way out. Among other things, this story is a statement about idols. “That the King would go to the toilet with the messenger in attendance should have clued them into something amiss, were it not that they were, like their ruler, dumb as a rock.”13 The idols are mocked by showing their worshipers as ridiculous. The humor directed at Eglon indirectly indicts his deities. On the other hand, the text has much to say about Israel’s God. Because Israel did evil, Yahweh strengthened Eglon (Eglon is not