Chapter 3 of Sefer Shoftim is the chapter where we move from the introduction to the body of the matter. In the previous chapter we received a general preface, a kind of characterizing overview of the entire period of the Judges: the people sin, are handed over to an enemy, cry out, a judge is raised up for them, and when the judge dies they once again act corruptly. From here on, says the Malbim, we move to the details: who were the nations, what troubles they caused us, and who were the judges and saviors who delivered us, one by one, by name.
וְאֵלֶּה הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הִנִּיחַ יְהֹוָה לְנַסּוֹת בָּם אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָדְעוּ אֵת כׇּל־מִלְחֲמוֹת כְּנָעַן׃ - And these are the nations that Hashem left, to test Israel through them, all those who had not known any of the wars of Canaan.
At the end of the previous chapter it was said, "And Hashem left these nations, not driving them out quickly, and did not deliver them into the hand of Yehoshua," in order to test Israel through them. And here the verse says: come, let me detail for you who those nations are.
רַק לְמַעַן דַּעַת דֹּרוֹת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְלַמְּדָם מִלְחָמָה רַק אֲשֶׁר־לְפָנִים לֹא יְדָעוּם׃ - Only so that the generations of the Children of Israel would know, to teach them war, only those who had not previously known them.
There were two purposes to the matter. The first purpose: "so that the generations of the Children of Israel would know, to teach them war." The earlier generations did not know at all what war was, since the Canaanites had been driven out miraculously by Yehoshua. Now the coming generations would recognize how much their evil deeds had ruined things: we had miracles, we had wonders, our fathers told us of them, and suddenly one must become acquainted with war, suddenly one needs weapons, suddenly one must act by way of nature.
חֲמֵשֶׁת סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וְכׇל־הַכְּנַעֲנִי וְהַצִּידֹנִי וְהַחִוִּי יֹשֵׁב הַר הַלְּבָנוֹן מֵהַר בַּעַל חֶרְמוֹן עַד לְבוֹא חֲמָת׃ - The five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon until the approach to Hamath.
The Malbim explains that part of the five lords of the Philistines were conquered by the tribe of Yehuda after Yehoshua passed away - Gaza, Ekron, Ashkelon - while some of them were not conquered. Against those that remained they now had to fight, and we will see further on these Philistines regularly causing us trouble.
וַיִּהְיוּ לְנַסּוֹת בָּם אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל לָדַעַת הֲיִשְׁמְעוּ אֶת־מִצְוֺת יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה אֶת־אֲבוֹתָם בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁה׃ - And they were there to test Israel through them, to know whether they would heed the commandments of Hashem which He commanded their fathers through Moshe.
This is the second purpose: the test. Will you intermarry with them? Will you serve their idolatry? For where there is no enticement there is also no test. The Holy One, blessed be He, left them and did not help us conquer them, because He wished to test us, whether we would stray from the path or walk in the straight way.
In the Torah it is written, "You may not destroy them quickly, lest the beasts of the field multiply upon you." It is implied there that it was impossible to destroy the enemies quickly, and this itself was for the good: for if you conquer the entire land quickly, every place that is not settled becomes a place where beasts come and dwell, and then there would be a danger of lions and bears. Read the history of the Land of Israel; there were predatory animals here, in the Judean desert and in other places. And it is known that wherever civilization advances, the animals lose their habitat and depart. But as long as we had not built and had not settled, there are dangerous beasts.
If so, how can it say here that the nations were meant to be here in order to test us? The commentators answer: had we listened to the voice of Hashem, the Holy One, blessed be He, would have helped us destroy them quickly and would have guarded us from the wild beasts. As it is written, "Would that My people would listen to Me... I would soon subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes." The word "soon" here does not mean it the way we say today "I almost defeated him," but rather that they would be subdued as if they were very few, that in a single moment they would all be subdued. But the people of Israel did not listen to the voice of Hashem and did not eradicate the enemies. Therefore two reasons remained for leaving them: the first, for the sake of future generations, that they would know and learn the tactics of war and see what their corrupt deeds had caused; and the second, to test Israel: here there are nations and idolatry, will you intermarry with them? Will you learn from their deeds?
וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יָשְׁבוּ בְּקֶרֶב הַכְּנַעֲנִי הַחִתִּי וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי וְהַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי׃ - And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
The Malbim says: the people of Israel did not stand up to either test. The goal was that they would learn war, and they did not learn war. They did not go to train in weaponry. Now they had to act by the natural way, and they said: leave us alone, we want to rest. He has his vineyard and his fig tree, why should I conquer the whole land? Hashem commanded, but "we manage with what we have." And not only did they not learn war, but so that they would have no more wars they made a covenant with the enemies, the very ones about whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "You shall not make a covenant with them."
וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת־בְּנוֹתֵיהֶם לָהֶם לְנָשִׁים וְאֶת־בְּנוֹתֵיהֶם נָתְנוּ לִבְנֵיהֶם וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶם׃ - And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
And in the second test they also fell, on both counts: they both intermarried with them and served their idolatry. So that what the Holy One, blessed be He, did, as it were, in order to test us, became for us a snare, and we failed in all the tests set before us.
