the Fourth Week after Easter
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King James Version
Judges 20:16
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There were seven hundred fit young men who were left-handed among all these troops; all could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; everyone could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss.
From all these troops were seven hundred well-trained men who were left-handed; each one could sling with a stone at a hair and not miss.
Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Seven hundred of these trained soldiers were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss!
Among this army were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target.
Out of all these people were seven hundred choice left-handed men; each one could sling stones at [a target no wider than] a hair and not miss.
Out of all these people seven hundred choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Of all this people were seuen hundreth chosen men, being left handed: all these could sling stones at an heare breadth, and not faile.
Uit al hierdie manskappe was daar sewe honderd uitgesoekte manne wat links was; hulle almal het met 'n klip op 'n haar geslinger sonder om te mis.
In this army there were seven hundred left-handed experts who could sling a rock at a target the size of a hair and hit it every time.
All of these 700 specially picked men were left-handed, and every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; all these slang stones at a hair [breadth], and missed not.
There were also 700 trained soldiers who were trained to fight with their left hand. Each one of them could use a sling with great skill. They all could use a sling to throw a stone at a hair and not miss!
Among all these people there were seven hundred chosen men who were lefthanded; every one of them could sling stones at an hairbreadth, and not miss.
Among all this people were seven hundred chosen men who were impeded in the right hand, each of these able to sling a stone at a hair. And he did not miss!
And amoge all this people there were chosen out seuen hundreth men, which vsed not the right hande but the lefte, and yet wt the slynge coulde they touch an heer, and not mysse.
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss.
Who were left-handed, able to send a stone at a hair without error.
And among all these folke, were seuen hundred chosen men beyng left handed, whiche euery one coulde flyng stones at an heere breadth, and not misse.
All this people, even seven hundred chosen men, were left-handed; every one could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss.
Among all this people there were seuen hundred chosen men left handed, euery one could sling stones at an haire breadth, and not misse.
All these could sling with stones at a hair, and not miss.
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair-breadth, and not miss.
Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.
whiche weren seuen hundrid strongeste men, fiytynge so with the lefthond as with the riythond, and castynge so stoonus with slyngis at a certeyn thing, that thei myyten smyte also an heer, and the strook of the stoon schulde not be borun in to `the tother part.
among all this people [are] seven hundred chosen men, bound of their right hand, each of these slinging with a stone at the hair, and he doth not err.
Among all this people there were seven hundred left-handed chosen men; every one could sling stones at a hair-width, and not miss.
Among all this people [there were] seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling stones to a hair-[breadth], and not miss.
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; everyone could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss.
Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss.
Among Benjamin's elite troops, 700 were left-handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.
There were 700 chosen men of all these people who were left-handed. Each one could use a sling to throw a stone at a hair and not miss.
Of all this force, there were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss.
Out of all this people, were seven hundred chosen men, left-handed, - any one of whom could sling with a stone to a hair's-breadth, and not miss.
Who were seven hundred most valiant men, fighting with the left hand as well as with the right: and slinging stones so sure that they could hit even a hair, and not miss by the stone’s going on either side.
Among all these were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss.
Then all the People of Israel came out. The congregation met in the presence of God at Mizpah. They were all there, from Dan to Beersheba, as one person! The leaders of all the people, representing all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the gathering of God's people. There were four hundred divisions of sword-wielding infantry. Meanwhile the Benjaminites got wind that the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah. The People of Israel said, "Now tell us. How did this outrageous evil happen?" The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke: "My concubine and I came to spend the night at Gibeah, a Benjaminite town. That night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They gang-raped my concubine and she died. So I took my concubine, cut up her body, and sent her piece by piece—twelve pieces!—to every part of Israel's inheritance. This vile and outrageous crime was committed in Israel! So, Israelites, make up your minds. Decide on some action!" All the people were at once and as one person on their feet. "None of us will go home; not a single one of us will go to his own house. Here's our plan for dealing with Gibeah: We'll march against it by drawing lots. We'll take ten of every hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (a hundred of every thousand, and a thousand of every ten thousand) to carry food for the army. When the troops arrive at Gibeah they will settle accounts for this outrageous and vile evil that was done in Israel." So all the men in Israel were gathered against the city, totally united. The Israelite tribes sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin saying, "What's the meaning of this outrage that took place among you? Surrender the men right here and now, these hell-raisers of Gibeah. We'll put them to death and burn the evil out of Israel." But they wouldn't do it. The Benjaminites refused to listen to their brothers, the People of Israel. Instead they raised an army from all their cities and rallied at Gibeah to go to war against the People of Israel. In no time at all they had recruited from their cities twenty-six divisions of sword-wielding infantry. From Gibeah they got seven hundred hand-picked fighters, the best. There were another seven hundred supermarksmen who were ambidextrous—they could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Out of all these people 700 choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
