Judges 20:1

Civil War Breaks Out

20:1 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba ¹  and from the land of Gilead ²  left their homes ³  and assembled together ⁴  before the Lord at Mizpah.

Judges 20:8

20:8 All Israel rose up in unison ⁵  and said, “Not one of us will go home! ⁶  Not one of us will return ⁷  to his house!

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. ⁸  When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel.” ⁹ 

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ¹⁰ 

If you do, ¹¹  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ¹² 

[20:1]  ¹ sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.

[20:1]  ² sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

[20:1]  ³ tn Heb “went out.”

[20:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”

[20:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “as one man.”

[20:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “to his tent.”

[20:8]  ⁷ tn Or “turn aside.”

[20:10]  ⁸ tn Or “people.”

[20:10]  ⁹ tn 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.”

[4:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, justice, and righteousness…”

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”