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה וַיִּשְׁכְּחוּ אֶת־יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֶת־הַבְּעָלִים וְאֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרוֹת׃ - And the children of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, and they forgot Hashem their God, and served the Baalim and the Asherot.
Up to this point, says the Malbim, there was a general introduction; from here begins the detailed account by name, who was the king, who oppressed us, who judged us, and who protected us. And our Sages expound something terrible in the expression "and they forgot Hashem their God": at first they served Hashem in partnership, and afterward they forgot Hashem entirely. And they said: "Not even like a lupine bean eaten at the end of the meal did My children make Me." How terrible. It is written in our Sages that they had three hundred sixty five kinds of idolatry, and each and every day they would serve a different god. If you are bringing every option, make at least one for God! There are three hundred sixty five, let there be three hundred sixty six, one for the Master of the world. You serve them all, serve the Holy One, blessed be He, too. And no. Not even like the lupine bean eaten at the end of the meal, like nuts and snacks, not a main course, take Me at least as an option. Not even as an option did they take Him. That is: all the idolatries are true, to all of them I devote time, while the Holy One, blessed be He, there is no such thing.
This can also be understood. All the idolatries were served, as we will see later on, in order to permit forbidden things, to permit sexual immorality in public. The idols are very liberal. They are "fine" with us, they do not restrict and they do not punish. The Master of the world restricts.
And not only that. The Vilna Gaon says, and we will see this at greater length later on, that the expression "harlotry" appears consistently right next to expressions of idolatry: "and they went astray after the Baalim," "your harlotries," "her adulteries from between her breasts," and other harsh expressions of harlotry in connection with idolatry. And the Vilna Gaon says this is not by chance: next to every house of idolatry there was a house of harlotry. This was the way of the idolaters to draw people to them, because the easiest way to draw people is through the lusts. And when they brought them in, they said: our god says that this is the way to serve him. "Great god, excellent. Our God restricts a great deal, and with you the worship is fantastic." And so people inclined to serve idolatry, so that it would permit them sexual immorality, as our Sages said.
And if I take the Master of the World into account, even as a possibility, pangs of conscience begin: there is a God here, and the God of these people hates immorality, and there are things being done here that are not pleasing in the eyes of Hashem. And why do the pangs of conscience begin specifically here? Because this is the truth. Everything else is vanity and falsehood. The falsehood does not disturb me, let this one say what he says and that one say what he says. But the truth stings. And therefore: there is no God, leave me alone with God, we have erased Him from the mind, we are done. And by erasing Him, now I am free to do whatever I please.
And this is a very interesting matter. A man by the name of Aldous Huxley, one of the great promoters of Darwin's theory, wrote an essay called "Confessions of a Professional Unbeliever." And he wrote the matter explicitly: that we believed in Darwin's theory almost with a religious faith, and we spread it even though there is no proof at all for his words. It is only a theory, and on the contrary, all the evidence proves the opposite. And he explains: the reason we pursued this with such fervor and such devotion is that it is very easy to live in a world in which there is no God. In a world where there is a God, everything begins with questions: who gave you permission to take that? It belongs to someone else, why are you stealing? Why are you taking it? And this is forbidden, and this is immodest, and this is a married woman. It restricts, it makes things difficult. And he adds: this matter of belief in slow development, Darwin's origin of species and this whole theory, in essence says that morality has no meaning and pangs of conscience have no meaning, that we are all a zoological species. And if so, the rooster today with this hen and tomorrow with another, everything is permitted. And he said that this gave them freedom, especially in this area. He was honest enough to express the matter clearly. And this is the depth of the Midrash: they served everyone, and not even as the lupine eaten at the end of the meal did My children make Me.
וַיִּחַר־אַף יְהֹוָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּמְכְּרֵם בְּיַד כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם מֶלֶךְ אֲרַם נַהֲרָיִם וַיַּעַבְדוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם שְׁמֹנֶה שָׁנִים׃ - And the anger of Hashem burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishatayim, king of Aram Naharayim, and Bnei Yisrael served Cushan Rishatayim eight years.
Here the account begins one by one, and the first is Cushan Rishatayim, king of Aram Naharayim. And already in this their disgrace is revealed: eight years! In the first year, in the second, cry out to Hashem! And still they do not cry out. This is a terrible reality in the nature of man. A person receives a slap from the Master of the World, understands that he must change his ways, but says to himself: wait a moment, perhaps it is a coincidence. Any moment it will pass, do not panic too much. He receives another slap: let us put some money toward charity. Perhaps we will keep Shabbat, perhaps we will throw away the iPhone, perhaps... no, it will be fine, I went to the doctor and he said it is still under examination, Hashem will help, we will open the Pele Yoetz and everything will be fine. The person tries to get through it without doing teshuvah. And it keeps pushing, keeps pushing, and sometimes suddenly the doctor says: we are raising our hands. And then: Master of the World, now I accept upon myself, and he throws away the iPhone and shuts off the internet and I am doing teshuvah and a shiur every day. The Holy One, Blessed be He, says to him: I spoke with you for two years. You woke up only now? Only when the doctor raised his hands? Meaning until then you said: Master of the World, fine, I will not press, perhaps we will manage without You. And only after you receive the blow in such a way that you understand you are crushed down below, only then do you say "Master of the World." And this is the disgrace: eight years they suffer terrible suffering and do not cry out, because perhaps we will manage without the Master of the World, and why should I put myself into restrictions.
וַיִּזְעֲקוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהֹוָה וַיָּקֶם יְהֹוָה מוֹשִׁיעַ לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּשִׁיעֵם אֵת עׇתְנִיאֵל בֶּן־קְנַז אֲחִי כָלֵב הַקָּטֹן מִמֶּנּוּ׃ - And Bnei Yisrael cried out to Hashem, and Hashem raised up a deliverer for Bnei Yisrael, and he delivered them: Otniel ben Kenaz, the younger brother of Kalev.
And even so the Holy One, Blessed be He, delivers them, even though they were not worthy. Eight years He waited for them, and once they cried out, He delivered them.
וַתְּהִי עָלָיו רוּחַ־יְהֹוָה וַיִּשְׁפֹּט אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה וַיִּתֵּן יְהֹוָה בְּיָדוֹ אֶת־כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם וַתָּעׇז יָדוֹ עַל כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתָיִם׃ - And the spirit of Hashem was upon him, and he judged Israel, and he went out to war, and Hashem gave into his hand Cushan Rishatayim king of Aram, and his hand prevailed over Cushan Rishatayim.
Otniel ben Kenaz was a tzaddik, and it is even written about him that he was a complete tzaddik, and he was among those who merited to enter Gan Eden in their lifetime. "And he judged Israel," not only law and order, but that he led them in the way of teshuvah, guided them in the way of Hashem. And the Malbim says that there are two things here: first, judgment and might, to judge Israel and return them to the way of Hashem; and second, through their returning to the Holy One, Blessed be He, they also defeat their enemies. And the one depends on the other: "And he judged Israel," and therefore "Hashem gave Cushan Rishatayim into his hand." If there is justice in Israel, there is the way of Hashem, there is a return to the sources, and consequently they go out against the nations and can prevail over them.
וַתִּשְׁקֹט הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה וַיָּמׇת עׇתְנִיאֵל בֶּן־קְנַז׃ - And the land was quiet forty years, and Otniel ben Kenaz died.
You see, then, that throughout that entire period of his lifetime they had quiet. This was his level: all the days of the judge - quiet.
וַיֹּסִפוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה וַיְחַזֵּק יְהֹוָה אֶת־עֶגְלוֹן מֶלֶךְ־מוֹאָב עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל כִּי־עָשׂוּ אֶת־הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה׃ - And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the eyes of Hashem, and Hashem strengthened Eglon king of Moav against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the eyes of Hashem.
As we saw in the introduction: "And it came to pass when the judge died, they would turn back and act corruptly." Here it is precisely so: Otniel ben Kenaz passed away, and they again did that which was evil in the eyes of Hashem. And note the wording: "And Hashem strengthened Eglon king of Moav." Could Eglon on his own have prevailed against them? The pasuk says no. He needed added strength, encouragement, so that he would go out against Israel. Hashem strengthened him beyond his own powers. And why? In order to bring the people of Israel back, because they had done that which was evil in the eyes of Hashem. This is the meaning of "in whatever they went out, the hand of Hashem was against them for harm" - through particular providence the Holy One, blessed be He, grants special strength to the enemy, so that he can subdue Israel and bring them back in repentance.
וַיֶּאֱסֹף אֵלָיו אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וַעֲמָלֵק וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיַּךְ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּירְשׁוּ אֶת־עִיר הַתְּמָרִים׃ - And he gathered to himself the children of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and smote Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.
Eglon gathers to himself the children of Ammon and Amalek, first strikes Israel in war, and afterward takes from them the City of Palms. And the City of Palms is Yericho. And why is its explicit name not written here? The Malbim says: because Yericho was forbidden to be rebuilt, and not only was it forbidden to rebuild it, as we saw with the curse that Yehoshua placed upon it, but it was even forbidden to build another city and call it Yericho. And if they wished to build, they had to call it by another name.
In the Malbim's view, Chiel of Beit HaEli, who appears later, built the ancient Yericho with its original name, and it turns out he sinned in two respects. In contrast, some say that he changed its name from Yericho to Yericha, for we see that its name is altered, and that he also did not build on the ancient site; nevertheless, since he sinned, he was punished. But according to the Malbim he failed in both matters: both in the ancient site and in the ancient name. The people of Israel, however, did not wish to fail in this, and therefore they built another city and did not call it by the ancient name, but rather the "City of Palms," says the Malbim, on account of the palm trees that grew there.
וַיַּעַבְדוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־עֶגְלוֹן מֶלֶךְ־מוֹאָב שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה׃ - And the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moav eighteen years.
