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Judges 20:44

in Judges 20

And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor.

KJV

And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.

This verse in Judges 20

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

LETTER 33 · Written before 397.

proposed

Their spirits broken, they faced the enemy. The men of Benjamin who thought they were shut in and surrounded, even before they were invaded from the rear, began scattering and fleeing to the desert, while Israel pressed after with doubled force and pursued them as they wandered in rout. About twenty-five thousand were slain, therefore, that is, almost all the men of Benjamin except six hundred who seized a fortification on a rough cliff and by virtue of its situation and with the help of nature and partly through fear were a terror to their victors. Success advises caution; in adversity, revenge is esteemed rather than victory.

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

LETTER 33 · Written before 397.

proposed

After you found out what transpired in our court, you kept to yourself; therefore, I now summon, as it were, part of my own soul, for I have a friendly yet sorrowful complaint against you for the outrage done to chastity. Was it necessary for an unsurpassed, unheard-of case of virginity to be subjected to a sentence? Could it not have been dismissed?

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Folly - That is, a lewd folly; most ignominious and impudent wickedness. Ye are - The sons of that holy man, who for one filthy action left an eternal brand upon one of his own sons: a people in covenant with the holy God, whose honour you are obliged to vindicate, and who hath expressly commanded you to punish all such notorious enormities.
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men,.... Just the number they had slain of Israel in the second battle. This is the number of them that were slain when Israel turned upon them, and by that time they got to the east of Gibeah; afterwards 5000 more were slain on the highways, and 2000 near Gidom, as after related: all these were men of valour; as appears by three times facing and engaging with the army of Israel, so vastly superior to them, and twice beating them.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].

The words behind it

11 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.

  • וַֽיִּפְּלוּ֙and they fell

    vaiyipeluH5307 →435 times

  • מִבִּנְיָמִ֔ןof Benjamin

    mibinyaminH1144 →166 times

  • שְׁמֹנָֽה־eight-

    shemonah-H8083 →109 times

  • עָשָׂ֥רteen

    ʾasarH6240 →338 times

  • אֶ֖לֶףthousand

    ʾelefH505 →505 times

  • אִ֑ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אֵ֖לֶּהthese

    ʾelehH428 →746 times

  • אַנְשֵׁי־[were] men of

    ʾanshei-H582 →566 times

  • חָֽיִל׃strength

    chayilH2428 →246 times

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

Where this verse is studied

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 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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.