Judges 3:29

And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(29) At that time.—Apparently in the first surprise of the Moabite forces and garrisons.

All lusty.—Literally, every fat man and every soldier of strength, the word being the same as that used in Judges 3:17 to describe the fatness of Eglon. The choice of the word seems to be dictated by a certain grim sense of humour. “The narrative ends, as it had begun, with its half-humorous allusion to the well-fed carcases of those who, corpulent like their chief, lay dead along the shore of the river.” (Stanley.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:12-30 When Israel sins again, God raises up a new oppressor. The Israelites did ill, and the Moabites did worse; yet because God punishes the sins of his own people in this world, Israel is weakened, and Moab strengthened against them. If lesser troubles do not do the work, God will send greater. When Israel prays again, God raises up Ehud. As a judge, or minister of Divine justice, Ehud put to death Eglon, the king of Moab, and thus executed the judgments of God upon him as an enemy to God and Israel. But the law of being subject to principalities and powers in all things lawful, is the rule of our conduct. No such commissions are now given; to pretend to them is to blaspheme God. Notice Ehud's address to Eglon. What message from God but a message of vengeance can a proud rebel expect? Such a message is contained in the word of God; his ministers are boldly to declare it, without fearing the frown, or respecting the persons of sinners. But, blessed be God, they have to deliver a message of mercy and of free salvation; the message of vengeance belongs only to those who neglect the offers of grace. The consequence of this victory was, that the land had rest eighty years. It was a great while for the land to rest; yet what is that to the saints' everlasting rest in the heavenly Canaan.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

28. they went down after him, and took the fords—(See on [214]Jos 2:7). With the view of preventing all escape to the Moabite coast, and by the slaughter of ten thousand men [Jud 3:29], Ehud rescued his country from a state of ignominious vassalage.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Geneva Study Bible

And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

29. ten thousand] A round number, Jdg 1:4 n. The Moabites who formed the army of occupation were all picked men.

Judges 3:29

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Thus they smote at that time about 10,000 Moabites, all fat and powerful men, i.e., the whole army of the enemy in Jericho and on this side of the Jordan, not letting a man escape. The expression "at that time" seems to imply that they did not destroy this number in one single engagement, but during the whole course of the war.