Judges 21:10

10 So the congregation sent twelve divisions of their top men there with the command, "Kill everyone of Jabesh Gilead, including women and children.

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 They said, "Which one of the tribes of Israel didn't gather before God at Mizpah?"

9 When they took a roll call of the people, not a single person from Jabesh Gilead was there.

10 So the congregation sent twelve divisions of their top men there with the command, "Kill everyone of Jabesh Gilead, including women and children.

11 These are your instructions: Every man and woman who has had sexual intercourse you must kill. But keep the virgins alive." And that's what they did.

12 And they found 400 virgins among those who lived in Jabesh Gilead; they had never had sexual intercourse with a man. And they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.