Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 3:23
Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them.
23. into the porch ] The rendering is a guess; the Hebr. word misdron, perhaps = ‘a row’ of pillars, must denote the part of the building to which Ehud went out when he left the ‘upper chamber,’ but the precise meaning is unknown; ‘colonnade,’ ‘vestibule,’ have been suggested.
upon him ] i.e. Eglon; the doors are the two leaves of a double door, cf. Jdg 16:3, 1Ki 6:31 f. The form of the tense and locked them is incorrect; the words were probably added by a scribe to account for the locked doors in Jdg 3:24-25 (Moore, Budde).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ehud went forth, with a composed countenance and gait, without any fear; being well assured that God, who by his extraordinary call had put him upon that enterprise, would by his special providence preserve him, and carry him through it.
Upon him; either upon the king, or upon or after himself.
Locked them; either by pulling it close after him, as we do when doors have spring-locks; or by taking the key with him for more caution; and this he did, that they supposing the king to be retired, might wait till he was gone.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then Ehud went forth through the porch,…. Which the Targum interprets by “exedra”, a place, as Kimchi, where there were many seats, either for the people to sit in while waiting to have admittance into the presence of the king, or where the guards sat, and may be called the guard room; through this Ehud passed with all serenity and composure of mind imaginable, without the least show of distress and uneasiness in his countenance, being fully satisfied that what he had done was right, and according to the will of God:
and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them; joined the doors of the parlour, as the Targum, the two folds of the door, shut them close together upon Eglon within the parlour, and bolted them within, or drew the bolt on the inside, which he was able to do with a key for that purpose; of which see more on Jud 3:25; and which it is probable he took away along with him; this must be understood as done before he went through the porch, and therefore should be rendered, “when” or “after he had shut the doors”, c. e wherefore in the Vulgate Latin version this clause is put first.
e “quum occlusisset”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As soon as the deed was accomplished, Ehud went out into the porch or front hall, shut the door of the room behind him ( , not behind himself, but literally round him, i.e., Eglon; cf. Gen 7:16; 2Ki 4:4) and bolted it (this is only added as a more precise explanation of the previous verb).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(23) Then Ehud went forth through the porch.Rather, into. The word rendered porchmisdernahis derived from seder (order). The Chaldee represents it by a transliteration of the Greek word exedra, a hall decorated with pillars. Kimchi supposes it to mean an ante-chamber where people waited to see the king, standing in order; and this seems to be the view of the LXX. (in the Vatican Codex), who render it, he went out through those set in order (tous diatetagmenous). If this be the meaning, it can only refer to his walking boldly out through the attendants after he had fastened the doors. But the fact is that the ancient versions were as uncertain of the meaning as ourselves. The Syriac has, through the xystos or colonnade; the Arabic, through the window.
Shut the doors of the parlour upon himi.e., upon Eglon.
Locked them.The LXX. have wedged them (esphnose). The lock was probably of a character similar to that used by all ancient nations, namely, wooden slides which entered into a hole in the doorpost, and were secured by catches cut into it. See Jahn, Archol. Bibl. 2:6-37.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Locked them The lock was, probably, a simple slide of wood or iron, which might have been fastened by one going out, by pulling a string, so as to throw it into a catch or socket; but which could be unfastened from the outside only by a key. Jdg 3:25.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the parlour on him, and locked them.’
The word for vestibule is otherwise unknown and its meaning not certain. But the import is clear, he was able to leave and lock the door behind him.
Wooden keys for crude locking devices are well known. The key would be a flat piece of wood furnished with pins which corresponded to holes in a hollow bolt. The bolt was on the inside and would be shot into a socket in the doorpost, and would be fastened by pins which fell into the holes in the bolt from an upright piece of wood attached to the inside of the door. To unlock the door you would put your hand through a special hole provided (Son 5:4), and raise the locking pins by using the pins in the ‘key’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 3:23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.
Ver. 23. And Ehud went forth through the porch. ] Or, Gallery, or guard chamber, with a composed countenance and good courage proceeding from a good conscience, so that the courtiers had no suspicion of him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 3:23. Ehud went forth With a composed countenance and motion, being well assured that God, who by his extraordinary call had excited him to this enterprise, would, by his special providence, carry him through it. And shut the doors upon him Upon, or after, himself; and locked them Either pulling them closely after him, as we do, when doors have spring- locks; or taking the key with him.