Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Anterior Siguiente
Añadir traducción en paralelo Imprimir Opciones de la página
Close LEB

Judges 20
Lexham English Bible

The Punishment of Benjamin

20 All the Israelites[a] went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body[b] to Yahweh at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand sword-bearing infantry. 3 (The descendants[c] of Benjamin heard that the Israelites[d] had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites[e] said, “Tell us, how did this evil act occur?” 4 The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 The lords of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 Then I grabbed my concubine and cut her into pieces, and I sent her throughout all the territory of Israel’s inheritance; for they committed a shameful and disgraceful thing in Israel. 7 Look, all you Israelites![f] Make your decision[g] and advice here.”

8 All the people got up as one body,[h] saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, or will any of us return to his house. 9 So then, this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against her by lot. 10 We will take ten men of one hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and one thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions to the troops, to repay them when they come to Gibeah[i] of Benjamin for all the disgraceful things[j] they did in Israel.” 11 And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one body[k] united.

12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that happened among you? 13 So then, hand over the men, the perverse lot,[l] who are in Gibeah, so that we may kill them and purge this wickedness from Israel.” But the descendants[m] of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their relatives,[n] the Israelites.[o] 14 And the descendants[p] of Benjamin were gathered from the cities to Gibeah to go out for battle against the Israelites.[q] 15 From the cities the descendants[r] of Benjamin were counted on that day twenty-six thousand sword-wielding men,[s] besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were counted seven hundred well-trained[t] men. 16 From all these troops were seven hundred well-trained[u] men who were left-handed;[v] each one could sling with a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted four hundred thousand sword-wielding men;[w] all were warriors.[x]

18 Then the Israelites[y] got up and went up to Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, “Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants[z] of Benjamin?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go first.” 19 And the Israelites[aa] got up in the morning, and they encamped against Gibeah. 20 Then the men of Israel marched out for the battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel took up positions against them for battle at Gibeah. 21 The descendants[ab] of Benjamin went out from Gibeah, and they struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel to the ground. 22 But the troops, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves,[ac] and again they arranged their battle lines in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites[ad] went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants[ae] of Benjamin, our relatives?”[af] And Yahweh said, “Go up against them.”[ag]

24 And the Israelites[ah] drew near to the descendants[ai] of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and they struck down the Israelites[aj] again, eighteen thousand men to the ground; all of these were sword-wielding.[ak] 26 And all the Israelites[al] and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh. 27 And the Israelites[am] inquired of Yahweh (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was standing before it[an] to minister in those days), saying, “Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants[ao] of Benjamin our relatives,[ap] or should we stop?” And Yahweh said, “Go up tomorrow; I will give them[aq] into your hand.”

29 So Israel stationed an ambush all around Gibeah. 30 And the Israelites[ar] went up against the descendants[as] of Benjamin on the third day, and they took up positions against Gibeah as before. 31 The descendants[at] of Benjamin went out to meet the troops, and they lured them away from the city and began to inflict casualties on the troops as before, on the main road, one of which goes up to Bethel, the other to Gibeah; and in the field there were about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the descendants[au] of Benjamin thought,[av] “They are being defeated before us as previously,”[aw] and the Israelites[ax] said, “Let us flee and lure them[ay] away from the city to the main roads.” 33 And all the men of Israel got up from their places[az] and took up positions in Baal Tamar; and the ambush of Israel charged from their places,[ba] from the vicinity of Gibeah.[bb] 34 Then ten thousand well-trained[bc] men from all Israel came out against Gibeah, and the battle became fierce;[bd] they did not know that disaster was about to close in[be] on them. 35 And Yahweh defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and the Israelites[bf] destroyed on that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them sword-wielding.[bg]

