Judges 20:17-19
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
17 The men of Israel, without Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them warriors. 18 They went up to Bethel and consulted God. When the Israelites asked, “Who shall go up first for us to do battle with the Benjaminites?” the Lord said: Judah first.[a](A) 19 [b]The Israelites rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
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- 20:18 Judah first: as in 1:2, where the enemy is the Canaanites. This time the attack is against fellow Israelites, an indication of how far things have deteriorated in these days when as yet “there was no king in Israel”; see note on 17:6.
- 20:19–25 The Israelites are defeated twice by the Benjaminites.
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