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H332 · Hebrew · Old Testament
אָטַר
Atar
Verb
To shut, close, be left-handed

Definition

The Hebrew atar (אָטַר) means 'to shut' or 'to close,' and by extension describes a person who is 'shut' in one hand — i.e., left-handed (bound or restricted in the right hand). This root appears in Judges to describe the elite left-handed Benjaminite warriors, including the judge Ehud.

Usage & Theological Significance

The left-handed warriors of Benjamin — called men who were atar in their right hand — illustrate a profound biblical theme: God uses what the world considers a disadvantage. Left-handedness in the ancient Near East was often seen as the 'weaker' or 'sinister' side, yet Ehud's left-handedness was precisely the quality God used to deliver Israel (Judges 3). The 700 left-handed slingers of Benjamin who could hit a hair without missing were counted as elite troops. What seems like limitation becomes the instrument of divine victory — a truth echoed in Paul's 'when I am weak, then I am strong' (2 Cor 12:10).

Key Bible Verses

Judges 3:15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer — Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjaminite.
Judges 20:16 Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
Judges 3:21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly.

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