Judges 20:2
in Judges 20The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
KJV
And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
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This verse in Judges 20
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe chief of all the people - The corners פנות pinnoth; for as the corner-stones are the strength of the walls, so are the chiefs the strength of the people. Hence Christ is called the chief corner-stone. In the assembly of the people of God - The Septuagint translate, And all the tribes of Israel stood up before the face of the Lord, εν εκκλησιᾳ του λαου του Θεου, in the Church of the people of God.
This site's exposition
the congregation assembled as one man
on Judges 20:1-2
The words “as one man” fall three times in this chapter, at verses 1, 8 and 11, and elsewhere in Judges only at 6:16, of Gideon against Midian. Deborah’s song had to name the tribes that stayed home at 5:16 and 5:17 and curse Meroz at 5:23. The one muster in this book that arrives whole is raised against a tribe of Israel, at Mizpah.
This site's exposition
The leaders of all the people
The Hebrew for leaders is pinnoth, the corners, and Clarke explains that the chiefs held the people together as cornerstones hold a wall. Barnes gives the same sense, the corner stones. Clarke adds that the Septuagint calls this assembly of God's people an ekklesia, a church.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
When this [what had happened to the concubine] became known, (to be brief) almost all the people of Israel broke out into war.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And the chief of all the people,....
The place of their meeting was Mizpeh; they gathered together unto the Lord there, for Mizpeh was so very near to Shiloh that their encampment might very well be supposed to reach from Mizpeh to Shiloh.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The chief - literally, “the corner stones.” (Compare 1Sa 14:38.)
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽתְיַצְּב֞וּ | vaiyityatzevu | and they presented themselves | H3320 → | |
| פִּנּ֣וֹת | pinot | [the] corners of | H6438 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֗ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כֹּ֚ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שִׁבְטֵ֣י | shivtei | [the] tribes of | H7626 → | 190 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בִּקְהַ֖ל | bikhal | in [the] assembly of | H6951 → | 123 times |
| עַ֣ם | ʾam | [the] people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אַרְבַּ֨ע | ʾarba' | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| מֵא֥וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אֶ֛לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| רַגְלִ֖י | ragli | on foot | H7273 → | |
| שֹׁ֥לֵֽף | sholef | [who] drew | H8025 → | 25 times |
| חָֽרֶב׃ פ | charev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
וַיִּֽתְיַצְּב֞וּand they presented themselves
vaiyityatzevuH3320 →
פִּנּ֣וֹת[the] corners of
pinotH6438 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֗םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
כֹּ֚לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
שִׁבְטֵ֣י[the] tribes of
shivteiH7626 →190 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בִּקְהַ֖לin [the] assembly of
bikhalH6951 →123 times
עַ֣ם[the] people of
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
אַרְבַּ֨עfour
ʾarba'H702 →318 times
מֵא֥וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
אֶ֛לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
אִ֥ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
רַגְלִ֖יon foot
ragliH7273 →
שֹׁ֥לֵֽף[who] drew
sholefH8025 →25 times
חָֽרֶב׃ פa sword
charevH2719 →413 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 8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had…
it leads to
- Judges 20:25
That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 7:12
Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- 2 Kings 3:26
When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not prevail.
- Judges 20:15
On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.
- Judges 20:25
Through
2 Samuel 24:9And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 27:23–24
David did not count the men aged twenty or under, because the LORD had said that He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of the sky.
- 1 Chronicles 21:5–6
And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah.
- Numbers 1:44–46
These were the men numbered by Moses and Aaron, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family.
- 1 Chronicles 27:23–24
Through
Judges 20:15On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:41
These were the clans of Benjamin, and their registration numbered 45,600.
- Numbers 26:41
About Judges

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