Note that the deterioration grew: with Kushan Rishatayim it was eight years, and here eighteen years, and only then do they cry out to Hashem.
וַיִּזְעֲקוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהֹוָה וַיָּקֶם יְהֹוָה לָהֶם מוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת־אֵהוּד בֶּן־גֵּרָא בֶּן־הַיְמִינִי אִישׁ אִטֵּר יַד־יְמִינוֹ וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיָדוֹ מִנְחָה לְעֶגְלוֹן מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב׃ - And the children of Israel cried out to Hashem, and Hashem raised up for them a savior, Ehud ben Gera, the Benjaminite, a man restricted in his right hand; and the children of Israel sent by his hand a tribute to Eglon king of Moav.
The Malbim points out a difference in wording. Regarding Otniel ben Kenaz it says that Hashem raised up for them a judge, while regarding Ehud ben Gera it says that Hashem raised up for them a savior. Otniel judged them in matters of religion, in matters of halacha, and in matters of civil law between man and his fellow, and therefore he both judged and saved. Ehud ben Gera, by contrast, only saved them from the oppressors who rose against them, but to actually judge them was apparently beyond his power.
"A man bound in his right hand" - iter means blocked and closed, that is, his right hand was weak, and he was a left-handed man. Why is it important for us to know that he was left-handed? To tell you that he could hide the sword on his right side without anyone noticing it. For a person who draws a sword, his right hand is the active one, and the sword rests on his loins on the left side, and he reaches his right hand to the left side and draws. This was the way of fighting in their time. But with a left-handed person everything is reversed: the sword is on the right side, and he draws with his left hand. And what is the advantage? A person guarding himself against someone in front of him always checks whether he has a sword on his left side. But with a left-handed person the sword is not on the left but on the right, and since he assumes this is an ordinary man, right-handed, with his sword on the left, he sees that there is no sword on the left and he is at ease. This is the reason Ehud ben Gera was able to draw his sword and do what he later did, and therefore it is important that the text prepares us with this point in advance.
In all places driving is on the right side and the one coming toward us is on the left, but in England it is the opposite, and likewise in Australia, because it began as an English colony to which all the criminals were sent, and Australia was a prison at the start of its formation. And why is it reversed in England? Because it was very common there to walk about with swords, the knights, and over every matter they had fights. We will see this later, that the Malbim touches on it based on the Abarbanel regarding Goliath, where he elaborates on the view that there was a duel there. And since they would walk about there with swords, in order to ensure that a person would not draw his sword and stab the one opposite him, they arranged that walking would be reversed. For when you travel as we do, it is hard for you to draw the sword and stab the one on your left; but if he is on your right, it is much easier to draw and stab. Therefore they travel in a way that the moment you draw the sword, he is immediately beside you, meaning they are ready for combat immediately. And ever since they instituted this way of traveling, the practice has continued to our time.
What is the matter of the tribute? Because they were subject to his hand. It was customary that a nation trampled under the hand of a tyrannical king would bring him tribute, a gift, and taxes. And since they sent tribute through him, an opportunity arose for him to carry out his act.
וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ אֵהוּד חֶרֶב וְלָהּ שְׁנֵי פֵיוֹת גֹּמֶד אׇרְכָּהּ וַיַּחְגֹּר אוֹתָהּ מִתַּחַת לְמַדָּיו עַל יֶרֶךְ יְמִינוֹ׃ - And Ehud made himself a sword with two edges, a cubit its length, and he girded it under his garments on his right thigh.
He girds the sword under his garments on his right thigh, which is not the standard place of the sword, and by this they would not notice it. "A cubit its length" - the sword was very short, and therefore it also was not noticeable; a long sword is noticeable, and a short one is not noticeable. Gomed is a cubit, and this is also the meaning of the word gamad: small, a cubit in length.
"A sword with two edges" - that the sword was sharp on both its sides. The sharp side of the sword is called a mouth. An ordinary knife is dull on one side and sharp on the other, whereas a sword sharp on both sides is called one with two mouths, and we will see later why it was important for him that there be a point on both sides - so that the sword would penetrate easily.
And Chazal expounded: that he was engaged in Torah, which gives a person two mouths, a mouth in this world and a mouth in the world to come. Therefore it says "And Ehud made himself a sword with two edges," and the intent is Torah, for the Torah is compared to a sword: "Sixty mighty men surround it... trained in war," the war of Torah. We see that the Torah is expressed through the sword and through war.
וַיַּקְרֵב אֶת־הַמִּנְחָה לְעֶגְלוֹן מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב וְעֶגְלוֹן אִישׁ בָּרִיא מְאֹד׃ - And he brought the tribute near to Eglon king of Moav, and Eglon was a very fat man.
In the language of Chazal, "bari" means fat, which is the opposite of our usage: in the language of Chazal, bari is fat, and fat is bari, as we will see further on. Here the verse gives us an introduction to what follows, telling us by what means they subdued him: know that Eglon king of Moav was a very fat man.
