After Yᵊho•shuꞋa died, Bᵊn•eiꞋ-Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ assimilated into the surrounding idolatries, falling under the rule of A•ramꞋ for 8 years, during which many adopted the Aramaic language. After that, each Israeli city-colony ran their own affairs for 13 years, until they merged to appoint the first Sho•pheitꞋ: •tᵊni•eilꞋ Bën-QᵊnazꞋ, who judged Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ for the next 40 years.

Mo•âvꞋ (modern Jordan)

Upon the death of Sho•pheitꞋ #1, •tᵊni•eilꞋ, Bᵊn•eiꞋ-Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ yet again reverted to assimilate into the surrounding idolatries. So י‑‑ה allowed Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ, mëlꞋëkh Mo•âvꞋ, to form a tripartite alliance with •mōnꞋ and A•mâ•leiqꞋ, and they defeated Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ and occupied the city of date-palms (Yᵊri•khoꞋ). So Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ worked under the rule of Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ, mëlꞋëkh Mo•âvꞋ, for 18 years.

When Bᵊn•eiꞋ-Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ cried-out to י‑‑ה He raised up a military-savior for them: Ei•hudꞋ Bën-Geir•âꞋ. He was a left-handed man from sheivꞋët Bin•yâ•minꞋ.To appease Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ, mëlꞋëkh Mo•âvꞋ, Bᵊn•eiꞋ-Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ appointed Ei•hudꞋ to present him a mi•nᵊkh•âhꞋ.

c BCE 7th century, ≈37cm (15in), Pᵊli•shᵊt•inꞋ steel(ed iron) sword. Steel swords are attested in the Late Bronze Age as early as 69 years after this inci­dent: the sword of Par•ohꞋ Meren-Ptah c. BCE 1384 (see my Chronology Of The Tanakh, From The "Big נְטִיָּה" Live-LinkT )

Meanwhile, Ei•hudꞋ forged a 53 cm double-edged sword and secreted it under his kaftan, strapped to his right thigh.

So Ei•hudꞋ presented the mi•nᵊkh•âhꞋ to Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ, mëlꞋëkh Mo•âvꞋ.

Now mëlꞋëkh Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ was morbidly obese. When Ei•hudꞋ finished presenting the mi•nᵊkh•âhꞋ he sent away his bearers who had carried the mi•nᵊkh•âhꞋ. But, on their way home, after a day's trek, when they reached the Gi•lᵊgâlꞋ stone calendar-pillars on the eastern outskirts of Yᵊri•khoꞋ, Ei•hudꞋ turned and went back to speak again with mëlꞋëkh Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ.

After another scorching day's trek back to Mo•âvꞋ, Ei•hudꞋ met again with mëlꞋëkh Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ, meeting with him as he mitigated the baking heat of the day in his cooler second-floor room. "I have a confidential matter to convey to you, your highness" Ei•hudꞋ whispered. "Shhh!"

So the mëlꞋëkh sent everyone out of the room and Ei•hudꞋ came near him, saying, "I have a matter from ël•oh•imꞋ for you".

The obese mëlꞋëkh rose from his chair to listen to the secret.

Then Lefty Ei•hudꞋ cross-drew his sword from his right thigh and thrust it into Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ's fat belly so hard that the blade protruded out of his back and he couldn't pull it out. When Ei•hudꞋ let go of the sword Ëgᵊl•ōnꞋ's excess of belly fat completely flowed back over the hilt.

Ë•phᵊr•aꞋyim and Mo•âvꞋ

Taking the mëlꞋëkh's keys, Ei•hudꞋ shut and locked the doors after him. Then he departed toward the colonnade.

Seeing Ei•hudꞋ leave, the mëlꞋëkh's guards returned but, seeing the doors of his second-floor room locked, they surmised, "Oh, he must have his pants down, cooling down in the privacy of his second-floor room."

When the mëlꞋëkh's guards finally began to worry and used their key to open the doors of the second-floor room they found he had fallen down dead.

Meanwhile, because the guards tarried most of the day, Ei•hudꞋ escaped, passing by the circle of stone calendar-pillars and turning south toward Sei•irꞋ.

When he returned to the hills of Ë•phᵊr•aꞋyim, he blew a sho•phârꞋ and Bᵊn•eiꞋ-Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ followed him down from the hills to Yᵊri•khoꞋ as he beckoned them, saying, "Follow me! י‑‑ה has given your Mo•âv•imꞋ enemies into your hand."

So they followed him and took the crossings of Nᵊhar Ya•rᵊd•einꞋ from the Mo•âv•imꞋ, preventing any escape across the river.

And in that same season they struck down about 10,000 men of Mo•âvꞋ; both fat men and soldiers. Not a man escaped. So Mo•âvꞋ was conquered that day under the command of Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ. And the land was serene for 80 years.