The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
Parallel Translations
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The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
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And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
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And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying: 'Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Judges 21:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 5:23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said Yahweh’s angel. ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the mighty.’
- Judges 21:5 The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up in the assembly to Yahweh?” For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn’t come up to Yahweh to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
- 1 Samuel 11:7 He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever doesn’t come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
- Deuteronomy 13:15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, with all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.
- Joshua 7:24 Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
- 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hebrew, children of strength.
Hebrew, children of strength.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 21:10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand…
Jdg 21:10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
Ver. 10. Of the valiantest.] Heb., Of the sons of valour; such as were those duo fulmina belli, the two Scipios.
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With the women and the children.] Why, what had those poor sheep done, that they must be slaughtered? {a} This is surely Exemplum nimiae severitatis saevientis in innocentes, as Piscator noteth: an excess of severity, raging against innocents that could not resist. Egregiam vero laudem! Surely, if these men had rightly repented of their cruelty toward the Benjamites, as they even now pretended, those of Jabeshgilead had found more mercy. David had not yet recovered his foul fall, when he dealt so cruelly with the Ammonites. {2Sa 12:31}
{a} Here again rash zeal outruns right reason.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Who in such public and scandalous crimes were, for…
Who in such public and scandalous crimes were, for the greater terror of such transgressors, and prevention of the like sins, oft involved in the same punishment with the men, as Deu 13:15; Jos 7:24, &c.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of…
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest,.... That were in their army; in the Vulgate Latin version it is only 10,000; but the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and Josephus (c), agree with the Hebrew text. This place, according to Bunting, to which this army was sent, was fifty two miles from Shiloh (d):
and commanded them, saying; these were the orders they gave them, when they marched out:
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go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children; which it seems was according to the oath they had made, Jdg 21:5.
(c) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10.) (d) Travels, &c. p. 121.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And the congregation sent 12,000 men - A thousand…
And the congregation sent 12,000 men - A thousand from each tribe; they followed the precedent of Num 31:4.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Ten. Hebrew, Chaldean, Septuagint, and Josephus read, twelve. The…
Ten. Hebrew, Chaldean, Septuagint, and Josephus read, twelve. The refusal to serve in the national army was punished like a sort of rebellion, with death, no less than to desert. Debora cursed the inhabitants of Meros, on this account, chap. v. 23.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. Go and smite — They attempt to help…
10. Go and smite — They attempt to help one calamity by causing another. It is noticeable that in all this action it is not said that they asked counsel of Jehovah.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. twelve thousand men] No doubt reckoning 1000 men…
10. twelve thousand men] No doubt reckoning 1000 men from each tribe, cf. Num_31:4 f.; the writer forgot that Benjamin could not be counted.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) Twelve thousand men.—The Vulgate has 10,000, but it…
(10) Twelve thousand men.—The Vulgate has 10,000, but it is doubtless meant to imply that each tribe sent a thousand “valiant men” (Gen_47:6, &c.), as in the war against the Midianites, in which Balaam was slain and at which Phinehas had been present (Num_31:6).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 10, 11. Ye shall utterly destroy, etc. Devote…
Vers. 10, 11. Ye shall utterly destroy, etc. Devote to destruction, as a herem, an accursed thing. They followed in the severity of the punishment the precedent of the destruction of the Midianites, (see Num_31:17) and even in the numbers sent to destroy them a thousand from every. (Num_31:5) Revolting to our feelings as such wholesale massacres are, including women and children, it must be remembered in mitigation that the hereto was the solemn devotion of a thing or person to destruction under the sanction of an oath. Of the valiantest. The sons of valour simply means valiant men. (2Sa_13:28 2Sa_17:10)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.