Bible Strands
Judges 3:19
But upon reaching the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” “Silence,” said the king, and all his attendants left him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ehud speaks to King Eglon after dismissing the tribute bearers, using a claim of private communication to secure isolation.
The words — שָׁ֗ב (Shav) = he returned, and הַ/פְּסִילִים (ha./pe.si.Lim) = the idols. The text explicitly states Ehud turned back from the idols near Gilgal before speaking, not toward them.
The thread — The location recalls Joshua’s memorial stones at Gilgal (Joshua 4:20), while the solitary delivery mirrors the upper-room encounter in Judges 3:20 and the royal messenger format of 2 Kings 9:5.
Why it lands — The verse demands a reader to track the physical sequence of departure and return before noting how spatial separation enables the delivery of a divine claim.
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 he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
Cross-references
- Joshua 4:20 And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.
- Judges 3:20 Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
- 2 Kings 9:5 and when he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said. “For which of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander,” he replied.
- Acts 23:18 So the centurion took him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner sent and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
- Genesis 45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.