Bible Strands
Judges 20:28
and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Israelites ask the LORD whether to renew their campaign against the Benjamites or withdraw. The LORD answers them directly, commanding them to fight and promising to deliver the enemy into their hands the next day, while the ark of the covenant remains present with Phinehas serving before it.
The words — עֹמֵ֣ד\׀ ('o.Med) means "was standing" and marks Phinehas assuming his priestly position before the ark. בַּ/יָּמִ֣ים (ba/i.ya.Mim) translates literally to "in the days," fixing that service to a specific historical period.
The thread — The assurance of tomorrow’s victory parallels the LORD’s command to Gideon in Judges 7:9. The identification of Phinehas standing before the ark aligns with the priestly appointment in Deuteronomy 18:5 and the tribal land distribution recorded in Joshua 24:33.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that military action must follow divine command rather than human calculation. It establishes that covenantal authority and prophetic confirmation are prerequisites for decisive intervention.
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
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
Cross-references
- Judges 7:9 That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
- Deuteronomy 18:5 For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time.
- Joshua 24:33 Eleazar son of Aaron also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.
- Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
- Numbers 25:7 On seeing this, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,
- Joshua 7:7 “O, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!
- Joshua 22:13 The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
- Joshua 22:30 When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.
- Judges 1:2 “Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”
- 1 Samuel 14:37 So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.