And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened them , and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

And waiting a long time till they were ashamed, and seeing that no man opened the door, they took a key: and opening, they found their lord lying dead on the ground.

And they waited till they were utterly at a loss; 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.

And they tarried till they were ashamed: and behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor, therefore they took a key and opened them: and behold, their lord lay dead on the earth.

And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth, dead.

And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

And they went on waiting till they were shamed, but the doors were still shut; so they took the key, and, opening them, saw their lord stretched out dead on the floor.

And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper chamber; therefore they took the key, and opened them; and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

And after waiting a long time, until they were embarrassed, and seeing that no one opened the door, they took the key, and opening it, they found their lord lying dead on the ground.

A key - literally, "an opener." Probably a wooden instrument with which they either lifted up the latch within, or drew back the wooden bar or bolt. The chief officer of Eglon's household probably had a second key (compare Isaiah 22:15, Isaiah 22:20-22; Isaiah 37:2).

And they tarried until they were ashamed,.... And knew not what to think of it, or what methods to take to be satisfied of the truth of the matter, and what should be the meaning of the doors being kept locked so long:
and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; this was what surprised them, and threw them into this confusion of mind, that they knew not what course to take for fear of incurring the king's displeasure, and yet wondered the doors were not opened for so long a time:
therefore they took a key and opened them; this is the first time we read of a key, which only signifies something to open with; and the keys of the ancients were different from those of ours; they were somewhat like a crooked sickle (i), which they put in through a hole in the door, and with it could draw on or draw back a bolt, and so could lock or unlock with inside, see Song 5:4; and at this day the keys in the eastern countries are unlike ours. Chardin (k) says, that a lock among the eastern people is like a little harrow, which enters half way into a wooden staple, and the key is a wooden handle with points at the end of it, which are pushed into the staple, and so raise this little harrow:
and, behold, their lord was fallen dead on the earth; lay prostrate on the floor of the parlour, dead.
(i) , Homer. Odyss. 21. ver. 6. & Eustathius in ib. (k) Apud Calmet's Dictionary, on the word "Key".

Ashamed - Or, confounded, not knowing what to say or think; lest they should either disturb him, or be guilty of neglect towards him. A key - Another key, it being usual in princes courts to have divers keys for the same door.