Judges 20:9

Judges 20:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;
• New International Version (NIV)But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot,
• New King James Version (NKJV)but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot.

Context of Judges 20:9

7So now all you people of Israel must decide what you will do about it.’ 8All the people stood up together. They all promised, ‘None of us will go home. Not one of us will return to his house. Instead, this is what we will do to the people of Gibeah. We will use lots to decide who should attack the city. 10We will take ten men from every 100 men in each tribe. We will take 100 men from every 1,000 men, and 1,000 men from every 10,000 men. Those men will find food for the other soldiers. That will be their job. Then the other soldiers will be able to attack Gibeah. They will punish Gibeah's people as they deserve for the terrible thing that they have done.’ 11So all the Israelites agreed together that they would attack Gibeah, in the land of Benjamin.

Judges 20:9 word by word

וְעַתָּ֕ה זֶ֣ה הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשֶׂ֖ה לַגִּבְעָ֑ה עָלֶ֖יהָ בְּגוֹרָֽל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• the thingדָּבָרdâbâr · word: thingH1697
• which we will doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• to Gibeahגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · GibeahH1390
• by lotגּוֹרָלgôrâl gôrâl · allottedH1486

Cross-references for Judges 20:9

• Joshua 14:2The leaders used lots to decide which parts of the land God had chosen for each of the 9½ tribes. This is what the Lord had told Moses to do.
• 1 Samuel 14:41Then Saul prayed to the Lord, Israel's God. He said, ‘Please show us who has done this sin. Let the special stones, Urim and Thummim, show who has done it.’ The stones chose Jonathan and Saul. They did not choose the soldiers of the army.
• 1 Chronicles 24:5They used lots to decide the work of each group. The families of both Eleazar and Ithamar included officers for the temple as well as priests.
• Nehemiah 11:1The leaders of the Israelite people lived in Jerusalem. The other people threw dice to choose which other families would live there too. From every group of ten families they chose one family to live in Jerusalem, God's special city. The other families would stay in their own towns.
• Proverbs 16:33People throw dice to choose what is right. But it is the Lord who decides the answer.
• Jonah 1:7Then the sailors said to each other, ‘We should throw dice to find out who has brought all this trouble to us.’ So they threw dice. The dice showed that Jonah had caused the storm.
• Acts 1:26Then the group used lots to choose the name of one man. It happened that they chose Matthias. So Matthias now became the 12th apostle, together with the other 11 men.

Commentaries on Judges 20:9

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9By lot - To determine who should go up first Judges 20:18. The shape of the ground probably made it impossible for the whole force to operate at once; and the question of spoil would have something to do with the arrangement. (Compare 1 Samuel 30:22-25.)Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9The lots might have been the Urim and Thummim on the priest's breastplate (Exodus 28:30; compare Joshua 14:2; 1 Samuel 14:41; Ezra 2:63).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-178-13. all the people arose as one man--The extraordinary unanimity that prevailed shows, that notwithstanding great disorders had broken out in many parts, the people were sound at the core; and remembering their national covenant with God, they now felt the necessity of wiping out so foul a stain on their character as a people. It was resolved that the inhabitants of Gibeah should be subjected to condign punishment. But the resolutions were conditional…Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Gibeah
• Lot
• Congregation
• Fetch
• Glean
• Trust
• Wickedness
• Wolf
• Archery
• Israel, History of

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