Then Ehud reached out with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
Parallel translations
- WEB Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body:
- KJV And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
- BSB And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.
- NKJV Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
- NLT Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled out the dagger strapped to his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.
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 draws his hidden sword with his left hand and drives it into Eglon's body.
Overview
The concealed weapon, undetected because of Ehud's left-handedness, accomplishes the deliverance. The swift, decisive act portrays God's judgment on the oppressor of His people. Within the violent realities of the period, the text presents Ehud as the Lord's instrument of justice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Sam 15:33Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.
- Num 25:7–8When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.
- Job 20:25He draws it out, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him.
- Zech 13:3It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in Yahweh’s name;’ and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.
- 2 Cor 5:16Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:21 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.