Judges 3:28

Jdg 3:28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.

Ver. 28. And he said unto them, Follow after me.] This was captain-like spoken. Caesar never said to his soldiers, Ite, Go ye, but Venite, Come along: I will lead you, neither shall ye go farther than ye have me before you. Hannibal was wont to be first in the battle, and last out. {a}

{a} Princeps proelium inibat: ultimus conserto proelio excedebat. - Liv.

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.

they went down after him, and took the fords--(See on Jos 2:7). With the view of preventing all escape to the Moabite coast, and by the slaughter of ten thousand men [Jdg 3:29], Ehud rescued his country from a state of ignominious vassalage.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 28. Took the fords of Jordan] It is very likely that the Moabites, who were on the western side of Jordan, hearing of the death of Eglon, were panic-struck, and endeavoured to escape over Jordan at the fords near Jericho, when Ehud blew his trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and thus to get into the land of the Moabites, which lay on the east of Jordan; but Ehud and his men, seizing the only pass by which they could make their escape, slew ten thousand of them in their attempt to cross at those fords. What is called here the fords was doubtless the place where the Israelites had passed Jordan when they (under Joshua) took possession of the promised land.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(28) The Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.—Comp. Jdg_7:9-15; 1Sa_17:47; 1Ki_22:12.

Took the fords of Jordan.—This was a matter of extreme importance. The fords of Jordan were few, and far distant from each other. (Jos_2:7.) The steep ravine through which it flows forms a natural barrier to Western Palestine, and by securing the fords they cut off from the Moabites all chance of succour. The vehement rapidity of Ehud’s movements had rendered their escape impossible.

Suffered not a man to passover.—Comp. Jdg_12:5-6. It was a massacre of vengeance, like the Sicilian Vespers, or the massacre of the English of the Pale in Ireland, or that of the Danes in England on St. Brice’s day.

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

28. Follow after me] lit. pursue after me; the slight correction of the LXX come down after me, cf. clause b, is generally accepted.

against the Moabites] Cf. Jdg_7:24, Jdg_12:5, i.e. so as to prevent the Moabites on the west side of the river (Jdg_3:13) from crossing to their own country. Of the three fords near Jericho, the southernmost near Gilgal is probably meant; cf. Jos_2:7, 2Sa_19:15.

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 they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men,.... Who had been sent into the land of Israel to keep it in subjection, or had settled themselves there for their better convenience, profit, and pleasure; it is very probable there were some of both sorts:

all lusty, and all men of valour; the word for "lusty" signifies "fat", living in ease for a long time, and in a plentiful country were grown fat; and, according to Ben Gersom, it signifies rich men, such as had acquired wealth by living in the land of Canaan; or who came over Jordan thither and settled about Jericho, because of the delightfulness of the place, and others were stout and valiant soldiers, whom the king of Moab had placed there to keep the land in subjection he had subdued, and to subdue what remained of it; but they were all destroyed:

and there escaped not a man; for there being no other way of getting into the land of Moab but at the fords of Jordan they fell into the hands of the Israelites possessed of them, as they made up unto them.

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

Ehud “went down” from the mountain of Ephraim into the Jordan valley beneath it, straight to the Jordan fords Jos 2:7, so as to intercept all communication between the Moabites on the west side and their countrymen on the east.

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

Fords. That none, from the other side, might come to the assistance of the Moabites, (Menochius) who were at their prince’s court, in the territory of Jericho, and that none of these might make their escape. (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).

The fords, where they passed over Jordan, that neither the Moabites that were got into Canaan might escape, nor any more Moabites come over Jordan to their succour.

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

28. Took the fords of Jordan toward Moab — That is, the fords by which the Moabites stationed at Jericho must pass to escape to their own land, on the east of the Jordan. Eglon occupied Jericho, and had built a palace there, (see note on Jdg_3:13.) and had ten thousand men (Jdg_3:29) with him. It was of the first importance for the Israelites to get possession of these fords, and thus cut off the retreat of the Moabite army to the eastern side of the Jordan.

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

Fords of Jordan - Where they passed over Jordan, that neither the Moabites that were got into Canaan, might escape, nor any more Moabites come over Jordan to their succor.

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

General Information:

Ehud speaks to the people of Israel in Ephraim.

for Yahweh is about to defeat your enemies

Yahweh helping the Israelites to defeat their enemies is spoken of as if Yahweh were a warrior who would fight and defeat their enemies. (See: Metaphor)

captured the fords

"gained control of the fords"

fords

the areas of a river where it is shallow and easy to walk across to the other side

did not allow anyone to cross

"did not let anyone cross"

ten thousand men

"10,000 men" (See: Numbers)

capable men

"able men" or "men able to fight well"

Moab was subdued by the strength of Israel

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the Israelite army defeated the Moabites" (See: Active or Passive)

the strength of Israel

Here "strength" represents the Israelite army. (See: Metonymy)

the land had rest

Here "land" represents the people. AT: "the Israelites lived peacefully" (See: Metonymy)

eighty years

"80 years" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

Yahweh

adversary

Moab

Jordan River

Israel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Charge behind me to wipe out all the Moabites on our side of the Yardein.

Took control of the Yardein passes so that the Moabites could not cross to escape and return to their country.

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.