Derek Thomas

They've turned against the Lord.

They're walking not in light but in darkness.

And God raises up these judges.

And we are introduced here to a king, king of Moab.

There's some kind of alliance with Moab and Israel.

And the king's name is Eglon.

And Eglon has conquered part of the territory of Israel and has taken the city of Palms.

That's a euphemism for Jericho.

You'll remember, of course, the destruction of Jericho and Joshua and how they circled the city seven times and so on, and the walls of Jericho came tumbling down.

Well, all that was gained by Joshua has now been lost to this king of Moab, Eglon.

And 18 years have passed, and they cry to God for a deliverer and enter Ehud.

Ehud is described in this passage as being left-handed.

There's probably more to it than just the fact that he's left-handed.

The fact that Scripture draws attention to it, he wouldn't have been the only left-handed person.

Commentators suggest that probably his right hand was…

unusable, there was some kind of deformity, and therefore the choice of Ehud may seem to be a little strange.

This is a period of time when such things were not treated perhaps with the respect that you would expect today.

He's the son of Benjamin.

He's from the tribe of Benjamin, and Ben is the Hebrew word for son, and Jamin is the Hebrew word for right.

He's the son of my right hand, Benjamin.