And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day destroyed twenty-two thousand of the Israelite men down to the ground.
- KJV And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.
- NKJV Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.
- NASB Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel.
- NLT But Benjamin’s warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
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 sallied out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the first day, a shocking defeat for the larger army.
Overview
Despite their overwhelming numbers and God's directive that Judah go first, Israel suffered a catastrophic loss. The text does not yet explain why, but it exposes Israel's presumption: they had inquired about strategy without deep repentance over the moral decay running through the whole nation. The defeat humbles them and begins to drive them to true seeking of the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Jer 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Judg 20:25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
- Hos 10:9Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?
- 2 Chr 28:10And now you intend to reduce to slavery the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem. But are you not also guilty before the LORD your God?
- Eccl 9:1–3So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.
- Ps 77:19Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.
- Gen 49:27Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
- Ps 73:18–19Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Ps 33:16No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- Deut 23:9When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every wicked thing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 20:21 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.