Judges 6:32

6:32 That very day Gideon’s father named him Jerub-Baal, ¹  because he had said, “Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down.”

Judges 6:40

6:40 That night God did as he asked. ²  Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.

Judges 20:21

20:21 The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day. ³ 

Judges 20:46

20:46 That day twenty-five thousand ⁴  sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors. ⁵ 

[6:32]  ¹ tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”

[6:40]  ² tn Heb “God did so that night.”

[20:21]  ³ 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.”

[20:46]  ⁴ sn The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 429) and C. F. Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days’ fighting emphasizes Israel’s humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator’s emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days’ casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.

[20:46]  ⁵ tn Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.