Eglon

Eglon, king of Moab, oppressed Israel for 18 years until Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite, assassinated him and delivered Israel.

Eglon was the king of Moab who oppressed the Israelites for eighteen years, as recorded in the book of Judges. After the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, God strengthened Eglon against them and allowed him to conquer and rule over Israel (Jdg 3:12-14).

During this period of oppression, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for deliverance. In response, God raised up Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite, as a deliverer (Jdg 3:15). Ehud crafted a double-edged sword and concealed it under his clothing.

Acting as an emissary, Ehud brought tribute to Eglon, who is described as a very fat man (Jdg 3:17). After presenting the tribute, Ehud sent away the people who had carried it and returned to Eglon, claiming to have a secret message for him. When Eglon dismissed his attendants, Ehud approached him and declared, "I have a message from God for you" (Jdg 3:18-20).

Ehud then drew his concealed sword with his left hand and thrust it into Eglon's belly. The sword's hilt sank in after the blade, and Eglon's fat closed over it. Ehud left the sword in Eglon's body and escaped, locking the doors of the upper room behind him (Jdg 3:21-23).

Eglon's servants later discovered their king dead and Ehud long gone. Ehud rallied the Israelites, who seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab and struck down about 10,000 Moabites. This victory brought peace to the land for eighty years (Jdg 3:24-30).

The story of Eglon's oppression and Ehud's assassination highlights the cycle of sin, oppression, and deliverance that characterizes the book of Judges. It also demonstrates God's faithfulness in raising up deliverers for His people when they cry out to Him.

Chieftain or king of one of the Moabite tribes (Judg. 3:12-14). Having entered into an alliance with Ammon and Amalek, he overran the trans-Jordanic region, and then crossing the Jordan, seized on Jericho, the “city of palm trees,” which had been by this time rebuilt, but not as a fortress. He made this city his capital, and kept Israel in subjection for eighteen years. The people at length “cried unto the Lord” in their distress, and he “raised them up a deliverer” in Ehud (q.v.), the son of Gera, a Benjamite.