Judg 3:19-21 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Judg 3:19-21: 3:19-21 The message had to be secret to ensure that Ehud would be left alone with the king; it had to be from God to guarantee that the ploy would be effective. Eglon probably stood up because he expected some kind of message from the Lord, which is precisely what he received. 3:19 Gilgal became the Israelites’ initial base of operations after they crossed the Jordan and was the site of important events associated with the conquest (Josh 4–6 ). The stone idols may have been a pagan shrine created from the twelve stones that Joshua set up (Josh 4:20 ). Later, Gilgal was still an important center for the faithful (1 Sam 7:16 ) and for idolators (Hos 4:15 ; 9:15 ; 12:11 ; Amos 4:4 ; 5:5 ).

a3:19-21►

b3:19►

cJosh 4–6►

dJosh 4:20►

e1 Sam 7:16►

fHos 4:15►

g9:15►

h12:11►

iAmos 4:4►

j5:5►

k3:20►

‏ Judges 3:19-21

Summary for Judg 3:19-21: 3:19-21 ^a The message had to be secret to ensure that Ehud would be left alone with the king; it had to be from God to guarantee that the ploy would be effective. Eglon probably stood up because he expected some kind of message from the Lord, which is precisely what he received. 3:19 ^b Gilgal became the Israelites’ initial base of operations after they crossed the Jordan and was the site of important events associated with the conquest (Josh 4–6 ^c). The stone idols may have been a pagan shrine created from the twelve stones that Joshua set up (Josh 4:20 ^d). Later, Gilgal was still an important center for the faithful (1 Sam 7:16 ^e) and for idolators (Hos 4:15 ^f; 9:15 ^g; 12:11 ^h; Amos 4:4 ⁱ; 5:5 ^j).
3:20 ^k The cool upstairs room was probably some kind of rooftop chamber, a common summer meeting place in hot countries.