Judges 3:25

Jdg 3:25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened [them]: and, behold, their lord [was] fallen down dead on the earth.

Ver. 25. And they tarried till they were ashamed,] viz., Of their long staying, and not looking after their lord.

And, behold, their lord was fallen down dead.]

“ Ad generum Cereris sine caede et sanguine pauci

Descendunt reges, et sicca morte tyranni. ”

God, when he hath chastised his children, doth many times cast the rod into the fire: witness the persecutors in all ages, many of whom came to untimely ends. Most of the Caesars, till Constantine, got nothing by their adoption or designation, nisi ut citius interficerentur, but to be the sooner slain.

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 3:25. They tarried till they were ashamed — Till they were in great confusion, not conceiving what could cause him to sleep so much longer than usual; and not knowing what to say or think, afraid that they should either disturb him, or be guilty of neglect toward him. They took a key and opened them — Another key, it being usual in the courts of kings for more persons than one to be intrusted with keys to the same room.

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

(25) Tarried till they were ashamed.—See 2Ki_2:17; 2Ki_8:11. It is a dangerous matter to intrude on the privacy of an Oriental king.

A key.—Literally, the opener. The ancient key was simply a bar of wood, hooked at the end, which passed through a hole in the door and caught the bolt inside.

Their lord was fallen down dead.—Comp. Jdg_4:22.

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

25. till they were ashamed] Cf. 2Ki_2:17; 2Ki_8:11; an idiom expressive of surprise and perplexity.

the key, and opened them] The lock or bolt was constructed most likely in the same fashion as the wooden locks still used in Palestine; the bolt is shot by hand, the key is used only for unlocking.

was fallen down dead] Cf. Jdg_4:22; Jdt_14:14 f.

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.

And Ehud escaped while they tarried,.... While the servants of the king of Moab tarried waiting for the opening of the doors of the parlour, this gave him time enough to make his escape, so as to be out of the reach of pursuers; or else the sense is, that even when they had opened the doors, and found the king dead, while they were in confusion at it, not knowing what to ascribe it to, the dagger being enclosed in the wound, and perhaps but little blood, if any, issued out, being closed up with fat, and so had no suspicion of his being killed by Ehud; but rather supposing it to be an accidental fall from his seat, and might call in the physicians to examine him, and use their skill, if there were any hopes of recovery; all which prolonged time, and facilitated the escape of Ehud:

and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirath; he got beyond the quarries, which were by Gilgal, which shows that it could not be at Jericho where the king of Moab was, as Josephus thinks, but either in his own country beyond Jordan, though no mention is made of Ehud's crossing Jordan, or however some place nearer the fords of Jordan; since Gilgal, from whence he returned, and whither he came again after he had killed the king of Moab, lay on that side of Jericho which was towards Jordan; and this Seirath he escaped to was in or near the mountain of Ephraim, as appears from Jdg 3:27,, but of it we have no account elsewhere; but it is thought by some learned men (l) to be the place where Seth's pillars stood, and they to be the engravings here spoken of, which we translate "quarries": the words of Josephus (m) are, that the posterity of Seth, who very much studied astronomy, having heard that Adam foretold the destruction of the universe at one time by fire, and at another by water, erected two pillars, one of stone, and the other of brick, on which they inscribed their inventions (in astronomy), that they might be preserved, and which remain to this day in the land of Siriad; but this account of Josephus seems to be taken from a fabulous relation of Manetho, the Egyptian, and is abundantly confuted by Dr. Stillingfleet (n). Jarchi interprets this of Seirath, a thick wood or forest, the trees of which grew as thick as the hair on a man's head, and so a proper place to escape to, and hide in: it may be it was the woody part of the mount Ephraim, see Jos 17:18.

(l) Marsham. Chronicon, p. 39. Vossius de 70 Interpret. p. 271. (m) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 2. sect. 3. (n) Origines Sacrae, l. 1. c. 2.

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

A key - literally, “an opener.” Probably a wooden instrument with which they either lifted up the latch within, or drew back the wooden bar or bolt. The chief officer of Eglon’s household probably had a second key (compare Isa 22:15, Isa 22:20-22; Isa 37:2).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ashamed, perceiving that their hopes had been vain, (Calmet) and not knowing what to do, (Menochius) they began to fear the worst. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Ashamed, or, confounded, not knowing what to say or think; lest they should either disturb him, or be guilty of neglect towards him.

A key; another key, it being usual in princes’ courts to have divers keys for the same door.

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

25. Took a key — See on Jdg_3:23.

Dead on the earth — That is, on the floor of his chamber. Perhaps the fatal thrust of Ehud’s dagger had not produced instant death, but had so far disabled the king that he could not raise an alarm. He was found dead.

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

Ashamed - Or, confounded, not knowing what to say or think; lest they should either disturb him, or be guilty of neglect towards him. A key - Another key, it being usual in princes courts to have divers keys for the same door.

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

A considerable time. [lit.] Until [it constituted] delay, as if to say, a considerable time.

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.