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and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man.
Judges 3:17 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He offered the tribute to 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.
  • NKJV So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)
  • NASB Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
  • NLT He brought the tribute money to Eglon, who was very fat.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Ehud presents Israel's tribute to the very obese king Eglon.

Overview

The required tribute marks the humiliation of Israel's servitude. The mention of Eglon's fatness, recalling a fattened calf, hints at his coming slaughter and ironic judgment. The scene shows the contrast between Moab's bloated power and the slim deliverer God has appointed.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Job 15:27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
  • Ezek 34:20Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says to them: ‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
  • Jer 50:11“Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
  • Ps 73:19How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
  • Jer 5:28They 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 rights of the needy.
  • Judg 3:29At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped.
  • Ps 73:7From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
  • 1 Sam 2:29Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (11)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Judges videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Judges 3:17YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudgesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.

How Judges 3:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.