Judges 20:7

20:7 All you Israelites, ¹  make a decision here!” ² 

Judges 20:23

20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we ³  again march out to fight ⁴  the Benjaminites, our brothers?” ⁵  The Lord said, “Attack them!” ⁶ 

Judges 20:26-27

20:26 So all the Israelites, the whole army, ⁷  went up to ⁸  Bethel. ⁹  They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything ¹⁰  that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace ¹¹  to the Lord. 20:27 The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days;

Judges 1:1

Judah Takes the Lead

1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ¹²  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ¹³ 

Numbers 27:5

27:5 So Moses brought their case before the Lord.

Numbers 27:21

27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹⁴  will seek counsel ¹⁵  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ¹⁶  At his command ¹⁷  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

Joshua 9:14

9:14 The men examined ¹⁸  some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord’s advice. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “Look, all of you sons of Israel.”

² tn Heb “give for yourselves a word and advice here.”

³ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

⁴ tn Heb “approach for battle.”

⁵ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

⁶ tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).

⁵ tn Heb “and all the people.”

⁶ tn Heb “went up and came [to].”

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

⁸ tn Traditionally, “fasted.”

⁹ tn Or “peace offerings.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

⁸ tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

⁹ tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

¹⁰ tn Heb “ask.”

¹¹ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

¹² tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.

¹¹ tn Heb “took.” This probably means they tasted some of the food to make sure it was stale.

¹² tn Heb “but they did not ask the mouth of the Lord.” This refers to seeking the Lord’s will and guidance through an oracle.