My mother says she has always heard that Gideon and his 300 men were left-handed. I suppose this is based on the way they drank the water from the river??? I’m left-handed and I think I would be more inclined to scoop the water into my hand and drink, as did the 300, but why would this be different from right-handed water drinkers? Anybody know?
Here are the verses -
Judges 7:5,6 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
2007-05-24 02:43:30 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Jed, I think you’re right. That makes sense to me.
2007-05-24 02:59:21 · update #1
Somebody e-mailed me a couple more verses from Judges.
Judges 3:15, 16 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer Ehud a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.
And
Judges 20:15,16 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah. Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
While looking up those verses I found 1Chronicals 12:2 cross-referenced. This suggests ambidextrous soldiers as well.
1Chronicals 12:2 they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed; they were kinsmen of Saul from the tribe of Benjam
2007-05-25 04:12:11 · update #2
The point here is that it was a test.
Those that lapped had obviously still been holding their weapons. These were ready always.
The others put themselves into a vulnerable position.
This had nothing to do with left/right handedness.
2007-05-24 02:49:09 · answer #1 · answered by Jed 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Ehud -The Bible, book of Judges 3:12-4:1. Killed King Eglon of Moab. (Ehud is the only one I can find where it specifically lets us know he is left handed.
The passage you gave about Gideon and his men has nothing to do with what hand they used. It has to do with whether they used a hand to drink out of (more civilized) or whether they leaned their faces into the water to drink directly out of it.
I'll leave you with the following thought since it is related to this question.
Left-Handed
Little Bobby was spending the weekend with his grandmother after a particularly trying week in kindergarten. His grandmother decided to take him to the park on Saturday morning. It had been snowing all night and everything was beautiful.
His grandmother remarked..."doesn't it look like an artist painted this scenery? Did you know God painted this just for you?"
Bobby said, "Yes, God did it and he did it left handed."
This confused his grandmother a bit, and she asked him "What makes you say God did this with his left hand?"
"Well," said Bobby, "we learned at Sunday School last week that Jesus sits on God's right hand!"
2007-05-24 02:56:11 · answer #2 · answered by Deb 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is no direct support for the idea that the 300 were left handed. I've heard Pastors theorize about why they drank from their hands and mostly they say that drinking from their hands showed that they were more alert to their surroundings because they could look around while drinking. But even that is mere speculation. As far as I know, only Ehud is specifically identified as being left-handed.
Judges 3:14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.
16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he commanded, "Silence." And all his attendants went out from his presence.
20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.
24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, "Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber." 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.
26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, "Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand." So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.
2007-05-24 02:53:16 · answer #3 · answered by Martin S 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sorry, but I think your mom found that they were left handed right next to the verse which says "The Lord helps those who help themselves." It isn't there, but it stemmed from someone saying it because they thought it should. There is no reason to think that Gideon was or was not left handed. Statistically, it would be very unlikely that the 300 were, and there is nothing to say that only those left handed would scoop water with their hands.
I am ambidextrous. I would not scoop it up with my hands then lap it out of them with my tongue.. };^)
war horse...what makes you think that the tribe of benjamin were all left handed?
2007-05-24 02:49:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
this verse does not mention anything about the men using their left hands. To my knowledge, the bible doesn't mention left handed people. Just the actions of people
2007-05-24 02:52:12 · answer #5 · answered by Jennifer S 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The tribe of Benjamin were all left-handed! :)
Open thoughts: Read Judges 3:15, and Judges 20:16.
2007-05-24 02:49:26 · answer #6 · answered by war~horse 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
I don't really think it specified, just those who were battle ready.
But one of Israel's judges was left-handed. Ehud.
2007-05-24 02:56:01 · answer #7 · answered by Jan P 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Never heard that before, and the verse certainly doesn't say such, but I'm going to guess this has some other meaning implicit in its construction. Free-will, homosexuality, freedom of choice issues,....?
2007-05-24 02:52:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
no sinister biblical characters
p.s. you have to understand the original meaning of the word sinister to appreciate my comment
2007-05-24 02:49:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