Tell It to the Judge, Part II: A Killer Southpaw

So reading deeper into the Book of Judges I get to its third chapter. I come across a strange comment about the judge Ehud that warranted a deeper look.

Judges 3:12 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man…

The text will go on to state that Ehud creates a double-edged sword with which to kill Eglon. This assassination will be done by Ehud with his left hand under the pretense of bringing a secret message to him in private.

Judges 12:21-22 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged.

So the obvious question becomes, “Why the left hand?”

The Scientific/Medical Forensic

Based on wordage in the text and what we know medically, there are a few reasons a puncturing sweeping left abdomen wound would be preferred for an assassin. The heart and lungs being protected by the rib cage would make them prohibitively difficult to hit. Targeting the abdomen makes for a large, soft target that lacks the protection of the ribcage. Tactically, it is also the center or mass and hardest to get out of the way quickly, especially for a fat man like Eglon was. A hand or head can dodge or weave quickly, not an abdomen. It’s also closest to a neutral hand position for Ehud.

You also have many major blood vessels in the area targeted by Ehud. The abdomen houses critical vascular structures like the renal artery and branches tied to the aorta, which can cause rapid internal bleed out. It also contains vital organs. A deep penetration like Ehud would’ve produced with a double-edged sword in this region can damage organs like the liver, left kidney, spleen, or descending colon, leading to fatal hemorrhage. Therefore, the probability of a quick death as narrated in this passage would easily have been produced by a puncture of the liver or abdominal aorta artery. Either of these can lead to unconsciousness within a minute if executed exactly.

Then there is also the density and proximity of all the above accessible to a left-handed assassin sweeping a blade across an abdomen. An effective sharp, rising simultaneous perforation through a kidney, the diaphragm and into the thoracic cavity to puncture a lung would be nearly instantly lethal. The victim’s first exhalation pushes the air out and the perforated diaphragm makes replacing that air virtually impossible. Shock, unconsciousness, and death from blood loss and asphyxiation would follow quickly. We in fact read in the sword was pulled from Ehud’s right side and entered so deeply the handle was in the body also. So, therefore, a deep slashing puncture wound.

The Theological/Philosophical

The left hand or a left-handed man may be regarded as a type abnormality, eccentricity or even a disability in the time of the Judges or approx 1200 B.C.-1020 B.C. or late Bronze Age (or any time for that matter). For this alone it warrants examining why God would have a left-handed person doing this killing, medical reasoning aside. The phrase ‘left-handed man” in Hebrew literally means…"a man bound or obstructed in his right hand". Ehud may have been paralyzed or disabled. The real Jewish tribal irony is that Ehud belonged to the Tribe of Benjamin, a name that literally means "son of my right hand" or as Hebraism, “…son of my strength.” Furthermore, there may have been some genetic/hereditary abilities imparted to the Benjamites or a proclivity trained into them  because Judges also goes on to state this gem too…

Judges 20:15-16 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking as most combatants would’ve been right handed carrying shield in their left hands which would’ve made deflecting projectiles from a lefty nearly impossible. As we know from David and Goliath, this vulnerability is deadly.

Finally, I should also mention one other peculiarity about Old Testament southpaws. In 1 Chronicles 12:2 there is mention of another contingent of lefty soldiers who were also Benjamites. Again, this lends credence to the possibility there might have been something genetically unique about Benjamite manual dexterity. David's general Joab (Tribe of Judah, closely linked to Judah and southern kingdom) is shown to be either left-handed or ambidextrous in 2 Samuel 20:8-10. He grabs his opponents beard with his right hand while holding a sword in his left. The opponent takes no heed of the sword in his left and is undefended when Joab strikes.

So to surmise:

Benjamin was a “son of the right hand.” Ehud (and 700+ others) were Benjamite men whose right hand was somehow restricted either through disability or binding. Yet God places the sword or slings of deliverance in their left hands.

The Paradoxical Nature of God

In God’s providential goodness he permits peculiar variations from the norms of society. God does not form all men according to one exact pattern or mold. There is great variety in the nature, capacity and position of people. While many are in the center of the bell-curve there are some that are far removed from it. There is a high probability therefore that Eglon wouldn’t have deemed a left-handed man a direct immediate threat when is sword was fastened on his non-dominate side. Unfortunately, what Eglon failed to understand is that the left-handed man has the same heart as the right-handed man….capable of the highest good but also the ugliness of lethality when pressed by desperation. Guards usually searched visitors on their left side assuming they were right-handed and drew swords from their left hip; Ehud concealed his double-edged sword on his right thigh, bypassing security. Ehud is then able to implement his shocking purpose more securely through the element of surprise and Eglon letting his guard down in what appears to have been arrogance.

Ehud’s eccentricity or abnormal dexterity is turned to advantage. What first appears at first as nothing but a societal abnormality becomes a special aptitude. A peculiarity or shortcoming can always be turned into a positive. It may enable those who suffer from it to sympathize with and help others with similar difficulty. The the blind have a mission to the blind, the alcoholic to the alcoholic, the cancer survivor consuls the cancer patient. Suffering is the language and medium to consul the sufferer. A peculiarity itself becomes the tool or path by which God’s needed work is accomplished. Paradoxically, a peculiar disadvantage in one direction is often compensated for by peculiar advantages in another. This is often the mode by which God works through man. The first last and the last first.

A man who is weak in the right hand, is often strong in the left-hand. The blind often have a rare skill in music. Muscular weakness is often offset by intellectual strength. Deficient physical health is equalized by spiritual power. Therefore, instead of complaining of shortcomings we should associate with others not avoid those who have had similar issues and determine how to turn disadvantage into an advantage. It is the proverbial turning of lemons into lemonade.

God can use even the useless as a very useful thing. Therein we have the story of God using Onesimus in Philemon. The paradoxical abnormality in the letter to Philemon is that Philemon was a free man who owned a slave. Onesimus was the slave that Paul writes to Philemon about to free him. Paul is writing to him from Roman imprisonment. Onesmus’ name means ‘useless’ in Greek, but he is very useful in making a point to shame Philemon into freeing Onesimus even while Paul is in prison so that Onesimus can carry Paul’s message to the world outside the prison.

In the end it is just another example of thousands that the Bible shows divine subversion of human arrogance or supposed cleverness. Christian and Jewish thought highlights how God consistently uses what society deems weak, overlooked, or disabled to turn the tides of history.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.