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Thursday, August 7th, 2025
the Week of Proper 13 / Ordinary 18
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The NET Bible®

Judges 20:17

The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Torrey's Topical Textbook - Benjamin, Tribe of;   Jews, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Benjamin;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Marriage;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Gibeah ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Gibeah;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Four;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized four hundred thousand armed men, every one an experienced warrior.
Hebrew Names Version
The men of Yisra'el, besides Binyamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew sword: all these were men of war.
King James Version
And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
Lexham English Bible
And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted four hundred thousand sword-wielding men; all were warriors.
English Standard Version
And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered 400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.
New Century Version
The Israelites, except for the Benjaminites, gathered 400,000 soldiers with swords.
Amplified Bible
Then the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, assembled four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
New American Standard Bible
Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted, four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Also the men of Israel, beside Beniamin, were nombred foure hundreth thousande men that drew sword, euen all men of warre.
Legacy Standard Bible
En die manne van Israel, behalwe Benjamin, is getel: vier honderd duisend man wat die swaard uittrek, hulle almal was krygsmanne.
Contemporary English Version
The other Israelite tribes organized their army and found they had four hundred thousand experienced soldiers.
Complete Jewish Bible
The army of Isra'el, apart from Binyamin, numbered 400,000 men with swords; they were all experienced soldiers.
Darby Translation
And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
Easy-to-Read Version
All the tribes of Israel, except Benjamin, gathered together 400,000 fighting men with swords. Each one was a trained soldier.
George Lamsa Translation
And the men of Israel, as compared with the Benjamites, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.
Good News Translation
Not counting the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gathered 400,000 trained soldiers.
Literal Translation
And the men of Israel numbered themselves, besides Benjamin, four hundred thousand men drawing sword, each of these a man of war.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the men of Israel, beside them of BeIamin, were nobred foure hudreth thousande, which drue the swerde, & were all men of armes.
American Standard Version
And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
Bible in Basic English
And the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, were four hundred thousand in number, all armed with swords; they were all men of war.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the children of Israel beside Beniamin, were numbred foure hundred thousand men that drewe swordes, and were all men of warre.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.
King James Version (1611)
And the men of Israel, beside Beniamin, were numbred foure hundred thousand men that drewe sword; all these were men of warre.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the men of Israel, exclusive of Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.
English Revised Version
And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
Berean Standard Bible
The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mustered 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Also of the men of Israel, with out the sones of Beniamin, weren foundun foure hundrid thousynd `of men drawynge swerd and redi to batel.
Young's Literal Translation
And the men of Israel numbered themselves, apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, drawing sword, each of these a man of war.
Update Bible Version
And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand swordsmen: all these were men of war.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these [were] men of war.
World English Bible
The men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew sword: all these were men of war.
New King James Version
Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
New Living Translation
Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin's warriors.
New Life Bible
Apart from Benjamin, there were 400,000 men of Israel who used the sword. All of them were men of war.
New Revised Standard
And the Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand armed men, all of them warriors.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, the men of Israel, were numbered, apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, that drew the sword, - every one of these being a man of war.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Of the men of Israel also, beside the children of Benjamin, were found four hundred thousand that drew swords and were prepared to fight.
Revised Standard Version
And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.
THE MESSAGE
The men of Israel, excluding Benjamin, mobilized four hundred divisions of sword-wielding fighting men.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were numbered, 400,000 men who draw the sword; all these were men of war.

Contextual Overview

12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "How could such a wicked thing take place? 13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness." But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers. 14 The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites. 15 That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah. 16 Among this army were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target. 17 The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

four hundred: Judges 20:2, Numbers 1:46, Numbers 26:51, 1 Samuel 11:8, 1 Samuel 15:4, 1 Chronicles 21:5, 2 Chronicles 17:14-18

Reciprocal: Judges 8:10 - fell an hundred Judges 20:22 - encouraged Hosea 10:9 - the battle

Cross-References

Genesis 20:7
But now give back the man's wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don't give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you."
Genesis 20:9
Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!"
Genesis 20:10
Then Abimelech asked Abraham, "What prompted you to do this thing?"
Genesis 20:11
Abraham replied, "Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.'
Genesis 20:12
What's more, she is indeed my sister, my father's daughter, but not my mother's daughter. She became my wife.
Genesis 29:31
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless.
Ezra 6:10
so that they may be offering incense to the God of heaven and may be praying for the good fortune of the king and his family.
Proverbs 15:8
The Lord abhors the sacrifices of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Isaiah 45:11
This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him, concerning things to come: "How dare you question me about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with the work of my own hands!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin,.... Who did not join them in this affair, but opposed them,

were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: see

Judges 20:9

all these were men of war; inured to it, skilful and courageous.

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.


 
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