Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 20:2

And the chief of all the people, [even] of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

2. chiefs ] Lit. the word = corner, of a house Job 1:19, or of a city Neh 3:24; Neh 3:31 f.; also a corner-stone Isa 28:16, cf. Jer 51:26. As suggestive of support or prominence, the corner could be used in a metaphorical sense; cf. 1Sa 14:38, Isa 19:13.

even of all the tribes ] even of is not in the Hebr.; read and all the tribes with LXX. cod. A .

presented themselves ] took their stand, ready for what might happen; cf. Exo 19:17, Deu 31:14, 1Sa 17:16.

the assembly of the people of God ] Only here; usually the assembly of Jehovah or of God, Deu 23:1-3, Neh 13:1. The number 400,000 is obviously exaggerated; contrast the Song of Deborah, which reckons the warriors of all Israel at 40,000, Jdg 5:8. The treatment of history in the narrative of B reflects the ideas of the church-nation of a later day; cf. the impossible figures of P, Exo 12:37. Moore notes that the Roman army which destroyed Jerusalem in a.d. 70 numbered about 60,000; and the German army which captured Paris in 1870, about 240,000.

that drew sword ] Cf. Jdg 20:15 ; Jdg 20:17 ; Jdg 20:25 ; Jdg 20:35 ; Jdg 20:46, Jdg 8:10 , 2Sa 24:9.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The chief – literally, the corner stones. (Compare 1Sa 14:38.)

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 2. The chief of all the people] The corners pinnoth; for as the corner-stones are the strength of the walls, so are the chiefs the strength of the people. Hence Christ is called the chief corner-stone.

In the assembly of the people of God] The Septuagint translate, And all the tribes of Israel stood up before the face of the Lord, , in the Church of the people of God. Here was a Church, though there was no priest; for, as Tertullian says, Ubi tres, ecclesia est, licet laici; “Wheresoever three are gathered together in the name of the Lord, there is a Church, although there be none but the laity.”

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The chief, Heb. the corners, i.e. the nobles and rulers, which are oft so called, because, like corner-stones, they both unite, and support, and adorn the whole building.

Four hundred thousand, or, and four hundred thousand. It is an ellipsis of the particle and, of which examples have been given before: for the chief of the people were not so many; but the common soldiers, and these were all footmen; whereas many of the rulers rode upon horses, or asses, Jdg 5:10; 10:4; 12:14. The number is here set down, to show both their zeal and forwardness in punishing such a villany; and the strange blindness of the Benjamites that durst oppose so great and united body; and that the success of battles depends not upon great numbers, seeing this great host was twice defeated by the Benjamites, but wholly upon Gods blessing.

Footmen; for horsemen they had few or none in their armies.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And the chief of all the people,…. The princes of the tribes and heads of families, rulers of thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens; or the “corners” c, who were like the corner stones in a building, which are not only the most valuable and ornamental, but the strength of the building, which cement it, and support it, and hold it together; though Abarbinel thinks this intends the division and separation of each tribe, which encamped in a separate corner and side by itself: but the former sense seems best, and the meaning is, that the principal men of them,

even of all the tribes of Israel; excepting the tribe of Benjamin:

presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God; now gathered together: which assembly consisted, besides the heads of them, of

four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword; or were armed men; there were 600,000 or more in Israel able to bear arms; but as now the wars in Canaan were pretty much at an end, the militia of the nation was not so regularly kept up, and many were employed in tilling the ground, and dressing the vines, and the like; and besides, as there were none of the tribe of Benjamin present, it need not be wondered at there should be no more, but rather that so many should be gathered together on such an occasion.

c “anguli”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Drusius, Tigurine version.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(2) The chief.The Hebrew word is pinnoth, corner-stones, as in 1Sa. 14:38; Isa. 19:13.

Four hundred thousand.Hence we learn the interesting fact that in their struggles against the Canaanites the number of the people had been diminished one-thirdi.e., to a far greater extent than they had been diminished by the wanderings in the wilderness. For at the census in the first year of the wanderings their numbers were (including 35,400 of Benjamin) 603,550 (Num. 1:46); and in the census in the last year they were 601,730, excluding the Benjamites, who, unlike the other tribes, had increased in numbers, for they were then 45,600 in number.

Footmen.The Israelites were forbidden to use either chariots or cavalry. (See Notes on Jdg. 1:19; Jdg. 4:3.)

That drew sword.Jdg. 8:10.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

2. Four hundred thousand On the possibility of collecting so vast a number in a short time, see note on 1Sa 11:9.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And the chiefs (literally ‘corner-tower’) of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God. Four hundred eleph of footmen that drew sword.’

The leading men (those who were the ‘corner-tower’, the strong point) of all the tribes of Israel now gathered together to consider what had happened. This may be a smaller group than Jdg 20:1, a gathering of the most important men to hear the case. ‘The assembly’ is a word regularly used of Israel in Deuteronomy.

“Four hundred eleph of footmen that drew sword.” The word eleph came to mean a thousand, but prior to that was probably a smaller number representing a clan, a sub-tribe, a family, a fighting unit, or in some cases a captain. This probably represents the number gathered as a whole (those in Jdg 20:1) rather than the number of chiefs. There were four hundred units of fighting men, which may suggest roughly four hundred chiefs, ‘leaders of thousands’ (Exo 18:21; Exo 18:25), each with his supporting unit.

Comparison with Jdg 20:17 demonstrates that they excluded Benjaminites. They had not responded to the call. It would seem then that the leaders had gathered together, with supporting fighting men, from all the tribes of Israel, excluding Benjamin. Possibly they were excluded because the trial involved some of their people, and therefore them, but more likely it was because they refused to come.

When considering such numbers in the Old Testament we must always remember, 1). That the meaning of ‘number words’ changed over the centuries. 2). That they were not numerically minded and what they wanted to do was convey impressions rather than being concerned with numerical accuracy. 3). That it would be extremely unlikely that anyone would count gatherings even if they could. There were not many specialists in numbering among the tribes. Any assessment would be a very rough approximation, rather aimed at giving an impression than intending to be accurate. On the other hand counting the number of family or military units was a lot easier. 4). That the numbers probably had a significance other than the numerical one. To them numbers conveyed information rather than quantity.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jdg 20:2 And the chief of all the people, [even] of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

Ver. 2. And the chief of all the people. ] Heb., The corners of all the people: for the chieftains and rulers bear up the people, and hold them together, as the corner stones do the whole building, which else would soon shatter and fall to ruin. a See the like in Zep 3:6 . Diodat rendereth it, the cantons.

a Ut anguli in domo, sunt primates in populo. – Vat.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)