36 The descendants[bh] of Benjamin saw that they were defeated, and the men of Israel gave ground[bi] to Benjamin because they trusted the ambush that they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the ambush came quickly and advanced against Gibeah, and it put the whole city to the sword.[bj] 38 Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city. 39 And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to inflict casualties on about thirty men of Israel because they thought,[bk] “They will be completely defeated before us as in the first battle.” 40 And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up in smoke![bl] 41 And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed because they saw that disaster was closing in[bm] on them. 42 And they retreated from before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle caught up to them, and those who came from the cities[bn] destroyed them in the midst of them. 43 They surrounded Benjamin; they pursued them[bo] without rest[bp] and trod them[bq] down opposite Gibeah to the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men from Benjamin fell, all of them able men.[br] 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, but they cut down on the main roads five thousand men; and they pursued after them up to Gidom, and they struck down two thousand men. 46 So all of Benjamin who fell on that day were twenty-five thousand sword-wielding men;[bs] all of these were able men.[bt] 47 But six hundred turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 And the men of Israel returned to the descendants[bu] of Benjamin, and they put them to the edge of the sword,[bv] both the inhabitants of city and the animals that were found; they also set on fire all the cities that they found.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. Judges 20:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Judges 20:1 Hebrew “man”
  3. Judges 20:3 Or “sons/children”
  4. Judges 20:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  5. Judges 20:3 Literally “sons of Israel” or “children of “Israel”
  6. Judges 20:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  7. Judges 20:7 Literally “give your word”
  8. Judges 20:8 Hebrew “man”
  9. Judges 20:10 Hebrew “Geba”
  10. Judges 20:10 Hebrew “thing”
  11. Judges 20:11 Hebrew “man”
  12. Judges 20:13 Literally “sons of uselessness”
  13. Judges 20:13 Or “sons/children”
  14. Judges 20:13 Or “brothers”
  15. Judges 20:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  16. Judges 20:14 Or “sons/children”
  17. Judges 20:14 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  18. Judges 20:15 Or “sons/children”
  19. Judges 20:15 Literally “men drawing sword”
  20. Judges 20:15 Or “chosen”
  21. Judges 20:16 Or “choice/chosen”
  22. Judges 20:16 Literally “bound by his right hand”
  23. Judges 20:17 Literally “men drawing sword”
  24. Judges 20:17 Literally “all were men of war”
  25. Judges 20:18 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  26. Judges 20:18 Or “sons/children”
  27. Judges 20:19 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  28. Judges 20:21 Or “sons/children”
  29. Judges 20:22 Literally “took heart”
  30. Judges 20:23 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  31. Judges 20:23 Or “sons/children”
  32. Judges 20:23 Hebrew “my brother”
  33. Judges 20:23 Hebrew “him”
  34. Judges 20:24 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  35. Judges 20:24 Or “sons/children”
  36. Judges 20:25 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  37. Judges 20:25 Literally “drawers of sword”
  38. Judges 20:26 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  39. Judges 20:27 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  40. Judges 20:28 Literally “before presence of it/him”
  41. Judges 20:28 Or “sons/children”
  42. Judges 20:28 Hebrew “my brother”
  43. Judges 20:28 Hebrew “him”
  44. Judges 20:30 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  45. Judges 20:30 Or “sons/children”
  46. Judges 20:31 Or “sons/children”
  47. Judges 20:32 Or “sons/children”
  48. Judges 20:32 Or “said”
  49. Judges 20:32 Literally “on the first”
  50. Judges 20:32 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  51. Judges 20:32 Hebrew “him”
  52. Judges 20:33 Hebrew “place”
  53. Judges 20:33 Hebrew “place”
  54. Judges 20:33 Hebrew “Geba”
  55. Judges 20:34 Or “choice/chosen”
  56. Judges 20:34 Or “the battle became heavy”
  57. Judges 20:34 Literally “touching”
  58. Judges 20:35 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  59. Judges 20:35 Literally “drawing sword”
  60. Judges 20:36 Or “sons/children”
  61. Judges 20:36 Or “a place” or “space”
  62. Judges 20:37 Literally “struck the whole city with the mouth of the sword”
  63. Judges 20:39 Or “said”
  64. Judges 20:40 Literally “to heaven”
  65. Judges 20:41 Literally “touching”
  66. Judges 20:42 Other ancient translations “city”
  67. Judges 20:43 Hebrew “him”
  68. Judges 20:43 Or “at Nohah,” a location
  69. Judges 20:43 Hebrew “him”
  70. Judges 20:44 Literally “men of strength”
  71. Judges 20:46 Literally “men drawing sword”
  72. Judges 20:46 Literally “men of strength”
  73. Judges 20:48 Or “sons/children”
  74. Judges 20:48 Literally the mouth of the sword”
Close CEB

Judges 20
Common English Bible

Civil war between the Benjaminites and the Israelites

20 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba, as well as from the area of Gilead, marched out, and the group assembled as one body in the Lord’s presence at Mizpah. 2 The commanders of the people and of all the tribes of Israel took their place in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand foot soldiers armed with swords. 3 And the Benjaminites got word that the Israelites had marched up to Mizpah.

The Israelites inquired, “Tell us how this evil act happened.”

4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, “My secondary wife and I came to Gibeah of Benjamin to spend the night, 5 and the leading citizens of Gibeah tried to attack me. They surrounded me in the house at night and were determined to kill me. They abused my secondary wife until she died. 6 I took her, chopped her up, and sent her pieces into every part of Israel’s territory, because they had committed a disgraceful act in Israel. 7 All you Israelites, say what you think should be done here and now!”

8 At this, all the people stood as one to say, “Not a single one of us is going home or returning to our house! 9 This is what we’re now going to do to Gibeah: We’ll march up[a] against it as the lot determines. 10 From all the tribes of Israel, we’ll get ten men for every hundred, one hundred for every thousand, and one thousand for every ten thousand to take supplies for the troops who are going to pay back[b] Gibeah of Benjamin for the disgraceful act they’ve done in Israel.” 11 So all the Israelites joined together and were united as one against the city.

