Judges 21:9
in Judges 21For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
KJV
For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh–gilead there.
⋯
This verse in Judges 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Which one of the tribes of Israel
on Judges 21:8-9
The way out begins with a roll call rather than with a prayer. The people are numbered, one town is found missing, and absence is the whole charge the text records against it. Jabesh sits east of the Jordan in Gilead, on ground the war against Benjamin never touched.
This site's exposition
when the people were counted
The people were counted, and Jabesh-gilead was missing. Henry notes that the death sentence for failing to come up to Mizpah was sworn before anyone knew which town it would fall on. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see a second aim, wives for the survivors.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), and it was then resolved, before it appeared who were absent, that whatever city of Israel should be guilty of such a contempt of the public authority and interest that city should be an anathema; Jabesh-Gilead lies under that severe sentence, which might by no means be dispensed with.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For the people were numbered,....
They did not repent of their zeal against the sin; there is a holy indignation against sin, the fruit of godly sorrow, which is to salvation, not to be repented of, 2 Cor. vii. But they repented of the sad consequences of what they had done, that they had carried the matter further than was either just or necessary.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתְפָּקֵ֖ד | vaiyitpaked | and it was mustered | H6485 → | 303 times |
| הָעָ֑ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֤ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| שָׁם֙ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אִ֔ישׁ | ʾish | [was] anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מִיּוֹשְׁבֵ֖י | miyoshevei | from [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| יָבֵ֥שׁ | yavesh | Jabesh | H3003 → | 24 times |
| גִּלְעָֽד׃ | gilad | Gilead | H1568 → | 134 times |
וַיִּתְפָּקֵ֖דand it was mustered
vaiyitpakedH6485 →303 times
הָעָ֑םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וְהִנֵּ֤הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אֵֽין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
שָׁם֙there
shamH8033 →834 times
אִ֔ישׁ[was] anyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מִיּוֹשְׁבֵ֖יfrom [the] inhabitants of
miyosheveiH3427 →1079 times
יָבֵ֥שׁJabesh
yaveshH3003 →24 times
גִּלְעָֽד׃Gilead
giladH1568 →134 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.