Judges 20:16
in Judges 20Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss.
KJV
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
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This verse in Judges 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAmong all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded,.... According to Ben Gersom, these were the seven hundred men of Gibeah; but this does not appear from the text, but, on the contrary, that these were among all the people; or there were so many to be selected out of them all, who were lefthanded men; nor is it likely that all the inhabitants of one place should be such. Benjamin signifies a son of the right hand, yet this tribe had a great number of lefthanded men in it, see Jdg 3:
This site's exposition
from their cities they came together at Gibeah
on Judges 20:14-16
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
could sling a stone at a hair
The Hebrew behind without missing is the common verb for sin, and Clarke draws from it that to sin is to miss the mark. Each of the 700 could sling a stone at a hair, and the verb pictures a stone that finds its mark. The Septuagint keeps that sense.
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
They did not think it was proper to ask of God whether they should go up at all against Benjamin (the case was plain enough, the men of Gibeah must be punished for their wickedness, and Israel must inflict the punishment or it will not be done), but "Who shall go first?" (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Left-handed - They were ambidexters - could use the right hand and the left with equal ease and effect. See the note on Jdg 3:15. Could sling stones at a hair - and not miss - ולא יחטא velo yachati, and not sin: και ουκ εξαμαρτανοντες; Sept. Here we have the true import of the term sin; it signifies simply to miss the mark, and is well translated in the New Testament by ἁμαρτανω, from α, negative, and μαρπτω, to hit the mark.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew sling was probably similar to that of the Egyptian, consisting of a leather thong, broad in the middle, with a loop at one end, by which it was firmly held with the hand; the other end terminated in a lash, which was let slip when the stone was thrown.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִכֹּ֣ל׀ | mikol | [were] from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֣ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֗ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| שְׁבַ֤ע | sheva' | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| מֵאוֹת֙ | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בָּח֔וּר | bachur | chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
| אִטֵּ֖ר | ʾiter | impeded | H334 → | |
| יַד־ | yad- | [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יְמִינ֑וֹ | yemino | right his | H3225 → | 140 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זֶ֗ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| קֹלֵ֧עַ | kolea' | [was] slinging | H7049 → | |
| בָּאֶ֛בֶן | baeven | with the stone | H68 → | 273 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַֽשַּׂעֲרָ֖ה | hasaarah | the single hair | H8185 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַחֲטִֽא׃ פ | yachati' | he missed | H2398 → | 238 times |
מִכֹּ֣ל׀[were] from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֣םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֗ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
שְׁבַ֤עseven
sheva'H7651 →394 times
מֵאוֹת֙hundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
אִ֣ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
בָּח֔וּרchosen
bachurH977 →171 times
אִטֵּ֖רimpeded
ʾiterH334 →
יַד־[the] hand of
yad-H3027 →1618 times
יְמִינ֑וֹright his
yeminoH3225 →140 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זֶ֗הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
קֹלֵ֧עַ[was] slinging
kolea'H7049 →
בָּאֶ֛בֶןwith the stone
baevenH68 →273 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַֽשַּׂעֲרָ֖הthe single hair
hasaarahH8185 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יַחֲטִֽא׃ פhe missed
yachati'H2398 →238 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
1 Samuel 25:29And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling…
it leads to
- John 17:21
that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
- Matthew 10:29–30
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
- Malachi 3:17
“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
- Psalms 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
- John 17:23
I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.
- John 17:21
Through
Judges 3:15And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
it leads to
- Judges 3:9
But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.
- Psalms 78:34
When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
- Judges 3:9
Through
1 Chronicles 12:2they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):
it leads to
- Judges 3:15
And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
- Judges 3:15
Where this verse is studied
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.