Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he wore it under his clothing on his right thigh.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 16. He made, or procured, though it was formerly honourable for a person to do such things himself. Calmet.—Hand. Hebrew gomed, is translated by the Prot. “of a cubit length,” ( Bible.) though the term is never used elsewhere for that measure. Septuagint have spithamé, measure of 12 fingers.—Garment. The sagum, as well as the Septuagint mandua, from the Hebrew mad, denote a military garment. But such a dress might have rendered Aod suspected, ( Calmet.) unless an uniform might then be deemed a suitable dress for an ambassador. Bible.—Thigh. The Jews wore the sword there; (Psalms 44:4,) and it would be more convenient on the left thigh, as the nations of Gaul and Germany had it, while the Roman cavalry wore the sword on the right; and the infantry had two swords, the long one on the left, and a shorter, about an hand’s length, on the right. Joseph. Bel. iii. 3. Lipsius.
A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.