Bible Strands
Judges 3:15
And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports the Israelites crying out to Yahweh after eighteen years of Moabite oppression, prompting God to raise up Ehud as their deliverer. This occurs at the precise moment Israel prepares to transport tribute to King Eglon.
The words — וַ/יִּזְעֲק֣וּ (va/i.yiz.'a.Ku) means "and they cried out," and וַ/יָּקֶם (va/i.ya.Kem) means "and he raised up," structuring the verse around human distress followed by divine action.
The thread — The distress-to-deliverance sequence mirrors Judges 3:9, where crying out precedes the raising of Othniel. The tactical emphasis on left-handedness aligns with the select fighters noted in Judges 20:16, while the pattern of seeking God after judgment reflects the cycle in Psalms 78:34.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe that deliverance is triggered by repeated crying out, not by human merit. It demands attention to how God utilizes specific, culturally marginal traits to execute judgment on oppressors.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.
Cross-references
- Judges 3:9 But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.
- Psalms 78:34 When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
- Judges 20:16 Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.
- Isaiah 36:16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,
- Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
- 1 Samuel 10:27 But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.
- 1 Chronicles 12:2 they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):
- Psalms 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Psalms 90:15 Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.
- Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.