2sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

3tn Heb “went out.”

4tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”

5tn Heb “the cornerstones”; or “the supports.” The word is used of leaders in only three other texts – 1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4.

6tn The words “which numbered” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

7tn Heb “The man, the Levite.”

8tn Heb “came to.”

9tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”

10tn Heb “arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night.”

11tn Heb “her”; the referent is more naturally stated in English as “the pieces.”

12tn Heb “throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel.”

13tn Heb “a wicked and disgraceful [thing].”

14tn Heb “Look, all of you sons of Israel.”

15tn Heb “give for yourselves a word and advice here.”

16tn Heb “as one man.”

17tn Heb “to his tent.”

18tn Or “turn aside.”

19tn Heb “against her by lot.” The verb “we will go up” (נַעֲלֶה, na’aleh) has probably been accidentally omitted before “against her” (עָלֶיהָ, ’aleha).

sn As the lot dictates. The Israelite soldiers intended to cast lots to determine which tribe would lead the battle charge (see v. 18).

20tn Or “people.”

21tn Heb “to do at their arrival in Geba of Benjamin according to all the disgraceful [thing] which he [collective = “Benjamin”] did in Israel.” Here “Geba” must be an error for “Gibeah.”

22tn Heb “gathered at the city as one man, united.”

23tc The MT reads the plural, but surely the singular (which is supported by the LXX and Vulgate) is preferable here.

24tn Heb “What is this wicked thing which happened among you?”

25tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”

26tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”

27tn Heb “assembled from the cities at Gibeah.”

28tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.”

29tn Heb “And from all this people.”

30tn Heb “seven hundred choice men, bound/restricted in the right hand.” On the significance of the idiom, “bound/restricted in the right hand,” see the translator’s note on 3:15.

31tn “at a single hair and not miss.”

32tn Heb “a man of war.”

33map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

34tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

35tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

36tn Heb “encamped.”

37tn Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

38tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”

39tn Heb “The people, the men of Israel.”

40tn Or “encouraged one another.”

41tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

42tn Heb “approach for battle.”

43tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

44tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).

45tn Heb “drew near to.”

46tn Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the ground, all of these were wielding the sword.”

47tn Heb “and all the people.”

48tn Heb “went up and came [to].”

49map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

50tn Traditionally, “fasted.”

51tn Or “peace offerings.”

52tn Heb “standing before him.”

53tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

54tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

55tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

56tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

57tn Heb “the third day.”

58tn Heb “went out to meet.”

59tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”

60tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.”

61map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

62tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

63tn Or “run away.”

64tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

65sn Verses 33-36a give a condensed account of the battle from this point on, while vv. 36b-48 offer a more detailed version of how the ambush contributed to Gibeah’s defeat.

66tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.”

67tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.”

68tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”

69tn Heb “gave place to.”

70tn Heb “hurried and put off [their hiding place].”

71tn Heb “the men hiding in ambush.”

72tn Or “deployed.” The verb normally means “to lead” or “to draw.”

73tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men hiding in ambush) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

74tn Heb “turned in the battle.”

75tn Heb “And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel.”

76tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

77tn Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.”

78tn Or “were terrified.”

79tn Heb “disaster touched against them.”

80tn Heb “clung to”; or “stuck close.”

81tn Heb “and those from the cities were striking them down in their midst.”

82tc The translation assumes the reading מִנּוֹחָה (minnokhah, “from Nohah”; cf. 1 Chr 8:2) rather than the MT’s מְנוּחָה (m˙nukhah, “resting place”).

83tn Heb “tread down, walk on.”

84tn Heb “unto the opposite of Gibeah toward the east.” Gibeah cannot be correct here, since the Benjaminites retreated from there toward the desert and Rimmon (see v. 45). A slight emendation yields the reading “Geba.”

85tn Heb “they”; the referent (the rest [of the Benjaminites]) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

86tn Heb “and they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

87tn Heb “gleaned.” The word is an agricultural term which pictures Israelites picking off the Benjaminites as easily as one picks grapes from the vine.

88tn Heb “stuck close after them.”

89sn The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 429) and C. F. Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days’ fighting emphasizes Israel’s humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator’s emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days’ casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.

90tn Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.

91tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.”

92tc The translation is based on the reading מֵעִיר מְתִים (me’ir m˙tim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (me’ir m˙tom, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L).

93tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”