Judges 21:10

10 And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men from the troops, and they commanded them, saying, "Go, strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with {the edge of the sword}, and the 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 asked, "Which one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?" And behold, no one came from Jabesh-gilead to the camp, to the assembly.

9 The people were counted, and no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.

10 And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men from the troops, and they commanded them, saying, "Go, strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with {the edge of the sword}, and the women and children.

11 This is the thing you will do: {you will destroy} every man and {every woman who had sex with a man}."

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not {had sex with a man}, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "[the] mouth of [the] sword"