¹sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.
²sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
³tn Heb “went out.”
⁴tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”
⁵tn Heb “the cornerstones”; or “the supports.” The word is used of leaders in only three other texts—1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4.
⁶tn The words “which numbered” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁷tn Heb “The man, the Levite.”
⁸tn Heb “came to.”
⁹tn Heb “arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night.”
¹⁰tn Heb “her”; the referent is more naturally stated in English as “the pieces.”
¹¹tn Heb “throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel.”
¹²tn Heb “a wicked and disgraceful [thing].”
¹³tn Heb “Look, all of you sons of Israel.”
¹⁴tn Heb “give for yourselves a word and advice here.”
¹⁵tn Heb “as one man.”
¹⁶tn Heb “to his tent.”
¹⁷tn Or “turn aside.”
¹⁸tn Heb “against her by lot.” The verb “we will go up” (hl#u&n~, n~u&l#h) has probably been accidentally omitted before “against her” (h*yl#u*, u*l#y`h).
sn As the lot dictates. The Israelite soldiers intended to cast lots to determine which tribe would lead the battle charge (see v. 18).
¹⁹tn Or “people.”
²⁰tn Heb “to do at their arrival in Geba of Benjamin according to all the disgraceful [thing] which he [collective = “Benjamin”] did in Israel.” Here “Geba” must be an error for “Gibeah.”
²¹tn Heb “gathered at the city as one man, united.”
²²tc The MT reads the plural, but surely the singular (which is supported by the LXX and Vg) is preferable here.
²³tn Heb “What is this wicked thing which happened among you?”
²⁴tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”
²⁵tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”
²⁶tn Heb “assembled from the cities at Gibeah.”
²⁷tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.”
²⁸tn Heb “And from all this people.”
²⁹tn Heb “seven hundred choice men, bound/restricted in the right hand.” On the significance of the idiom, “bound/restricted in the right hand,” see the translator’s note on 3:15.
³⁰tn “at a single hair and not miss.”
³¹tn Heb “a man of war.”
³²map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
³³tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”
³⁴tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”
³⁵tn Heb “encamped.”
³⁶tn Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
³⁷tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”
³⁸tn Heb “The people, the men of Israel.”
³⁹tn Or “encouraged one another.”
⁴⁰tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
⁴¹tn Heb “approach for battle.”
⁴²tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).
⁴³tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).
⁴⁴tn Heb “drew near to.”
⁴⁵tn Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the ground, all of these were wielding the sword.”
⁴⁶tn Heb “and all the people.”
⁴⁷tn Heb “went up and came [to].”
⁴⁸map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
⁴⁹tn Traditionally, “fasted.”
⁵⁰tn Or “peace offerings.”
⁵¹tn Heb “standing before him.”
⁵²tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
⁵³tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).
⁵⁴tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
⁵⁵tn Heb “him” (collective singular).
⁵⁶tn Heb “the third day.”
⁵⁷tn Heb “went out to meet.”
⁵⁸tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”
⁵⁹tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.”
⁶⁰map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
⁶¹tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁶²tn Or “run away.”
⁶³tn Heb “him” (collective singular).
⁶⁴sn Verses 33-36a give a condensed account of the battle from this point on, while vv. 36b-48 offer a more detailed version of how the ambush contributed to Gibeah’s defeat.
⁶⁵tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.”
⁶⁶tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.”
⁶⁷tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”
⁶⁸tn Heb “gave place to.”
⁶⁹tn Heb “hurried and put off [their hiding place].”
⁷⁰tn Heb “the men hiding in ambush.”
⁷¹tn Or “deployed.” The verb normally means “to lead” or “to draw.”
⁷²tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men hiding in ambush) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁷³tn Heb “turned in the battle.”
⁷⁴tn Heb “And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel.”
⁷⁵tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁷⁶tn Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.”
⁷⁷tn Or “were terrified.”
⁷⁸tn Heb “disaster touched against them.”
⁷⁹tn Heb “clung to”; or “stuck close.”
⁸⁰tn Heb “and those from the cities were striking them down in their midst.”
⁸¹tc The translation assumes the reading hj*oNm! (m]Noj*h, “from Nohah”; cf. 1 Chr 8:2) rather than the MT’s hj*Wnm= (m=nWj*h, “resting place”).
⁸²tn Heb “tread down, walk on.”
⁸³tn Heb “unto the opposite of Gibeah toward the east.” Gibeah cannot be correct here, since the Benjaminites retreated from there toward the desert and Rimmon (see v. 45). A slight emendation yields the reading “Geba.”
⁸⁴tn Heb “they”; the referent (the rest [of the Benjaminites]) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁸⁵tn Heb “and they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁸⁶tn Heb “gleaned.” The word is an agricultural term which pictures Israelites picking off the Benjaminites as easily as one picks grapes from the vine.
⁸⁷tn Heb “stuck close after them.”
⁸⁸sn The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 429) and C. F. Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days’ fighting emphasizes Israel’s humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator’s emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days’ casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.
⁸⁹tn Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.
⁹⁰tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.”
⁹¹tc The translation is based on the reading <yt!m= ryu!m@ (m@u!r m=t!<, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading <t{m= ryu!m@ (m@u!r m=t{<, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L).
⁹²tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”