Judges 20:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered 400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

NIV: Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.

NASB: Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted, four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

CSB: The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized four hundred thousand armed men, every one an experienced warrior.

NLT: Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.

KJV: And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.

NKJV: Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

Despite the obvious fighting spirit of the people of Benjamin and their highly skilled stone slingers (Judges 20:11–16), they still face overwhelming odds in the impending battle. The armed forces amassed by the other eleven tribes of Israel outnumber them by around 15-to-one (Judges 20:1–2). In a face-to-face battle, the eleven tribes would be expected to quickly defeat Benjamin, destroy the wicked men of Gibeah, and then return home.

Instead, the remaining eleven tribes will hesitate. They pause to do something rarely recorded in the book of Judges. They will turn to the Lord to ask for specific guidance (Judges 20:18). This might have been because the Benjaminites immediately took a defensive posture, making a simple assault impossible.

Judges 20:1–17 depicts Israel's response to an atrocity in Gibeah, a town of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 19:22, 25). The people agree to punish Gibeah, saying their intent is to purge evil from Israel. When the Benjaminites refuse to hand over the guilty men, the other eleven tribes prepare a large army to invade. Benjamin rallies their own troops and prepares to defend the city of Gibeah.

A massive army collected from eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel gather near the town of Gibeah. Their goal is to purge evil from the land (Judges 19:22–28). The tribe of Benjamin refuses to cooperate. Instead, they assemble an army about one-fifteenth the size of Israel's army. After two failed attempts and a promise of victory from the Lord, Israel uses a false retreat and ambush strategy to destroy Gibeah. This results in the loss of Benjamin's entire army. Israel's wrath spills over onto the territory, itself. All the people, animals, and towns in the tribe's territory are attacked, and it appears that only 600 Benjaminite men survive.

In the prior chapter, Benjaminite men of the town of Gibeah committed an act of heinous sin (Judges 19:22–25). In response, the murdered woman's husband rallies Israel with a gruesome message (Judges 19:29–30). Chapter 20 depicts how the tribe of Benjamin refuses to hand over the guilty men. Civil war ensues, resulting in near-total annihilation of their tribe. This creates a new crisis in Israel, as described in chapter 21; Israel doesn't want Benjamin to become extinct.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).

Accessed 5/5/2024 6:51:27 AM