Judges 21:10

10 So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, ¹"Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones.

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 is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?" And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly.

9 For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there.

10 So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones.

11 This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction."

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Cross References

• 1. [ver. 5]