֖י[who] bore
noseeiH5375 →656 times
הַמִּנְחָֽה׃<of> the tribute
haminchahH4503 →211 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges

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.
