Judges 3:23

Jdg 3:23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.

Ver. 23. And Ehud went forth through the porch.] Or, Gallery, or guard chamber, with a composed countenance and good courage proceeding from a good conscience, so that the courtiers had no suspicion of him.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 3:23. Ehud went forth — With a composed countenance and motion, being well assured that God, who by his extraordinary call had excited him to this enterprise, would, by his special providence, carry him through it. And shut the doors upon him — Upon, or after, himself; and locked them — Either pulling them closely after him, as we do, when doors have spring- locks; or taking the key with him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, hall.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(23) Then Ehud went forth through the porch.—Rather, into. The word rendered “porch”—misderônah—is derived from seder (“order”). The Chaldee represents it by a transliteration of the Greek word exedra, “a hall decorated with pillars.” Kimchi supposes it to mean an ante-chamber where people waited to see the king, standing in order; and this seems to be the view of the LXX. (in the Vatican Codex), who render it, “he went out through those set in order” (tous diatetagmenous). If this be the meaning, it can only refer to his walking boldly out through the attendants after he had fastened the doors. But the fact is that the ancient versions were as uncertain of the meaning as ourselves. The Syriac has, “through the xystos” or colonnade; the Arabic, “through the window.”

Shut the doors of the parlour upon him—i.e., upon Eglon.

Locked them.—The LXX. have “wedged them” (esphçnose). The lock was probably of a character similar to that used by all ancient nations, namely, wooden slides which entered into a hole in the doorpost, and were secured by catches cut into it. See Jahn, Archœol. Bibl. 2:6-37.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. into the porch] The rendering is a guess; the Hebr. word misdìron, perhaps = ‘a row’ of pillars, must denote the part of the building to which Ehud went out when he left the ‘upper chamber,’ but the precise meaning is unknown; ‘colonnade,’ ‘vestibule,’ have been suggested.

upon him] i.e. Eglon; the doors are the two leaves of a double door, cf. Jdg_16:3, 1Ki_6:31 f. The form of the tense and locked them is incorrect; the words were probably added by a scribe to account for the locked doors in Jdg_3:24-25 (Moore, Budde).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When he was gone out, his servants came,.... When Ehud was gone through the porch, and out of the palace, the servants of Eglon, who had been put out, came to the parlour door to reassume their former place, and finish their business with the king, or in order to wait upon him as usual:

and when they saw that behold the doors of the parlour were locked; which they supposed were done by the king himself with inside, having no suspicion of Ehud:

they said, surely, or "perhaps", as Noldius (f) renders it:

he covereth his feet in his summer chamber; that is, was easing nature; and, as the eastern people wore long and loose garments, when they sat down on such an occasion, their feet were covered with them; or they purposely gathered them about their feet to cover them, and so this became a modest expression for this work of nature, see Sa1 24:3; though some think that in that place, and also in this, is meant lying down to sleep; and that Eglon's servants supposed that he had laid himself down on his couch in his summer chamber to take sleep, when it was usual to cover the feet with long garments, to hide those parts of nature which otherwise might be exposed; and it must be owned that this seems more agreeable to a summer parlour than the former, and better accounts for the servants waiting so long as they did; and Josephus (g) is express for it, that his servants thought he had fallen asleep. Indeed, the Jews in later times used the phrase in the first sense (h), which seems to be taken from hence.

(f) Ebr. Concord. part. p. 47. No. 237. (g) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2.) (h) Misn. Yoma, c. 3. sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ehud went forth, with a composed countenance and gait, without any fear; being well assured that God, who by his extraordinary call had put him upon that enterprise, would by his special providence preserve him, and carry him through it.

Upon him; either upon the king, or upon or after himself.

Locked them; either by pulling it close after him, as we do when doors have spring-locks; or by taking the key with him for more caution; and this he did, that they supposing the king to be retired, might wait till he was gone.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. Locked them — The lock was, probably, a simple slide of wood or iron, which might have been fastened by one going out, by pulling a string, so as to throw it into a catch or socket; but which could be unfastened from the outside only by a key. Jdg_3:25.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Went forth - With a composed countenance and gait, being well assured, that God, who by his extraordinary call had put him upon that enterprise, would by his special providence carry him through it. Upon him - Upon or after himself. Locked them - Either pulling it close after him, as we do when doors have spring locks; or taking the key with him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

As soon as the deed was accomplished, Ehud went out into the porch or front hall, shut the door of the room behind him (בּעדו, not behind himself, but literally round him, i.e., Eglon; cf. Gen 7:16; Kg2 4:4) and bolted it (this is only added as a more precise explanation of the previous verb).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

And Ehud went out to the hallway. From the penthouse to the מסדרונה, translated by Targum Yonasan as 'hallway'.

And locked With the key.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.