Judges 1:8

1:8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire.

Judges 1:25

1:25 He showed them a secret entrance into the city, and they put the city to the sword. But they let the man and his extended family leave safely.

Judges 3:16

3:16 Ehud made himself a sword – it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. ¹  He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh.

Judges 6:40

6:40 That night God did as he asked. ²  Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.

Judges 7:20

7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. ³  Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

Judges 20:2

20:2 The leaders ⁴  of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, which numbered ⁵  four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers.

Judges 20:17

20:17 The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior. ⁶ 

Judges 20:37

20:37 The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash ⁷  to Gibeah. They ⁸  attacked ⁹  and put the sword to the entire city.

Judges 20:46

20:46 That day twenty-five thousand ¹⁰  sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. ¹¹ 

¹ tn The Hebrew term גֹּמֶד (gomed) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger – approximately 18 inches [45 cm]). Some suggest it is equivalent to the short cubit (the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of the clenched fist – approximately 13 inches [33 cm]) or to the span (the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger in a spread hand – approximately 9 inches [23 cm]). See BDB 167 s.v.; HALOT 196 s.v.; B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 142.

¹ tn Heb “God did so that night.”

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹ tn Heb “the cornerstones”; or “the supports.” The word is used of leaders in only three other texts – 1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4.

² tn The words “which numbered” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹ tn Heb “a man of war.”

¹ tn Heb “hurried and put off [their hiding place].”

² tn Heb “the men hiding in ambush.”

³ tn Or “deployed.” The verb normally means “to lead” or “to draw.”

¹ sn The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 429) and C. F. Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days’ fighting emphasizes Israel’s humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator’s emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days’ casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.

² tn Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.