Judges 3:15

3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he ¹  raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. ²  The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. ³ 

Judges 18:2

18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, ⁴  capable men ⁵  from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. ⁶ 

Judges 21:10

21:10 So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors ⁷  against Jabesh Gilead. ⁸  They commanded them, “Go and kill with your swords ⁹  the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children.

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:15]  ² tn The phrase, which refers to Ehud, literally reads “bound/restricted in the right hand,” apparently a Hebrew idiom for a left-handed person. See Judg 20:16, where 700 Benjaminites are described in this way. Perhaps the Benjaminites purposely trained several of their young men to be left-handed warriors by restricting the use of the right hand from an early age so the left hand would become dominant. Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking city gates. See B. Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon: The First Locked-Room Murder Mystery,” BRev 4 (1988): 35.

[3:15]  ³ tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”

[18:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”

[18:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

[18:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”

[21:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

[21:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “there.”

[21:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “the edge of the sword.”