Judges 20:10

20:10 We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army.¹ When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel.”²

Judges 20:13

20:13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings³ in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.”⁴ But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

Judges 20:15

20:15 That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah.⁵

Judges 20:18

20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel⁶ and asked God,⁷ “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?”⁸ The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”

Judges 20:23

20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we⁹ again march out to fight¹⁰ the Benjaminites, our brothers?”¹¹ The Lord said, “Attack them!”¹²

Judges 20:25

20:25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers.¹³

Judges 20:28

20:28 Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord¹⁴ in those days), “Should we¹⁵ once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers,¹⁶ or should we¹⁷ quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them¹⁸ over to you.”

Judges 20:31

20:31 The Benjaminites attacked¹⁹ the army, leaving the city unguarded.²⁰ They began to strike down their enemy²¹ just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel,²² the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down²³ about thirty Israelites.

Judges 20:35

20:35 The Lord annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites.²⁴

Judges 20:48

20:48 The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns²⁵ and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities,²⁶ the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path.²⁷

Judges 21:21

21:21 and keep your eyes open.²⁸ When you see²⁹ the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration,³⁰ jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin.

Judges 21:23

21:23 The Benjaminites did as instructed.³¹ They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives.³² They went home³³ to their own territory,³⁴ rebuilt their cities, and settled down.³⁵

¹tn Or “people.”

²tn Heb “to do at their arrival in Geba of Benjamin according to all the disgraceful [thing] which he [collective = “Benjamin”] did in Israel.” Here “Geba” must be an error for “Gibeah.”

³tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”

⁴tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”

⁵tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.”

⁷map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁸tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

⁹tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

⁹tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

¹⁰tn Heb “approach for battle.”

¹¹tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

¹²tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).

¹¹tn Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the ground, all of these were wielding the sword.”

¹³tn Heb “standing before him.”

¹⁴tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

¹⁵tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

¹⁶tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

¹⁷tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

¹⁵tn Heb “went out to meet.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”

¹⁷tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.”

¹⁸map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹⁹tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁷tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”

¹⁹tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.”

²⁰tc The translation is based on the reading מֵעִיר מְתִים (me’ir mÿtim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (me’ir mÿtom, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L).

²¹tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”

²¹tn Heb “and look.”

²²tn Heb “and look, when.”

²³tn Heb “in the dances.”

²³tn Heb “did so.”

²⁴tn Heb “And they took wives according to their number from the dancing girls whom they abducted.”

²⁵tn Heb “went and returned.”

²⁶tn Heb “inheritance.”

²⁷tn Heb “and lived in them.”