Judges 3:15
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left handed: and by him the children of Israel sent a present to Eglon the king of Moab.
American King James Version (AKJV)
But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left handed: and by him the children of Israel sent a present to Eglon the king of Moab.
American Standard Version (ASV)
But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. And the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon the king of Moab.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Then when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man; and the children of Israel sent an offering by him to Eglon, king of Moab.
Webster's Revision
But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of Israel sent a present to Eglon king of Moab.
World English Bible
But when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised them up a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.
English Revised Version (ERV)
But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and the children of Israel sent a present by him unto Eglon the king of Moab.
Clarke's Judges 3:15 Bible Commentary
Ehud the son of Gera - a man left handed - איש אטר יד ימינו ish itter yad yemino, a man lame in his right hand, and therefore obliged to use his left. The Septuagint render it ανδρα αμφοτεροδεξιον, an ambidexter, a man who could use both hands alike. The Vulgate, qui utraque manu pro dextera utebatur, a man who could use either hand as a right hand, or to whom right and left were equally ready. This is not the sense of the original, but it is the sense in which most interpreters understand it. It is well known that to be an ambidexter was in high repute among the ancients: Hector boasts of it: -
Αυταρ εγων εν οιδα μαχας τ,ανδροκτασιας τε·
Οιδ' επι δεξια, οιδ' επ' αριστερα νωμησαι βων
Αζαλεην, το μοι εστι ταλαυρινον πολεμιζειν.
Iliad, lib. vii., ver. 237.
"But am in arms well practiced; many a Greek
Hath bled by me, and I can shift my shield
From right to left; reserving to the last
Force that suffices for severest toil."
Cowper.
Asteropaeus is also represented by Homer as an ambidexter, from which he derives great advantages in fight: -
Ὡς φατ' απειλησας· ὁ δ' ανεσχετο διος Αχιλλευς
Πηλιαδα μελιην· ὁ δ' ὁμαρτη δουρασιν αμφις
Ἡρως Αστεροπαιος, επει περιδεξιος ηε.
continued...
Barnes's Judges 3:15 Bible Commentary
But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer - The very same words as are used at Judges 3:9. See, too, Judges 2:16, Judges 2:18, and Nehemiah 9:27.
Ehud "the Benjamite" was of the family or house of Gera 2 Samuel 16:5, the son of Bela, Benjamin's first-born, born before Jacob's descent into Egypt Genesis 46:21, and then included among "the sons of Benjamin." The genealogy in 1 Chronicles 8:6 intimates that Ehud (apparently written Abihud in Judges 3:3) became the head of a separate house.
Left-handed - See the margin. The phrase is thought to describe not so much a defect as the power to use left and right hands equally well (compare Judges 20:16; 1 Chronicles 12:2).
A present - i. e. tribute 2 Samuel 8:2, 2 Samuel 8:6; 1 Kings 4:21; Psalm 72:10. The employment of Ehud for this purpose points him out as a chief of some distinction. He would be attended by a numerous suite Judges 3:18. We may conclude that the destruction of the Benjamites Judges 20 had not taken place at this time.
Wesley's Judges 3:15 Bible Commentary
3:15 A Benjamite - This tribe was next to Eglon, and doubtless most afflicted by him; and hence God raiseth a deliverer.Left handed - Which is here noted, as a considerable circumstance in the following story.