Reading for December 1st

Read Judges 3.12-31
In 12.12-30: Ehud.
In verse 13: The city of palms is Jericho.
In verses 15-16: That Ehud was left-handed lets him hide his short sword (with two edges for stabbing) in an unexpected place on his right thigh.
In verse 20: Eglon rose from his seat, expecting to hear a divine oracle.
In verse 24: Readers would enjoy rough humor at the expense of their enemies.
The delay gives Ehud time to escape and raise a rebellion.
In verse 28: Holding the fords of the Jordan prevented the enemy from escaping back across to Moab.
In verse 31: Sahmgar.
Since 4.1 rfers to Ehud, this myserious figure (compare to 5.6) is not part of the book's system of judges.
Since son of indicates membership in a group or class and Anath was a war goddess, Shamgar may have been a mercenary.
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