Judges 20:24
in Judges 20On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
KJV
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
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This verse in Judges 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites
on Judges 20:24-25
Forty thousand men of Israel are dead across the two days before the record counts a single Benjamite killed. 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 defeats stand without explaining them.
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
And the children of Israel came near,.... To the city of Gibeah, drew nigh to battle: against the children of Benjamin the second day; for the two battles were fought two days successively.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרְב֧וּ | vaiyikrevu | and they drew near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בִנְיָמִ֖ן | vinyamin | Benjamin | H1144 → | 166 times |
| בַּיּ֥וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשֵּׁנִֽי׃ | hasheni | <the> second | H8145 → | 156 times |
וַיִּקְרְב֧וּand they drew near
vaiyikrevuH7126 →280 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] descendants of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
בִנְיָמִ֖ןBenjamin
vinyaminH1144 →166 times
בַּיּ֥וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשֵּׁנִֽי׃<the> second
hasheniH8145 →156 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Judges
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) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.