“Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shut the doors of the upstairs room behind him and locked them. After Ehud had left, the king’s servants came. Seeing that the doors of the upper room were locked, they said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool room.” They waited until they became embarrassed, but he still didn’t open the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened them; and there before them lay their master, dead on the ground.”-Judges 3:23-25
We left off at quite a bloody scene the last time we met.
Ehud had thoroughly impaled King Eglon with his sword and left him on the floor of his 2-story headquarters to bleed to death.
Then right before dashing off to make his escape, Ehud had closed the doors and locked them behind him.
Locks and keys in those days had interesting features.
It was possible to lock the doors without a key, but you needed a key to UNLOCK it and go inside.
The key was a flat piece of wood with pins on it that matched the holes in a bolt whose insides had been hollowed out.
There was a hole inside the door that allowed one to access the bolt (the bolt was located on the inside).
Here’s a picture of an ancient key to give you an idea.
When the flat key with pins attached to it was inserted into the bolt, it pushed the pins out of the lock allowing the bolt to be completely removed from its sockets affixed to the doorpost.
Alrighty, this explanation is getting way more technical than I had intended.
Anyways, just know that Ehud was able to lock the door without a key but the king’s servants would need a key to get in.
Of course, the servants had a key in their possession but as we’re told in verse 24, they figured since the doors were locked, their master must’ve been in the process of answering the call of nature.
Let me show you something interesting about verse 24 which says King Eglon was relieving himself.
The literal Hebrew actually says King Eglon was “covering his feet”.
This is a Hebrew idiom and yes it means to go to the bathroom to do one’s duty.
In fact, the King James version literally reflects the original Hebrew.
“When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.“-Judges 3:24
There are of course other Hebrew idioms that use the term feet like this one:
“So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, ‘No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.'”-Ruth 3:14
Of course, prudish Christianity will interpret this verse literally, but those in the know are well aware that Scripturally “feet” can also be a Hebrew euphemism for genitalia.
Onwards!
We’re told King Eglon’s servants waited and waited until they could wait no longer.
Finally, when their patience had reached the breaking point, they took the key, opened the door and found their master lying on the floor dead.
It was too late however.
For by this time Ehud was long gone having had more than enough time to make his escape.
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