Word of the Day - 3/21/2008

Sinistral

Sinistral means of, pertaining to, or on the left side; left-handed.

Ehud, the second of six major judges in the book of the same name, succeeded largely due to his being sinistral. The Israelites were under the subjection of Moab and Ehud received an audience with the obese king Eglon under the auspices of paying tribute. He fashioned a double edged sword and bound it on his right thigh. This allowed him to conceal it as the right-handed person would carry their weapon of choice on their left side. Presumably, Eglon’s men did not frisk Ehud’s right side. When they left the two alone, Ehud imbedded the sword into Eglon’s rotund physique and escaped before anyone knew of the assassination. (Judges 3:15-30)

Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin, who evidently were known for being sinistral. The only other instance in which the expression “left-handed” is used in the entire NASB refers to seven hundred Benjamite soldiers. (Judges 20:15-17)