Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, you children of Israel, all of you, give here your advice and counsel.”
- BSB Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.”
- NKJV Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!”
- NASB Behold, all you sons of Israel, give your response and advice here.”
- NLT Now then, all of you—the entire community of Israel—must decide here and now what should be done about this!”
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
The Levite calls on all Israel to give counsel and decide what to do. The matter is placed before the whole assembly for judgment.
Overview
He invites the gathered tribes to deliberate and render a verdict. The appeal to collective counsel reflects a desire for united action against the crime. It moves the assembly toward the demand for justice that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Judg 19:30And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.
- 1 Cor 5:10–12Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
- Josh 9:14And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
- Deut 4:6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
- 1 Cor 5:6Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
- 1 Cor 5:1It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
- Prov 24:6For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
- Prov 20:18Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
- Deut 14:1–2Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
- Jas 1:5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
- Exod 19:5–6Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 20:7 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.