Here we see fulfilled in us what is written in the rebuke: "תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָבַדְתָּ אֶת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּשִׂמְחָה וּבְטוּב לֵבָב מֵרֹב כֹּל, וְעָבַדְתָּ אֶת אֹיְבֶיךָ" in nakedness and in lack of all. If you had offered a minchah to Hashem your God in time, you would not now have to offer minchot to your enemies. You did not offer a minchah to Hashem your God, so now go and offer minchot to your enemies.
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר כִּלָּה לְהַקְרִיב אֶת־הַמִּנְחָה וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת־הָעָם נֹשְׂאֵי הַמִּנְחָה׃ - And it was, when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent away the people who bore the tribute.
"Presenting the minchah" means bringing it before Eglon king of Moav, offering the tribute before him. Afterward he sent away the people who bore the tribute. And why did he send them away, seeing that his purpose was to carry out a targeted killing of Eglon? Precisely for this reason: since I am entering into a dangerous situation, in which if I strike Eglon the matter might go wrong and I could be harmed, it is better that I be alone and not endanger other men along with me. Furthermore: the moment a man was here and left, the impression was created for everyone that he had finished his task, he came to give a tribute, he gave it and left. Then when he returns, it looks like "oops, I forgot something," and it is received with understanding. But if he comes and stays and lingers, they will say: who knows what he came to do here, what his plans are. But since they see that a man finished his task and went on his way, when he returns it is presumably because he forgot to ask something or wanted to add something. This lulls the alertness of Eglon's guards, and they let him enter.
וְהוּא שָׁב מִן־הַפְּסִילִים אֲשֶׁר אֶת־הַגִּלְגָּל וַיֹּאמֶר דְּבַר־סֵתֶר לִי אֵלֶיךָ הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר הָס וַיֵּצְאוּ מֵעָלָיו כׇּל־הָעֹמְדִים עָלָיו׃ - But he himself returned from the graven images that were by the Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret matter for you, O king." And he said, "Hush," and all who stood by him went out from him.
"HaPesilim" is the name of a place, and the Targum renders it "machtzavaya," meaning a place where they would carve and quarry stones from the mountain. When he returned, he said to the king "I have a secret matter for you," meaning: I have something to tell you that no one is permitted to be present for, for it is a secret matter. "And he said, Hush" - so that they would not even reveal that you have a secret matter with the king. For if they knew that you have a secret matter with the king, the matter might not come out from the king, but someone might harm you in order to extract the secret matter from you. Therefore the king had to say to him "Hush," so that even this fact would remain secret.
וְאֵהוּד בָּא אֵלָיו וְהוּא־יֹשֵׁב בַּעֲלִיַּת הַמְּקֵרָה אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ לְבַדּוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵהוּד דְּבַר־אֱלֹהִים לִי אֵלֶיךָ וַיָּקׇם מֵעַל הַכִּסֵּא׃ - And Ehud came to him, and he was sitting in the cool upper chamber that was his alone, and Ehud said, "I have a word of God for you," and he rose from the throne.
"The cool upper chamber" is a place where the kings would go up to cool off, an airy place open with windows, which they would ascend to cool down. "That was his alone" - a private place for the king. "I have a word of God for you" - the Holy One, blessed be He, sent me to tell you something.
And what is meant by "and he rose from the throne"? Here was the maneuver. When one says to a king "I have a word of God for you," the kings would honor the word of Hashem and rise. And the moment he rises, what does a heavy, fleshy man do while getting up? He must lean on the armrests of the throne, on the two armrests at his two sides, for he is unable to rise without leaning, since he is heavy of flesh. And by this he is left exposed, with no ability to defend himself: his whole body is supported on his hands as he tries to lift his body, and this is the opportunity to plunge a sword into his belly.
Chazal say that from Eglon came Rut the Moaviah, and from Rut the Moaviah came the entire dynasty of the house of David. And why did he merit this? So it is brought in the Zohar Chadash: Rabbi Rechumai said to him, when Ehud came and said "I have a word of God for you" and he rose from the throne, he honored the name of Hashem. Said the Holy One, blessed be He: You rose from your throne for My honor, by your life (an expression of an oath), from you shall come one who will sit on My throne, as it says "וַיֵּשֶׁב שְׁלֹמֹה עַל כִּסֵּא ה'" (Shlomo sat on the throne of Hashem). We see that nothing is lost and no merit is erased. Even the merit of a wicked king who oppressed Israel for eighteen years and brought upon us grievous troubles - if you have any merit whatsoever, something for which reward is due to you, the Holy One, blessed be He, will give you your reward.
וַיִּשְׁלַח אֵהוּד אֶת־יַד שְׂמֹאלוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת־הַחֶרֶב מֵעַל יֶרֶךְ יְמִינוֹ וַיִּתְקָעֶהָ בְּבִטְנוֹ׃ - And Ehud reached out his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly.
Being left handed helped him in two ways: both to surprise Eglon, and to smuggle the sword into his palace. And now he seizes the opportunity while the king is occupied with rising, and with his left hand he draws the sword on his right side - the very side they were not accustomed to search - and drives it into his belly.
