Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a left-handed man was raised by God as a deliverer. For Ehud, however, left-handedness put him at a great advantage for striking a crippling blow to the Moabites who were oppressing Israel during his time.
Ehud came from the tribe of Benjamin, who apparently were renowned in Israel for their many left-handed warriors (Judges 20:16; 1 Chronicles 12:2). The Moabites, however, were no doubt unaware of this tribe’s distinctive warriors, and this ultimately led to their defeat.
King Eglon of Moab had attacked Israel and taken over the city of Jericho, called the City of Palms.
Ehud was chosen to take the Israelites’ tribute money to Eglon at Jericho. But Ehud brought another surprise for Eglon. Being left-handed, Ehud strapped a small sword to his right thigh. Since most people would have been right-handed and reached for their swords on their left thigh, Ehud’s sword must have gone unnoticed by the Moabite guards, who would likely have been checking his left thigh for any weapons. After being granted access to the king to hand over the tribute money, Ehud drew his sword, killed Eglon, and escaped back to Israel to call his fellow Israelites to arms. The Israelites seized control of Jericho and even made Moab subject to them. Ehud continued to serve Israel as judge for the rest of his life.
Jericho is one of the oldest known cities in the world, dating back several thousand years. Even though Ehud lived probably no more than a few hundred years after Israel entered the Promised Land of Canaan, Jericho would have already been a very old, established city.