They struck of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man.
Evidently Eglon did not expect Ehud to draw his sword with his left hand. He probably did not know he could do so. This was part of Ehud’s strategy. The sword was a short cubit in length, about 16 inches. This is the only place in the Old Testament where this Hebrew word describes a cubit. The short cubit was as long as the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of a fist. Ehud’s sword went all the way through Eglon’s fat body. It apparently contained no crosspiece (hilt) between the handle and the blade. The handle lodged in the fat while the point opened a hole in his back where his excrement oozed out.