וַיָּבֹא גַם־הַנִּצָּב אַחַר הַלַּהַב וַיִּסְגֹּר הַחֵלֶב בְּעַד הַלַּהַב כִּי לֹא שָׁלַף הַחֶרֶב מִבִּטְנוֹ וַיֵּצֵא הַפַּרְשְׁדֹנָה׃ - And even the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, and the filth came out.
"HaNitzav" is the handle of the sword, and even it went inside after the blade. "HaLahav" is the polished iron, so called because it gleams and shines like a flame: when you hold it up to the sun it looks like fire. And he left the sword in his belly, and the Malbim says: the reason he did not draw it out is that he did not want to become soiled. Had he drawn it out, blood or the "parshedonah" would have splattered on him, and therefore he did not draw it out. "And the fat closed over the blade" - since he was extremely fat, all the overflowing fat was thick with folds, and it was this that sealed over the blade and caused no blood to splatter onto Ehud. In this way he was able to leave without anything suspicious visible on him, for had he been filthy and stained with blood, the matter would immediately have aroused suspicion and they would have stopped him.
And what is "vayetze haparshedonah"? The excrement that was in his innards. This is a word composed of two. There is a dispute among the grammarians whether four letter verbs exist, that is, a root of four letters, or whether every root is of two or three letters. For example "marzeach" - is there such a quadriliteral root, or should it be divided into two, "mar-zach," the officer of bitterness, for in a house of feasting bitterness dwells until it dissolves through alcohol, but meanwhile the officer of bitterness reigns. And many hold that there is no quadriliteral root. And so too here: "parshedonah" is a combination of two words: "peresh" from the language of excretions, that is, his excrement, and "donah" from the language of "shdoni," throwing. Parshedonah - the excrement thrown outside, the excrement came out of his body. And we will soon see that this has meaning, that the verse does not merely describe for us that his excrement came out.
וַיֵּצֵא אֵהוּד הַמִּסְדְּרוֹנָה וַיִּסְגֹּר דַּלְתוֹת הָעֲלִיָּה בַּעֲדוֹ וְנָעָל׃ - And Ehud went out to the vestibule and shut the doors of the upper chamber behind him and locked them.
Ehud goes out to the corridor and shuts the doors of the inner chamber, while he has not yet come out to the place where people are, and locks the doors. And why does this need explanation? Because they did not see him lock, for the place he went out to was still a corridor, and in the corridor there were no people. Therefore he was able to lock in such a way that when they would come and see the doors locked, they would be certain that the king had locked from the inside for his own reasons. And this caused them to delay further in pursuing him.
וְהוּא יָצָא וַעֲבָדָיו בָּאוּ וַיִּרְאוּ וְהִנֵּה דַּלְתוֹת הָעֲלִיָּה נְעֻלוֹת וַיֹּאמְרוּ אַךְ מֵסִיךְ הוּא אֶת־רַגְלָיו בַּחֲדַר הַמְּקֵרָה׃ - And he went out, and his servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber were locked, and they said, surely he is relieving himself in the cool chamber.
And why would they assume "he is only relieving himself"? For this the verse first stated "and he went out into the vestibule": since the excrement came out, it caused an odor to spread, and the smell led them to understand that the king was covering his feet, meaning attending to his needs. And why is it called this? Because when a person relieves himself he crouches with his legs together, and his legs are like a covering. Since this was so, they let him finish and did not want to disturb him, and they waited.
וַיָּחִילוּ עַד־בּוֹשׁ וְהִנֵּה אֵינֶנּוּ פֹתֵחַ דַּלְתוֹת הָעֲלִיָּה וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת־הַמַּפְתֵּחַ וַיִּפְתָּחוּ וְהִנֵּה אֲדֹנֵיהֶם נֹפֵל אַרְצָה מֵת׃ - And they waited until they were embarrassed, and behold, he was not opening the doors of the upper chamber, so they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the ground dead.
They wait, and nothing happens. They presumably call out and shout, and then they take the key and open the doors, and see their master fallen to the ground dead.
וְאֵהוּד נִמְלַט עַד הִתְמַהְמְהָם וְהוּא עָבַר אֶת־הַפְּסִילִים וַיִּמָּלֵט הַשְּׂעִירָתָה׃ - And Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed the quarries and escaped to Seirah.
The span of time during which they delayed, Ehud used to escape. "And he passed the quarries" - we have already seen that this is the place of the stone quarrying - "and escaped to Seirah," to the place called Seir.
As is well known, in the Malbim there are no synonyms and no repetition of the same idea in different words; rather each word expresses a meaning of its own. So what is the difference between "delaying," "tarrying," and "being late"? "Delaying" is the opposite of "hastening": to hasten is to act with speed, to delay is to hold back and not act with speed. "Tarrying" is delaying excessively, too long a time, as in "Moshe tarried in coming down," too long a time and he does not arrive. "Being late," however, is when a set time was fixed and the time passed; "tarrying" is when no particular time was set but a great deal of time passed, and "being late" is when he was supposed to be here at nine and is not.
