What Does Judges 3:19 Mean?

(19) **But he himself turned again.**—The plan of Ehud was deeply laid. He wished (1) to secure his end, which would be more difficult amid the soldiers and attendants who would guard the king during the presentation of the tribute; (2) to avoid endangering his comrades; (3) to provide, if possible, for his own escape. By going away with the deputation of serfs which he had introduced, he would still more lull suspicion asleep. **From the quarries.**—The Hebrew word is *pesilîm. *The LXX., followed by our margin, render it “graven images;” and the Vulgate, “from Gilgal, where were idols.” (Luther, *Götzen.*) Such is the meaning of *pesîlîm *in Deuteronomy 7:5; 2Kings 17:41; Psalm 97:7, &c. The rendering, *“*stone quarries,” is derived from the Chaldee and Rabbi Jarchi; but it probably means idols of some kind—probably those of Moab. Some explain it of the twelve stones which were taken out of Jordan, and pitched at Gilgal (Joshua 4:2). The LXX. (in some MSS.) make it mean that *Eglon *returned, but this is clearly a mistake. Gilgal was near Jericho, and when Ehud had accompanied his comrades to some well-known landmark at Gilgal, he returned to Jericho. Josephus says he had “two attendants” with him; but the word “people” in Judges 3:18 implies that many more had accompanied him. **By Gilgal.**—Ewald thinks that Gilgal belonged to Ephraim, and that “he went to see if all was safe at this frontier-post.” If the *pesîlîm *were sacred stones to mark a boundary (cp. Judges 5:26), they would, like the Greek Hermæ, have been condemned by the Jews as idolatrous. **I have a secret errand unto thee, O king.**—Something in Ehud’s position and antecedents enabled him to reckon on the king’s credulity. Eglon, aware of discontent among the Israelites, may have supposed that Ehud had some secret to betray. Similarly Darius obtained an interview with the Pseudo-Smerdis, for the purpose of assassinating him, by pretending to have a secret message to him; and, in explaining it to his comrade, says, “When lying is necessary, lie” (Herod, iii. 72). In Josephus’s version of the story, Ehud pretends that he has a *dream *to narrate. **Who said, Keep silence.**—Rather, “And he said, *Hush!” *(Heb., Hâs.) The narrative is very graphic, but it does not appear whether the “Hush!” was addressed to Ehud, to prevent him from saying any more in the presence of the attendants, or as an intimation to the attendants to retire. They at once understood that the king wished to be left alone. **All that stood by him.**—Courtiers always *stand *in the presence of Eastern kings.