The children of Benjamin were counted on that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were counted seven hundred chosen men.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
- BSB On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.
- NKJV And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men.
- NASB From the cities on that day the sons of Benjamin were counted, twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were counted, seven hundred choice men.
- NLT In all, 26,000 of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 elite troops who lived there.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Benjamin musters twenty-six thousand swordsmen plus seven hundred from Gibeah. The tribe assembles a formidable but heavily outnumbered army.
Overview
The count of Benjamin's forces, far smaller than Israel's host, shows the lopsided nature of the coming battle. Their willingness to fight for so grievous a cause reveals deep moral blindness. The numbers set the stage for the terrible losses that the civil war will bring upon both sides.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Num 26:41These are the sons of Benjamin after their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand six hundred.
- Num 1:37those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.
- Judg 20:25Benjamin went out against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men. All these drew the sword.
- Judg 20:46–47So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of valor.
- Judg 20:35Yahweh struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men. All these drew the sword.
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 20:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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