Bible Strands
Judges 21:10
So the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men and commanded them: “Go and put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Israelite congregation dispatches a military unit to execute a vow-bound judgment on Jabesh-gilead for failing to attend the assembly at Mizpah. The command targets the inhabitants of that city for total destruction following the near-extinction of the tribe of Benjamin.
The words — The phrase שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֶלֶף אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי הַ/חַיִל (shnayim asar elef ish mi-bnei ha-chayil) literally counts twelve thousand men drawn from the sons of strength or valiant ranks. The verb וַיִּשְלְחוּ (va-yishlechu) indicates they were sent out with a specific military mandate.
The thread — This mandate echoes the conditional curses for failing to join the LORD's assembly in Judges 5:23 and the earlier inquiry about absent tribes in Judges 21:5. The method of disseminating the summons parallels the cutting of oxen and sending messengers in 1 Samuel 11:7.
Why it lands — The text records a direct command to destroy a specific population for collective absences, requiring the reader to track how tribal vows and military necessity intersect in the narrative. It demands attention to the stated actions before drawing conclusions about divine approval or tribal politics.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Judges 5:23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
- 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 11:7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent them by messengers throughout the land of Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not march behind Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out together as one man.
- Deuteronomy 13:15 you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.
- Joshua 7:24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.
- 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”