Now observe: at first the servants wait "while they delayed," for they see that he is not hurrying, that he is delaying a bit. And afterward "and they waited until they were embarrassed," for now too much time is passing. And when did Ehud escape? "While they delayed." Ehud did not wait to escape until "they were embarrassed," but already during the delaying, when they saw that he was not hastening and not hurrying but taking his time - already then he escaped. Therefore he had ample time: all the time of the delaying plus the additional time they waited until they were embarrassed, more than enough to flee before they could sound the alarm horns.
וַיְהִי בְּבוֹאוֹ וַיִּתְקַע בַּשּׁוֹפָר בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם וַיֵּרְדוּ עִמּוֹ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִן־הָהָר וְהוּא לִפְנֵיהֶם׃ - And it came to pass, when he arrived, that he blew the shofar in the hill country of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountain, and he was before them.
Once he reached the Land of Israel, he blew the shofar. Blowing the shofar in their time was the alarm siren, and the shofar was used for all the announcements they wished to convey to the people. Already in the wilderness we encounter the trumpets that were meant to assemble the congregation and gather them for war, and they had precise signals: when a blast meant battle, when it meant travel, when it meant encampment, fixed signs and signals. And here too, when he blew the shofar in the hill country of Ephraim, everyone understood that this was a blast that said: we are going out to battle, at this very moment we are going out to war.
Understand, this is not like today. Today we are often already prepared psychologically: we read in the papers for months beforehand that the situation is heating up, we hear on the news a week before that shots are already being fired from both directions, and then when Order 8 arrives you already know it is war. In their time, it could be that at this very moment there is an attack. You know nothing, there is no news, you are living normally under a different king, and suddenly you hear the shofar being blown - you leave everything, take up your weapon, and run to battle. No enlistment and no induction center, straight off to fight.
And what does the verse come to teach us here? That Ehud knew and understood that if we do not seize the momentum, the Moabites will manage to reorganize, they will set over themselves a king or a general or some strong figure to lead the battle. What must be exploited is the chaos, the disorder and confusion, and if we exploit it, in a single moment we will succeed and overcome them.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם רִדְפוּ אַחֲרַי כִּי־נָתַן יְהֹוָה אֶת־אֹיְבֵיכֶם אֶת־מוֹאָב בְּיֶדְכֶם וַיֵּרְדוּ אַחֲרָיו וַיִּלְכְּדוּ אֶת־מַעְבְּרוֹת הַיַּרְדֵּן לְמוֹאָב וְלֹא־נָתְנוּ אִישׁ לַעֲבֹר׃ - And he said to them: Pursue after me, for Hashem has delivered your enemies, Moab, into your hand. And they went down after him, and captured the fords of the Jordan against Moab, and did not allow any man to cross.
How did he know? Which prophet revealed it to him? Rather, when I see such divine assistance, that I managed to kill their king in an illogical way, that suddenly they left me alone with the king, and suddenly I managed to escape, all of this happened through divine assistance, and in this Ehud saw a sign and a wonder from Heaven that the time of redemption had arrived, that the time had come for you to be saved from the hand of Moab. And therefore he told them "Pursue after me," do it swiftly.
And what was there? Eglon king of Moab had stationed governors here. When a king rules over another place he appoints governors and officials on his behalf, just as when we ruled Gaza there was a governor of Gaza appointed by the army. Strong and powerful men, who were responsible for the districts they conquered: to collect taxes from them, to administer them and to deal with the conquered nation. And so too here in the land of Israel there were Moabite and Edomite governors whom Eglon appointed to administer the cities of Israel, for he ruled over us for eighteen years. And what needed to be done now was to kill these governors and eliminate the officials. For the moment governors and officials hear that there is turmoil, they immediately do what they do in every embassy when they hear that a coup is beginning: they pack their belongings and flee.
And therefore they needed to seize the fords of the Jordan. For what separates us from Moab is the Jordan, since Moab is more or less in the area of today's Jordan, and when they want to flee from here, the western side of the Jordan, back to their land on the eastern side of the Jordan, they must cross the Jordan. Without the Jordan crossing they cannot reach their land. They need some bridge, some crossing point. And here they acted wisely: they went and seized all the strategic places through which the governors could flee back to Moab, and eliminated them.
וַיַּכּוּ אֶת־מוֹאָב בָּעֵת הַהִיא כַּעֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים אִישׁ כׇּל־שָׁמֵן וְכׇל־אִישׁ חָיִל וְלֹא נִמְלַט אִישׁ׃ - And they struck Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, every strong one and every man of valor, and not a man escaped.
They struck all the Moabites who were in the land of Israel in our cities, and killed among them every strong one and every man of valor. And we have already explained that in Tanach "shamen" means healthy and strong, and "bari" means fat, the opposite of what is customary for us. If so, they struck every healthy and strong man, all the mighty ones. And the Ralbag explains that "shamen" means wealthy, and he apparently meant the wealthy men of standing whom Eglon appointed here in the land of Israel. And some explain that "shamen" refers to the choicest among them, just as oil is considered a choice thing.
