Judges 20:18

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.”

Judges 20:26

20:26 So all the Israelites, the whole army, ⁴  went up to ⁵  Bethel. ⁶  They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything ⁷  that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace ⁸  to the Lord.

Judges 11:11

11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement ⁹  before the Lord in Mizpah.

[20:18]  ¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:18]  ² tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

[20:18]  ³ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

[20:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and all the people.”

[20:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “went up and came [to].”

[20:26]  ⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:26]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “fasted.”

[20:26]  ⁸ tn Or “peace offerings.”

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.