Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.
Parallel translations
- WEB Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
- KJV Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
- NKJV Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss.
- NASB Out of all these people seven hundred choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
- NLT Among Benjamin’s elite troops, 700 were left-handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.
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 fielded 700 elite left-handed slingers of deadly accuracy, showing the tribe's formidable military strength.
Overview
In defending the guilty men of Gibeah, Benjamin mustered a small but skilled army, including these renowned left-handed slingers (a recurring trait of Benjamin, whose name ironically means 'son of the right hand'; cf. Ehud in 3:15). Their precision underscores that Israel's coming victory would not be by superior weaponry but by God's hand. The detail heightens the tragedy: gifted warriors were squandered defending sin rather than serving the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Judg 3:15And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
- 1 Chr 12:2they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):
- 1 Sam 25:29And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.
- 1 Sam 17:40And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.
- 1 Sam 17:49–50Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
- 2 Chr 26:14Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones.
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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 20:16 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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