‘ And Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.'
The king was clearly totally unsuspicious up to this point. Ehud appeared to have no weapon and his movement was not with the sword arm. He probably thought Ehud was being super-cautious and wanting to whisper what he had to say. But he soon learned otherwise, for suddenly a sword appeared and it was thrust into ‘his belly', probably with an upward movement so that it avoided the ribs and pierced the heart. A quick and quiet death was essential.