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 they might do on their coming to Gibeah of Benjamin according to all the folly which had been done in Israel,” i.e., might punish the wickedness in Gibeah as it deserved.

Verse 11
Thus the men of Israel assembled together against Gibeah, united as one man. חברים, lit. as comrades, simply serves to strengthen the expression “as one man.” With this remark, which indicates briefly the carrying out of the resolution that was adopted, the account of the meeting of the congregation is brought to a close; but the actual progress of the affair is really anticipated, inasmuch as what is related in Jdg 20:12-21 preceded the expedition in order of time.

Verses 12-13
Before the tribes of Israel entered upon the war, they sent men to all the tribes of Benjamin, who were to demand that the culprits in Gibeah should be given up to be punished, that the evil might thus be exterminated from Israel, according to the law in Deu 22:22 as compared with Jdg 13:6 and Jdg 17:12. “The tribes of Benjamin” are the same as “the families of Benjamin:” the historian pictured to himself the different divisions of the tribe of Benjamin as warlike powers about to carry on a war with the other tribes of Israel. The word shebet (tribe) is used in a different way in Num 4:18. But the Benjaminites would not hearken to the voice of their brethren, the other tribes of Israel. The Keri (sons of Benjamin) is a needless alteration, since Benjamin may be construed with the plural as a collective term. By refusing this just demand on the part of the other tribes, the Benjaminites took the side of the culprits in Gibeah, and compelled the congregation to make war upon the whole tribe.

Verses 14-16
Both sides now made their preparations. The Benjaminites assembled together at Gibeah out of their different towns, and “were mustered 26,000 men drawing the sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah they were mustered, 700 picked men” (הגפּקדוּ, with the reduplication dropped, like the Hothpael in Num 1:47). “Out of all this people there were 700 picked men, lamed in the right hand, all these (were) slinging with a stone (hitting) at a hair's breadth without fail.” These statement are not quite clear. Since, according to the distinct words of Jdg 20:16, the 700 slingers with their left hands were “out of the whole people,” i.e., out of the whole number of fighting men mentioned in Jdg 20:16, they cannot be the same as the 700 chosen men referred to in Jdg 20:15, notwithstanding the similarity in the numbers and the expression “chosen men.” The obscurity arises chiefly from the word התפּקדוּ in Jdg 20:15, which is separated by the Masoretic accents from שׁבע מ, and connected