Judges 21:10

10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the strongest, and they charged them, saying, Go ye and smite the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad with the edge of the sword.

Judges 21:10 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 21:10

And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the
valiantest
That were in their army; in the Vulgate Latin version it is only 10,000; but the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and Josephus ^F3, agree with the Hebrew text. This place, according to Bunting, to which this army was sent, was fifty two miles from Shiloh ^F4:

and commanded them, saying;
these were the orders they gave them, when they marched out:

go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the
sword, with the women and the children;
which it seems was according to the oath they had made, ( Judges 21:5 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10.)
F4 Travels p. 121.

Judges 21:10 In-Context

8 And they said, What one of the tribes of Israel, who went not up to the Lord to Massephath? and, behold, no man came to the camp from Jabis Galaad to the assembly.

9 And the people were numbered, and there was not there a man from the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad.

10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the strongest, and they charged them, saying, Go ye and smite the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad with the edge of the sword.

11 And this shall ye do: every male and every woman that has known the lying with man ye shall devote , but the virgins ye shall save alive: and they did so.

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to Selom in the land of Chanaan.

Footnotes

• [a]. sons of strength.
• [b]. mouth.