12 The Israelite tribes sent men throughout the whole tribe of Benjamin with this message: “What about this evil act that happened among you? 13 Now hand over those perverse men in Gibeah so that we can execute them and remove the evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites refused to comply with the demand of their own relatives the Israelites. 14 Instead, the Benjaminites from all the cities came together at Gibeah to march out for battle against the Israelites. 15 On that day, the Benjaminites called up from their cities twenty-six thousand men armed with swords, not counting those living in Gibeah.[c] 16 Out of this entire army, seven hundred specially chosen men were left-handed, and every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 Not counting Benjamin, the Israelites called up four hundred thousand men armed with swords, and every one of them was a trained warrior.

18 Then the Israelites marched up to Bethel to ask for direction from God. They inquired, “Who should go up first to fight against the Benjaminites for us?”

And the Lord said, “Let the tribe of Judah be first.”

19 So the next morning, the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah. 20 They marched out to fight against the Benjaminites, lining up in battle formation against them at Gibeah. 21 But the Benjaminites marched out from Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelite men that day.

23 [d] So the Israelites went back up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we move in again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites?”

And the Lord replied, “March out against them.”

22 The Israelite troops regrouped and lined up in battle formation again in the same place they had lined up the first day. 24 The Israelites moved in against the Benjaminites the second day. 25 But the Benjaminites marched out of Gibeah to meet them on that second day and cut down another eighteen thousand Israelite men, all of whom were armed with swords.

26 Then all the Israelite troops went back up to Bethel and wept, just sitting there in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that whole day until evening. Then they offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices to the Lord. 27 Now in those days the chest containing God’s covenant was there, 28 and Phinehas, Eleazar’s son and Aaron’s grandson, was in charge of ministering before it. The Israelites asked the Lord, “Should we march out once again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites or should we give up?”

And the Lord replied, “March up, for I’ll hand them to you tomorrow.”

29 So the Israelites set ambushes around Gibeah. 30 Three days later, the Israelites marched out against the Benjaminites. They lined up for battle against Gibeah as before. 31 When the Benjaminites came out to meet them, they were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down some of the troops just like the last time, about thirty Israelites along the main roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and one to Gibeah, as well as in the open fields. 32 The Benjaminites thought, They’re being wiped out before us like the first time. But the Israelites had planned, We’ll retreat and draw them away from the city toward the main roads. 33 The Israelites moved from their position and reformed their battle lines at Baal-tamar. Then the Israelites who had been set in ambush charged out from their positions west of Gibeah.[e] 34 Ten thousand specially chosen men from all the Israelites came against Gibeah. The fighting was fierce, and the Benjaminites didn’t realize that disaster was almost on them. 35 The Lord wiped out the Benjaminites before Israel. The Israelites slaughtered twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjaminite men that day, all of them armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjaminites saw that they had been defeated.

The Israelites had given ground to the Benjaminites because they relied on the ambush that they had set around Gibeah. 37 Indeed, those in the ambush had dashed swiftly into Gibeah and killed all the people in the city with their swords. 38 The plan between the main force of the Israelites and those in the ambush was that when they sent up a big cloud of smoke from the city, 39 the Israelites would turn around in battle. The Benjaminites had begun to defeat some of the Israelites and had killed about thirty men, thinking, They are definitely going to be wiped out before us, as in the first battle! 40 But then the column of smoke began to rise from the city. When the Benjaminites looked back, there was the entire city going up in smoke to the sky. 41 The main force of the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites lost heart, because they recognized that disaster had fallen on them. 42 They turned back before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but the fighting caught up with them, and those from the towns were slaughtering them there.[f] 43 They encircled the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah,[g] and trampled them to the east of Gibeah. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjaminites fell, all of whom were strong warriors. 45 When they turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites picked off another five thousand men on the main roads. And when they caught up with them at Gidom, they struck down two thousand more.

46 All in all, the total number of Benjaminites who fell that day was twenty-five thousand men, all of whom were armed with swords and were strong warriors. 47 Six hundred men turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 But the Israelites turned their attention to the rest of the Benjaminites and massacred them entirely—the city, the people, even the animals, and everything else they found. They also burned down every city they came across.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. Judges 20:9 LXX; MT lacks We’ll march up.
  2. Judges 20:10 Cf LXX; Heb uncertain
  3. Judges 20:15 LXX, Vulg, Syr; MT adds seven hundred specially chosen men were called up.
  4. Judges 20:23 20:22 and 20:23 are reversed.
  5. Judges 20:33 Heb Geba
  6. Judges 20:42 Heb uncertain
  7. Judges 20:43 LXX; MT to a resting place
Siguiente
Judges 19
Judges 21
Siguiente
dropdown
Lexham English Bible (LEB)

2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible