20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel 1 and asked God, 2 “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” 3 The Lord said, “Judah should lead.” 20:19 The Israelites got up the next morning and moved 4 against Gibeah. 20:20 The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they 5 arranged their battle lines against Gibeah. 20:21 The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day. 6
20:22 The Israelite army 7 took heart 8 and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before. 20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we 9 again march out to fight 10 the Benjaminites, our brothers?” 11 The Lord said, “Attack them!” 12 20:24 So the Israelites marched toward 13 the Benjaminites the next day. 20:25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers. 14
20:26 So all the Israelites, the whole army, 15 went up to 16 Bethel. 17 They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything 18 that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace 19 to the Lord. 20:27 The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days; 20:28 Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord 20 in those days), “Should we 21 once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, 22 or should we 23 quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them 24 over to you.”
1 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
2 tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”
3 tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”
4 tn Heb “encamped.”
5 tn Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”
7 tn Heb “The people, the men of Israel.”
8 tn Or “encouraged one another.”
9 tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
10 tn Heb “approach for battle.”
11 tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).
12 tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).
13 tn Heb “drew near to.”
14 tn 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.”
15 tn Heb “and all the people.”
16 tn Heb “went up and came [to].”
17 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
18 tn Traditionally, “fasted.”
19 tn Or “peace offerings.”
20 tn Heb “standing before him.”
21 tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
22 tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).
23 tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
24 tn Heb “him” (collective singular).