Bible Strands
Judges 20:34
Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the Israelite army’s tactical maneuver during the civil war against Benjamin, specifically as the 10,000 selected troops advance on Gibeah while the main force holds position at Baal-tamar.
The words — מִ/נֶּ֨גֶד (mi./Ne.ged) translates literally as "from/before," indicating the frontal direction of the attack, while בָּחוּר֙ (ba.Chur) means "chosen," denoting the elite status of the advancing soldiers.
The thread — Joshua 8:14 records a parallel moment of tactical surprise when the enemy king sees the Israelites and rushes out to engage them. Isaiah 47:11 describes a disaster arriving that the recipient cannot foresee or charm away.
Why it lands — Recognize that military or political confidence can blind people to impending defeat, requiring vigilance rather than complacency.
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 there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.
Cross-references
- Joshua 8:14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
- Isaiah 47:11 But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
- Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
- Proverbs 4:19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
- Proverbs 29:6 An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.
- Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Ecclesiastes 9:12 For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
- Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- Matthew 24:44 For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.