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Judges 20

KJ3 Literal Translation — Chapter 20 of 21

1 And all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, to Jehovah at Mizpeh.

2 And the leaders of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of all the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen drawing sword.

3 And the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpeh. And the sons of Israel said, Speak up. How did this evil happen?

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Chapter Summary

The Levite in a general assembly declares his wrong. 8 They demand the rapists.12 The Benjamites defy the assembly. 18 The men of Benjamin kill 22,000, then 18,000 men of the eleven tribes. 26 In the third battle, they destroy all the men of Benjamin except six hundred.

Key Hebrew Words

קָהָל assembly H6951 · TWOT 1991a
מִלְחָמָה battle, war H4421 · TWOT 1104c
חֶ֫רֶב sword H2719 · TWOT 732a
אָרַב to lie in ambush H693 · TWOT 156
נְבָלָה disgraceful folly H5039 · TWOT 1285b
פִּלֶ֫גֶשׁ concubine H6370 · TWOT 1770

People & Context

Phinehas

Son of Eleazar, standing before the ark of the covenant at Bethel; he inquired of Jehovah before the third battle

Eleazar

Son of Aaron, named in the priestly lineage as the father of Phinehas (v28)

Aaron

Named genealogically as grandfather of Phinehas, validating the priestly line (v28)

Timeline

Israel Assembles at Mizpeh

Four hundred thousand men of Israel gather as one congregation before Jehovah at Mizpeh to address the atrocity.

Judges 20:1-2
Levite Testifies Before the Assembly

The Levite explains to the assembly how the men of Gibeah sought to kill him and raped his concubine to death.

Judges 20:3-7
Israel Resolves to Attack Gibeah

The entire assembly vows not to return home until they punish Gibeah. They draw lots to organize food supplies for the army.

Judges 20:8-11

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