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Judges 20:25

in Judges 20

That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

KJV

And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

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This verse in Judges 20

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day,.... Flushed with the victory they had obtained the day before: and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men, all these drew the sword, were armed men; this, with the 22,000 slain the day preceding, made 40,000; the same number singled out from among them by lot to provide food for them, and is thought by some to be the case Deborah refers to, Jdg 5:8 and is what is certainly intended in Hos 10:9.

This site's exposition

On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites

on Judges 20:24-25

Eighteen thousand fall on the second day. Forty thousand men of Israel are dead across the two days before the record counts a single Benjamite killed, and both days followed an answer from God. Barnes and Keil observe that Israel came to the field certain of the outcome, and the chapter lets the two defeats stand without explaining them.

This site's exposition

cut down another 18,000 Israelites

Matthew Henry and Gill both observe that the dead of the two days equal the number set aside by lot to carry provisions. The two losses together make forty thousand. Gill reports that some take Deborah's line at 5:8 as a memory of this defeat.

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 Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The former day's loss and this amounted to 40,000, which was just a tenth part of the whole army, and the same number that they had drawn out by lot to fetch victuals,

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

20 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.

  • וַיֵּצֵא֩and it went out

    vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • בִנְיָמִ֨ן׀Benjamin

    vinyaminH1144 →166 times

  • לִקְרָאתָ֥ם׀to meet them

    likratamH7122 →139 times

  • מִֽן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַגִּבְעָה֮<the> Gibeah

    hagivahH1390 →45 times

  • בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day

    baiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַשֵּׁנִי֒<the> second

    hasheniH8145 →156 times

  • וַיַּשְׁחִיתוּ֩and they destroyed

    vaiyashchituH7843 →146 times

  • בִבְנֵ֨יamong [the] people of

    vivneiH1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • ע֗וֹדagain

    odH5750 →490 times

  • שְׁמֹנַ֨תeight-

    shemonatH8083 →109 times

  • עָשָׂ֥רteen

    ʾasarH6240 →338 times

  • אֶ֛לֶףthousand

    ʾelefH505 →505 times

  • אִ֖ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אָ֑רְצָה[the] ground towards

    ʾaretzahH776 →2504 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אֵ֖לֶּהthese

    ʾelehH428 →746 times

  • שֹׁ֥לְפֵי[were] drawers of

    sholefeiH8025 →25 times

  • חָֽרֶב׃a sword

    charevH2719 →413 times

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

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Judges 20:21And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.4 worksGenesis 49:27Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”4 worksRomans 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!3 worksJudges 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 already fallen.3 worksGenesis 18:25Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”2 worksPsalms 97:2Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Job 9:12–13If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’2 worksRomans 2:5But 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.2 worksRomans 3:5But 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.2 worksJudges 20:15On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.2 works

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

    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!

    it leads to

    • Job 11:7–9

      Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

    • Job 5:9

      the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.

    • Psalms 92:5

      How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!

    • Colossians 2:2–3

      that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,

    • Romans 2:4

      Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

  • Through

    Psalms 97:2

    Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 89:14

      Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.

    • Exodus 19:9

      The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in…

  • Through

    Genesis 18:25

    Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the…

    it leads to

    • Job 8:20

      Behold, God does not reject the blameless, nor will He strengthen the hand of evildoers.

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 20 →

This page draws on 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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 20 →