וַתִּכָּנַע מוֹאָב בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא תַּחַת יַד יִשְׂרָאֵל וַתִּשְׁקֹט הָאָרֶץ שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה׃ - And Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel, and the land was quiet eighty years.
What is "on that day"? The Malbim says: to tell you that the deliverance was not throughout all the days of Ehud ben Gera, but only on that day. For we see later "In the days of Shamgar... the roads ceased," which means that they were afraid to travel in caravans. Shamgar is the one who comes right after Ehud ben Gera, and we see that in his days the situation was not simple, and we did not have peace from the nations. If so, the deliverance was a limited deliverance: that we were not slaves. And this is "and the land was quiet eighty years": quiet in the sense that we were not slaves to the king of Moab, even though they harassed us and struck at us.
And this is exactly what we saw in the introduction he gave us in chapter 2, an overview of what we are destined to see: that there were judges during whose very lifetime the troubles returned. One of them is Ehud ben Gera. Already in his days we did not have peace, the roads ceased, and the salvation was not an absolute salvation. And the reason for this is that already at the time he judged them they strayed from the path. And therefore note that Ehud ben Gera is not mentioned as a judge but as a savior: "And Hashem raised up for them a savior, Ehud ben Gera the Benjamite."
וְאַחֲרָיו הָיָה שַׁמְגַּר בֶּן־עֲנָת וַיַּךְ אֶת־פְּלִשְׁתִּים שֵׁשׁ־מֵאוֹת אִישׁ בְּמַלְמַד הַבָּקָר וַיּוֹשַׁע גַּם־הוּא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And after him was Shamgar the son of Anat, who struck down six hundred Philistine men with an ox goad, and he too saved Israel.
Shamgar ben Anat too saved Israel, yet he is not called a judge, for here again the deliverance was limited, because they did not heed the voice of their judges, and in his days the roads ceased. This means that the people did not truly follow after the judge and deliverer to walk in the ways of Hashem, and therefore we see further on that already in his days the coming troubles begin.
And how did he save them? "He struck down six hundred Philistine men with an ox goad." An ox goad is a stick, a wooden implement with a spur at its end, a needle or nail fixed into it, so that if the ox strays to the right or to the left it is pricked by it, and if they wish to make it run forward they give it a jab and it moves ahead. This implement, as it were, teaches the ox to walk along the paved path. And with this stick, apparently they did not even have a weapon, he struck down six hundred of the Philistines.
The holy Arizal, in Likutei Torah on Sefer Shoftim, says that Shamgar ben Anat is the soul of Gershom son of Moshe, a reincarnation of Gershom. And therefore "Shamgar" is made up of the same letters as "Gershom." And the Rama of Fano, in the sefer Gilgulei Neshamot under the letter shin, says: Shamgar ben Anat, who struck down six hundred men with an ox goad, was reincarnated in Rav Shmuel bar Shilat. Rav Shmuel bar Shilat was a makrei dardekei, a teacher of young children in a Talmud Torah, and he was careful to do his work properly, teaching them fittingly and appropriately, as they instructed "אַסְפְּיֵהּ לֵיהּ כְּתוֹרָא" - feed him like an ox, that at a certain age one must feed the child and give him abundantly, more and more, for that is the age at which the child absorbs and understands.
And see how many matters are hinted at here: "melamed" the ox (melamed habakar) - he was a melamed, a teacher, the very same letters. "Melamed habakar" - since "aspei'ah leih ketora," he fed them like an ox; a teacher who is like an ox, that is melamed habakar. And also, I do not know whether it is acceptable to say this today, he would strike the students so that they would learn. And the six hundred whom he struck, "he struck down six hundred Philistine men," come to hint at the six orders of the Mishnah: each order comprises a hundred, and six orders are six hundred. Thus the soul of Rav Shmuel bar Shilat is hinted at here, who is the reincarnation of Shamgar ben Anat who saved Israel.
Chapter 3 opens the detailed account of the era of the Judges. The nations were left for two purposes: to teach the generations warfare and to test Israel, and in both we failed - we did not learn warfare, we made a covenant with the enemy, we intermarried with them and served their gods, until we forgot Hashem entirely, and He did not even make us like His children as much as a lupine bean at the end of a meal. From here on the cycle repeats: Kushan Rishatayim for eight years, and Otniel ben Kenaz the deliverer and judge who brought them back in repentance and, in its wake, to victory, and forty years of quiet; Eglon king of Moav, strengthened from Heaven for eighteen years, and Ehud ben Gera the left-handed man who, through stratagem and with the help of Heaven, subdued Moav; and finally Shamgar ben Anat who saved with an ox goad. Yet Ehud and Shamgar are called deliverers and not judges, for their deliverance was partial - we were no longer enslaved, but there was no complete quiet. And the great lesson: as long as there is justice and the way of Hashem in Israel, victory over the enemies naturally follows; and when there is not, even a weak enemy is strengthened over us from Heaven in order to bring us back in repentance.