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Judges 20:23

in Judges 20

They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?” And the LORD answered, “Go up against them.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even; and they asked of Jehovah, saying, Shall I again draw nigh to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him.

KJV

(And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him.)

This verse in Judges 20

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Go up against him - It appears most evident that the Israelites did not seek the protection of God. They trusted in the goodness of their cause and in the multitude of their army. God humbled them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and showed them that the race was not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

This site's exposition

the Israelite army took courage

on Judges 20:22-23

The second enquiry adds weeping before the Lord until even, and it adds a word the first did not use. Benjamin my brother falls at verse 23 and again at verse 28, and 21:6 has Israel repenting for Benjamin their brother. The answer is Go up against him, which grants leave and promises nothing.

This site's exposition

They went up and wept before the LORD

Henry reads the question, asked with weeping before the LORD, as a readiness to stop fighting their brothers if God so ordered. The LORD says to go up. Henry reads Benjamin as a diseased member of the body that had to be cut off.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On the Duties of the Clergy 3.19.115-16 · Written before 397.

proposed

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.

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

LETTER 33 · Written before 397.

proposed

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 Awakening2 voices

And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The intimate a reason why they should scruple to do it, especially now that Providence had frowned upon them, because Benjamin was their brother, and a readiness to lay down their arms if God should so order them. God bade them go up; he allowed the attempt, for, though Benjamin was their brother, he was a gangrened member of their body and must be cut off.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

But they ought to have done it at the commencement of their proceedings. Instead of this, all their plans were formed, and never doubting, it would seem, that the war was just and inevitable, the only subject of their inquiry related to the precedency of the tribes--a point which it is likely was discussed in the assembly.

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיַּעֲל֣וּand they went up

    vaiyaaluH5927 →890 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] people of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וַיִּבְכּ֣וּand they wept

    vaiyivkuH1058 →114 times

  • לִפְנֵֽי־<to> before

    lifnei-H6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָה֮Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • הָעֶרֶב֒the evening

    haerevH6153 →134 times

  • וַיִּשְׁאֲל֤וּand they enquired

    vaiyishaluH7592 →171 times

  • בַֽיהוָה֙by Yahweh

    bayahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הַאוֹסִ֗יף¿ will I repeat

    haosifH3254 →212 times

  • לָגֶ֙שֶׁת֙to draw near

    lageshetH5066 →125 times

  • לַמִּלְחָמָ֔הfor <the> battle

    lamilchamahH4421 →320 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[the] descendants of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • בִנְיָמִ֖ןBenjamin

    vinyaminH1144 →166 times

  • אָחִ֑יbrother my

    ʾachiH251 →630 times

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • עֲל֥וּgo up

    ʾaluH5927 →890 times

  • אֵלָֽיו׃ פagainst him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Hosea 5:15

    Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 26:16

      O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

    • Jeremiah 29:12–14

      Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

    • Deuteronomy 4:29–31

      But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

    • Psalms 78:34

      When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.

    • Leviticus 26:40–42

      But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—

  • Through

    Joshua 7:6

    Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 37:29

      When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,

    • Genesis 37:34

      Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

  • Through

    Judges 20:18

    The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.

    it leads to

    • Judges 20:26–27

      Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 3.19.115-16; Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 33; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.