lefthanded: Itter yad yemeeno, "obstructed in his right hand;" so the Chaldee Targum, gemid beedaih deyammeena, contracted or impeded in his right hand." Lev. Clerc observes, that the 700 men left-handed seem therefore to have been made slingers, because they could not use the right hand, which is employed in managing heavier arms; and they could discharge the stones from the sling in a direction against which their opponents were not upon their guard, and thus do the greater execution. Judges 3:15, 1 Chronicles 12:2
sling stones: The sling was a very ancient warlike instrument; and, in the hands of those who were skilled in the use of it, produced astonishing effects. The inhabitants of the islands of Baleares, now Majorca and Minorca, were the most celebrated slingers of antiquity. They did not permit their children to break their fast, till they had struck down the bread they had to eat from the top of a pole, or some distant eminence. Vegetius tells us, that slingers could in general hit the mark at 600 feet distance. 1 Samuel 17:40, 1 Samuel 17:49, 1 Samuel 17:50, 1 Samuel 25:29, 2 Chronicles 26:14
Cross-References
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Open rebuke is better than secret love.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded,.... According to Ben Gersom, these were the seven hundred men of Gibeah; but this does not appear from the text, but, on the contrary, that these were among all the people; or there were so many to be selected out of them all, who were lefthanded men; nor is it likely that all the inhabitants of one place should be such. Benjamin signifies a son of the right hand, yet this tribe had a great number of lefthanded men in it, see Judges 3:15. Josephus h wrongly reduces the number to five hundred:
everyone could sling stones at an hair's breadth, and not miss: the mark they slung the stone at, so very expert were they at it; and perhaps their having such a number of skilful men in this art made them more confident of success, and emboldened them in this daring undertaking, to point to which this circumstance seems to be mentioned. There were a people that inhabited the islands, now called Majorca and Minorca, anciently Baleares, from their skilfulness in slinging stones, to which they brought up from their childhood, as it is related various writers, Strabo i, Diodorus Siculus k, Floras l and others m; that their mothers used to set their breakfast on a beam or post, or some such thing, at a distance, which they were not to have, unless they could strike it off; and the first of these writers says, that they exercised this art from the time that the Phoenicians held these islands; and, according to Pliny n, the Phoenicians, the old inhabitants of Canaan, were the first inventors of slings, and from these the Benjaminites might learn it. The Indians are said o to be very expert in slinging stones to an hair's breadth.
h Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10. i Geograph l. 3. p. 116. k Bibliothec. l. 5. p. 298. l Roman Cost. l. 3. c. 8. m Vid. Barthii Ammadv. ad Claudian. in 3 Consul. Honor. ver. 50. n Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. o Philoetrat. Vit. Apollon. l. 2. c. 12.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Comparing the numbers here with those in Numbers 1:0; Numbers 26:0, it is seen that in the case both of the Benjamites and the Israelites the numbers are diminished by about one-third, i. e., they appear as about two-thirds only of what they were at the last numbering in the plains of Moab. This diminution seems to indicate disturbed and harassing times. With this agrees the mention of the cities, as containing the whole Benjamite population. The inference is that the open country and unwalled villages were not safe, but that the Benjamites kept the Canaanites in subjection only by dwelling in fortified towns.
Judges 20:16
See Judges 3:15, and note. In the Septuagint and Vulgate the 700 chosen men of Gibeah are represented as the seven hundred left-handed slingers.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Judges 20:16. Left-handed — They were ambidexters - could use the right hand and the left with equal ease and effect. Judges 1:3; Judges 1:3- :.
Could sling stones at a hair - and not miss — ××× ×××× velo yachati, and not sin: και Î¿Ï Îº εξαμαÏÏανονÏεÏ; Sept. Here we have the true import of the term sin; it signifies simply to miss the mark, and is well translated in the New Testament by αμαÏÏανÏ, from α, negative, and μαÏÏÏÏ, to hit the mark. Men miss the mark of true happiness in aiming at sensual gratifications; which happiness is to be found only in the possession and enjoyment of the favour of God, from whom their passions continually lead them. He alone hits the mark, and ceases from sin, who attains to God through Christ Jesus.
It is worthy of remark that the Persian [Persian] khuta kerden, which literally signifies to sin or mistake, is used by the Mohammedans to express to miss the mark.
The sling was a very ancient warlike instrument, and, in the hands of those who were skilled in the use of it, it produced astonishing effects. The inhabitants of the isles called Baleares, now Majorca and Minorca, were the most celebrated slingers of antiquity. They did not permit their children to break their fast till they had struck down the bread they were to eat from the top of a pole, or some distant eminence. They had their name Baleares from the Greek word βαλλειν to dart, cast, or throw.
Concerning the velocity of the ball out of the sling, there are strange and almost incredible things told by the ancients. The leaden ball, when thus projected, is said to have melted in its course. So OVID, Met. lib. ii.. ver. 726.
Obstupuit forma Jove natus: et aethere pendens
Non secus exarsit, quam cum balearica plumbum
Funda jacit; volat illud, et incandescit eundo;
Et, quos non habuit, sub nubibus invenit ignes.
Hermes was fired as in the clouds he hung;
So the cold bullet that, with fury slung
From Balearic engines, mounts on high,
Glows in the whirl, and burns along the sky.
DRYDEN.
This is not a poetic fiction; SENECA, the philosopher, in lib. iii. Quaest. Natural., c. 57, says the same thing: Sic liquescit excussa glans funda, et adtritu aeris velut igne distillat; "Thus the ball projected from the sling melts, and is liquefied by the friction of the air, as if it were exposed to the action of fire." I have often, by the sudden and violent compression of the air, produced fire; and by this alone inflamed tinder, and lighted a match.
Vegetius de Re Militari, lib. ii., cap. 23, tells us that slingers could in general hit the mark at six hundred feet distance. Funditores scopas-pro signo ponebant; ita ut SEXCENTOS PEDES removerentur a signo-signum saepius tangerent. These things render credible what is spoken here of the Benjamite slingers.
