Judges 20:23

(And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	בְנֵֽי ve.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
up	וַיַּעֲל֣וּ vai.ya.'a.Lu	H5927	to ascend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
wept	וַיִּבְכּ֣וּ vai.yiv.Ku	H1058	to weep · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
before	לִפְנֵֽי lif.nei-	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD	יְהוָה֮ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
even	הָעֶרֶב֒ ha.'e.Rev	H6153	dusk · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
asked	וַיִּשְׁאֲל֤וּ vai.yish.'a.Lu	H7592	to inquire · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
LORD	בַֽיהוָה֙ ba.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
up	לָגֶ֙שֶׁת֙ la.Ge.shet	H5066	to be or come (causatively · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
again	הַאוֹסִ֗יף ha.'o.Sif	H3254	to add or augment (often adverbial · interrogative particle + verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
battle	לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה la.mil.cha.Mah	H4421	a battle (i.e. the engagement) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
children	בְּנֵ֥י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Benjamin	בִנְיָמִ֖ן vin.ya.Min	H1144	Binjamin · proper noun, a man's name
brother	אָחִ֑י 'a.Chi	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
LORD	יְהוָ֖ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said	וַיֹּ֥אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
up	עֲל֥וּ 'a.Lu	H5927	to ascend · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Judges 20:26-27 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and f…
Joshua 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel,…
Psalms 78:34-36 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.
Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
Judges 20:18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 20:18-25

We have here the defeat of the men of Israel in their first and second battle with the Benjamites. I. Before their first engagement they asked counsel of God concerning the order of their battle and were directed, and yet they were sorely beaten. They did not think it was proper to ask of God whether they should go up at all against Benjamin (the case was plain enough, the men of Gibeah must be punished for their wickedness, and Israel must inflict the punishment or it will not be done), but "Who shall go first?" (Jdg 20:18), that is, "Who shall be general of our army?" for, which soever tribe was appointed to go first, the prince of that tribe must be looked upon as commander-in-chief of th…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 20:18

THE ISRAELITES LOSE FORTY THOUSAND. (Jdg 20:18-28) the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God--This consultation at Shiloh was right. But they ought to have done it at the commencement of their proceedings. Instead of this, all their plans were formed, and never doubting, it would seem, that the war was just and inevitable, the only subject of their inquiry related to the precedency of the tribes--a point which it is likely was discussed in the assembly. Had they asked counsel of God sooner, their expedition would have been conducted on a different principle--most probably by reducing the number of fighting men, as in the case of Gideon's army. As it was, the vast number…

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John Gill on Judges 20:23

And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even,.... The evening of the day in which the battle was fought; not that the whole army went up to Shiloh to the house of God there, but a deputation of them, who lamented their defeat, and the loss of so many lives, but not their sins and transgressions, and particularly the idolatry they had been guilty of: and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, shall we go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? they seemed to have some doubt, by the loss they sustained, whether they were right in going to war with Benjamin, especially as he was their brother; and therefore the question now is, not who should go up…

Dictionary and topics

Congregation — (Heb. kahal), the Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15). Every circumcised Hebrew from twenty years old and upward was a member of the congregation. Strangers resident in the…
Gibeah — A hill or hill-town, “of Benjamin” (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as “Gibeah of Saul” (11:4; Isa. 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite’s concubine which led to the…
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Almost annihilated for protecting the men of Gibeah — Almost annihilated for protecting the men of Gibeah
Evening, The · Humiliation often continued until — Humiliation often continued until
Jews, The · Obliged to unite against enemies — Obliged to unite against enemies
Urim And Thummim · Israelites consult — Israelites consult

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 20:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 20:18-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 20:18

John Gill on Judges 20:23

Dictionary and topics

Judges 20:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 20:18-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 20:18

John Gill on Judges 20:23

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 20:23

Rashi on Judges 20:21