Bible Strands
Judges 20:1
Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative records the mobilization of Israelite tribes from Dan to Beersheba and Gilead as they gather at Mizpah before the LORD, following the crisis that precedes the chapter.
The words — The phrase כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד (ke./'Ish 'e.Chad) literally renders "like a man one," emphasizing the singular, unified posture of the assembled tribes.
The thread — Joshua 22:12 shows a similar national assembly at Shiloh for war, while Judges 21:5 later questions who failed to attend such an assembly, framing this gathering as a rare moment of covenantal unity before civil conflict.
Why it lands — The text records a historical mobilization of Israel into a single force at Mizpah, demanding acknowledgment of how tribal cohesion temporarily overrides regional divisions in response to national crisis.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer–sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the Lord in Mizpeh.
Cross-references
- Judges 11:11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.
- Joshua 22:12 And when they heard this, the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.
- Judges 21:5 The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death.
- 1 Samuel 3:20 So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 10:17 After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah
- 2 Samuel 3:10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.”
- 1 Samuel 7:5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.”
- 2 Samuel 24:2 So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.”
- Nehemiah 8:1 At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
- Numbers 32:1 Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.