EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Judges 20:3
3By this time, the people of Benjamin's tribe had heard the news that the other tribes were meeting in Mizpah. Then the Israelites asked, ‘Tell us how this evil thing happened.’
Judges 20:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
- New International Version (NIV)(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)(Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this evil happen?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?”
Context of Judges 20:3
1Then all the Israelites agreed to come together. They came from everywhere in Israel, from Dan in the north as far as Beersheba in the south. They also came from the Gilead region on the east side of the Jordan River. They all came together at Mizpah, to meet with the Lord. 2The leaders of all Israel's tribes stood there with the people of God. There were 400,000 Israelite men who had their weapons, ready to fight. By this time, the people of Benjamin's tribe had heard the news that the other tribes were meeting in Mizpah. Then the Israelites asked, ‘Tell us how this evil thing happened.’ 4So the Levite, the husband of the dead woman, told them. He said, ‘My slave wife and I arrived in Gibeah to sleep there for the night. It is a town that belongs to the people of Benjamin's tribe. 5That night some important men of Gibeah came to the house to attack me. They stood all around the house. They wanted to kill me, but they took hold of my wife instead. They made her have sex with them, and she died.
Read all of Judges 20Judges 20:3 word by word
וַֽיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י בִנְיָמִ֔ן כִּֽי־עָל֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל הַמִּצְפָּ֑ה וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל דַּבְּר֕וּ אֵיכָ֥ה נִהְיְתָ֖ה הָרָעָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Now the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Benjaminבִּנְיָמִיןbinyâmîyn · BenjaminH1144
- heardשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- were gone upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- to Mizpehמִצְפָּהmitspâh · MizpahH4709
- Then saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Tellדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- how wasהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
- this wickednessרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: evilH7451
Cross-references for Judges 20:3
- Proverbs 22:3A careful person can see danger and he will hide himself. But a silly person never stops, and he walks into trouble.
- Matthew 5:25Also, somebody may say that you have done something wrong against him. He may take you to stand in front of the judge. You should quickly try to agree with this person. Decide with him how to make things right again. Do this even while you are going with him to the judge. If you do not do that, the judge may agree that you have done a wrong thing. Then he will give you to his officer. His officer will put you in prison.
- Luke 12:58This may happen to you: Someone says, “You have done something wrong against me.” So he takes hold of you to go to the judge. Before you arrive at the office of the judge, try to agree with this man how to make things right again. If you do not agree together about the problem, it may be bad for you. The judge will give you to his officer. The officer will put you in prison.
- Luke 14:31Then Jesus gave them another example. ‘Perhaps a king wants to fight a war against another king. But before he goes to fight, he sits down. He thinks to himself. “Can I win this war? My army is large, with 10,000 men. But the other king has twice as many soldiers in his army.
- Judges 19:22They were enjoying their time together. Suddenly, some wicked men who lived in the city came to the house. They stood all around it and they hit the door hard. They shouted to the old man who lived there, ‘Bring out the man who came to visit you. We want to have sex with him.’
Commentaries on Judges 20:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Tell us, how was this wickedness? - They had heard before, by the messengers he sent with the fragments of his wife's body; but they wish to hear it, in full council, from himself.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The tribe of Benjamin likely got the message (Judges 19:29), so they knew trouble was coming.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh--Some suppose that Benjamin had been passed over, the crime having been perpetrated within the territory of that tribe [Jud 19:16]; and that, as the concubine's corpse had been divided into twelve pieces [Jud 19:29]--two had been sent to Manasseh, one respectively to the western and eastern divisions. It is more probable that Benjamin had received a formal summons…Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 20:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
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