Judges 20:15
in Judges 20On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
KJV
And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
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This verse in Judges 20
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Comparing the numbers here with those in Num. 1; 26, it is seen that in the case both of the Benjamites and the Israelites the numbers are diminished by about one-third, i. e., they appear as about two-thirds only of what they were at the last numbering in the plains of Moab. This diminution seems to indicate disturbed and harassing times. With this agrees the mention of the cities, as containing the whole Benjamite population.
This site's exposition
from their cities they came together at Gibeah
on Judges 20:14-16
Benjamin musters “26,000 swordsmen” beside “700 select men of Gibeah”, and readings differ over whether the 700 slingers of verse 16 are the same men counted again. In the Berean, left-handed is said only of Ehud the Benjamite at 3:15 and of these men. Commentators set First Chronicles 12:2, where Saul’s kinsmen use both hands, beside the name Benjamin at Genesis 35:18, read as son of the right hand.
This site's exposition
the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen
Clarke reports that some Septuagint copies number the Benjamite swordsmen at 23,000 and others at 25,000, the figure of the Vulgate and Josephus. He takes 25,000 as the true reading. On that reading every man of Benjamin fell except the 600 who fled.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And when at first the people of Israel were defeated, yet unmoved by fear at the reverses of the war, they disregarded the sorrow the avenging of chastity cost them. They rushed into the battle ready to wash out with their own blood the stains of the crime that had been committed.
In the first and second encounters, when many were harmed by a few, the Israelites considered yielding, since the battles were so unfavorable. There were four hundred thousand men warring against twenty-five thousand of the tribe of Benjamin, and they strove with seven hundred Gabanites [Gibeonites] experienced in war. When two battles were unfavorable, Israel with eager spirit did not lose hope of victory nor of vengeance for the hope they had fostered.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities,.... All that they could muster up, and gather together out of their several cities, were no more man than twenty and six thousand men that drew the sword able bodied men fit for war, and expert in it: beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men young, stout, and strong, and in all but 26,700; and what are these to an army of 400,000 men, or however 360,000 that came up against Gibeah, while 40,000 were employed in getting provisions for them?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Twenty and six thousand - Some copies of the Septuagint have twenty-three thousand, others twenty-five thousand. The Vulgate has this latter number; the Complutensian Polyglot and Josephus have the same.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
With shriveled right arms. Their right arms were shrunken. They could not utilize them, as if they were closed, as in "Let not the well close its mouth over me." 3 Tehilim,:16.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתְפָּֽקְדוּ֩ | vaiyitpakedu | and they were mustered | H6485 → | 303 times |
| בְנֵ֨י | venei | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בִנְיָמִ֜ן | vinyamin | Benjamin | H1144 → | 166 times |
| בַּיּ֤וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַהוּא֙ | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מֵהֶ֣עָרִ֔ים | mehearim | from the cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֨ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| וְשִׁשָּׁ֥ה | veshishah | and six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| אֶ֛לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| שֹׁ֣לֵֽף | sholef | [who] drew | H8025 → | 25 times |
| חָ֑רֶב | charev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| לְ֠בַד | levad | <to> apart | H905 → | 200 times |
| מִיֹּשְׁבֵ֤י | miyoshevei | from [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הַגִּבְעָה֙ | hagivah | <the> Gibeah | H1390 → | 45 times |
| הִתְפָּ֣קְד֔וּ | hitpakedu | [who] they were mustered | H6485 → | 303 times |
| שְׁבַ֥ע | sheva' | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| מֵא֖וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בָּחֽוּר׃ | bachur | chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
וַיִּתְפָּֽקְדוּ֩and they were mustered
vaiyitpakeduH6485 →303 times
בְנֵ֨י[the] descendants of
veneiH1121 →4930 times
בִנְיָמִ֜ןBenjamin
vinyaminH1144 →166 times
בַּיּ֤וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַהוּא֙<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
מֵהֶ֣עָרִ֔יםfrom the cities
mehearimH5892 →1090 times
עֶשְׂרִ֨יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
וְשִׁשָּׁ֥הand six
veshishahH8337 →216 times
אֶ֛לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
אִ֖ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
שֹׁ֣לֵֽף[who] drew
sholefH8025 →25 times
חָ֑רֶבa sword
charevH2719 →413 times
לְ֠בַד<to> apart
levadH905 →200 times
מִיֹּשְׁבֵ֤יfrom [the] inhabitants of
miyosheveiH3427 →1079 times
הַגִּבְעָה֙<the> Gibeah
hagivahH1390 →45 times
הִתְפָּ֣קְד֔וּ[who] they were mustered
hitpakeduH6485 →303 times
שְׁבַ֥עseven
sheva'H7651 →394 times
מֵא֖וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
אִ֥ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
בָּחֽוּר׃chosen
bachurH977 →171 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 20:35The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.
it leads to
- Judges 20:44–46
And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 20:5
the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- Judges 20:44–46
Through
Judges 20:25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
it leads to
- Judges 20:21
And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Romans 2:5
But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Romans 3:5
But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.
- Judges 20:21
Through
Numbers 1:37those registered to the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:41
These were the clans of Benjamin, and their registration numbered 45,600.
- Numbers 2:23
and his division numbers 35,400.
- Numbers 26:41
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 3.19.115-16; Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 33; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.