1. (Sept. "il^ V. r. 'Awo ; Vulg. Ahod.) A descend- ant of Benjamin, progenitor of one of the clans of Geba that removed to ISIanahath (1 Chron. xiii, 30). The name is there written ^'~iJ?, Echud', either for 'Tinx, as al)ove, or altogether erroneously for ^HN, Echi' , i. e. Em (<i. v.), the grandson of Benjamin, which appears in the parallel list of Gen. xlvi, 21, and as a son of Bclah according to the Sept. version of that passage. He seems to be the same as Aiii-KAiM, Cl'^nX, in the list in Num. xxvi, 38, and, if so, Ahiram is probably the right name, as the family were called Aliiramites. In 1 Chron. viii, 1, the same person seems to, be called n~nN;, AiiAUAii, and perhaps also niPIX, Ahoaii, in
ver. 4 (Sept. 'Axia, and in Cod. Vatic. 'Axipav), "TH^. ('Ax(«), Ahiah, ver. 7, and "IPX (Aop), A her, 1 Chron. vii, 12. See Shaharaim. These fluctuations in the orthographj' seem to indicate that the original copies were partW effaced by time or injury. See Beciier ; Chronicles.
2. (Sept. 'A/t£(t) V. r. 'AwS; Vulg. Aod.) Tlie third named of the seven sons of Bilhan, the son of Jediael, and grandson of the patriarch Jacob (1 Chron. vii, 10). B.C. post 1856.
3. (Sept. 'A(u(T; Vulg. Aod; Josephus 'Hoir(!/;c.) The son of Gera (there were three others of this name. Gen. xlvi, 21 ; 2 Sam. xvi, 5 ; 1 Chron. viii, 3), of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. iii, 16, marg. "son of Jeniini," but vid. Gesenius, Lex. sub v. ""^^"^SS), the second judge of the Israelites, or, rather, of that part of Israel which he delivered from the dominion of the Moabites bj- the assassination of their king Eglon. These were the tribes beyond the Jordan, and the southern tribes on this side the river. In the Bible he is not called a judge, but a deliverer (1. c.) ; so Othniel (Judg. iii, 9), and all the judges (Neh. ix, 27). As a Benjamite he was specially chosen to destroy Eglon, who had estab- lished himself in Jericho, whicli was included in the boundaries of that tribe. See Eglox. In Josephus he appears as a young man ()^£«i/('at). He was verj'- strong, and left-handed. So A. V. ; but the more lit- eral rendering is, as in the margin, " shut of liis right hand." The words are differenth- rendered : 1. left- handed, and unable to vise his right; 2. using his left hand as readily as his right. For 1. Targum, Josephus, Syr. (impotem), Arab, (aridmri), and Jewisli ■writers generally ; Cajet., Buxtorf, Parkh., Ges,cn.(lmpedttus): derivation of "IIJN I'rom "iwN, the latter only in Psa. Ixix, 16, where it = to shut. For 2. Sept. {aprpioi^ioc), Vulg. (qui utrdque manu pro dextrd, utthatui'), Corn, a Lap., Bonfrer., Patrick (comp. TiipiSt^ioq, Horn. II. xxi, 163 ; Hipp. Ajh. 7, 4.S) ; Judg. xx, 16, sole recur- rence of the phrase, applied to 700 Bcnjamites, the picked men of the army, who were not likely to be chosen for a physical defect. As regards Psa. Ixix, 16, it is urged that "l-N max^^cormio^^apterio; hence ■nuyX = apertus = expeditus, q. d. expediia dextra ; or if "clausus,'" clausus dextra = cinctus dexti'd — Tirtpici^tog, ambidexter (vid. Poll Sjjn.). The feint of drawing the dagger from the right thigh (Judg. iii, 21) is consistent with either opinion. See Ambidexter.
Ehud obtained access to Eglon as the bearer of trib- ute from the subjugated trilies, and being left-handed, or, rather, ambidextrous, he was enabled to use with a sure and fatal aim a dagger concealed under a part of his dress, where it was unsuspected, because it would there have been useless to a person emploj-ing his right hand. The circumstances attending this tragical event are somewhat differently given in Judtres and in Josephus (see Winkler, Unters. schrerer Schriftst. i, 45 sq. ; Pedslob, in the Stiidicn v. Krit. ix, 912 sq. ; Ewald, Isr. Gesch. ii, 375 sq.). That Ehud had the en- tree of the palace is implied in Judges (iii, 19), but more distinctly stated in Josephus. In Judges the Israelites send a present by Ehud (iii, 15) ; in Josephus Ehud wins his favor by repeated presents of his own. Josephus represents this intimacy as having been of long continuance; but in Judges we find no mention of intimacy, and onlv one occasion of a present being made, viz., that which immediately preceded the death of Eglon. In Judges we have two scenes, the offering of the present and tliedeatli scene, whicli arc sejiarated by the temiiorary withdrawal of Ehud (ver. 1«, 19) ; in J( sephus there is l)ut one scene. The ]ireFent is offered, the attendants are dismissed, and the king enters into friendly conversation (o/KiX/nr) with Ehud. In Judges the jJace seems to change from the reception-room into the "summer-parlor," where Ehud found him upon his return (ccmp. ver. 18, 20). In Josephus the entire ac-
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tion takes place in the summer-parlor (ow^citiov). In Judges the king exposes himself to the dagger by ris- ing apparently in respect for the divine message which Ehud professed to communicate (Patrick, ad loc.) ; in Josephus it is a dream which Ehud pretends to reveal, and the king, in delighted anticipation, springs up from liis throne. The obesity of Eglon, and the con- sequent impossibility of recovering the dagger, are not mentioned by Josephus (vid. Judg. iii, 17, fat, uarnoc, Sopt. ; l)ut "crassus," Vulg., and so Gesenius, Lex.). The "quarries that were by Gilgal," to which Ehud retired in the interval between the two interviews (iii, 19), are rendered in the margin better, as in Deut. vii, 25, "graven images" (Patrick, ad loc. ; conip. Gesen. Ileb. Lex. s. v. D'^b'^OQ). See Eglon.