Judges 3
1
Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
2
only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing thereof:
3
[namely], the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath.
4
And they were [left], to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.
5
And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
6
and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.
7
And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth.
8
Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
9
And when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
10
And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim.
11
And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
12
And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
13
And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and smote Israel, and they possessed the city of palm-trees.
14
And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15
But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. And the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon the king of Moab.
16
And Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
17
And he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man.
18
And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people that bare the tribute.
19
But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
20
And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.
21
And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body:
22
and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, for he drew not the sword out of his body; and it came out behind.
23
Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room upon him, and locked them.
24
Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber.
25
And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened [them], and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
26
And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirah.
27
And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them.
28
And he said unto them, Follow after me; for Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and suffered not a man to pass over.
29
And they smote of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man.
30
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
31
And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Israel.
Arcana Coelestia # 4859
4859. 'And covered herself with a veil' means the truth was rendered obscure. This is clear from the meaning of 'covering oneself (that is, covering one's face) with a veil' as concealing and so rendering obscure truth which pretended to spring from good, as immediately above in 4858. Tamar did this so that she might become joined to Judah. For when brides first approached their bridegrooms they used to cover themselves with a veil, as one reads of Rebekah doing when she came to Isaac, Genesis 24:65, by which appearances of truth were meant, see 3207. 'A wife' means truth and 'a husband' good; but because truth as it really is does not show itself before it is joined to its good, therefore - to represent this reality - brides used to cover themselves with a veil when seen for the first time by their husbands. Here Tamar acted in a similar way, for she supposed that Shelah, Judah's son, should be her husband. But because she had not been given to him she then supposed that his father should perform the duty of a husband's brother instead. Therefore she covered herself with a veil as a bride would do. She did not cover herself as a whore would have done, though Judah supposed that this was what she was because in those times whores were likewise accustomed to cover their faces, as is evident from verse 15. The reason Judah supposed she was that kind of woman was that the Jewish nation, which is there meant by 'Judah', rated the internal truths of the representative Church as low as a whore. Therefore Judah was joined to her as though she were a whore; but Tamar's joining to him was not like that. Because internal truths could not be seen by that nation in any other way than this, the words used here 'she covered herself with a veil' therefore mean that truth was rendered obscure. The fact that the truth of the Church has been rendered obscure to members of that nation is also represented at the present day in their synagogues when they cover themselves with shawls or veils.
[2] Something similar was also represented by the skin on Moses' face shining when he came down from Mount Sinai, so that he covered himself with a veil every time he spoke to the people, Exodus 34:28-end. Moses represented the Word that is called the Law, see Preface to Chapter 18; and that is why sometimes the expression 'the Law and the Prophets' is used, as in Matthew 5:17; 11:13; 22:36, 40, and sometimes 'Moses and the Prophets', as in Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27, 44. The skin shining on his face represented the inner reality of the Word, for 'the face' means that which is internal, 358, 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 4797; for being spiritual, that inner reality dwells in the light of heaven. The veiling of his face every time he spoke to the people represented the fact that for members of that nation internal truth was covered and thus was rendered obscure so that they would not be exposed to any light at all from it.
