This verse describes another great slaughter of the Israelites. Once again the text recounts the great numbers of Israelites who were killed, but says nothing about the Benjaminite casualties. See the comments on verse 20.21.

And Benjamin went against them out of Gibe-ah the second day is literally “And Benjamin went out to meet them from the Gibeah on the second day.” And, which renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, introduces the next event. Went renders the Hebrew verb yatsaʾ meaning “come out” or “go out,” which occurs throughout this passage. The literal expression “went out to meet them” does not refer to a meeting, but to an attack. So New International Version says “came out … to oppose them.” Out of Gibe-ah implies that the Benjaminite soldiers had returned to the town of Gibeah following their first victory. For the second day, see verse 20.24. There is much repetition here, so we might combine 20.24 and the beginning of 20.25, for example, “So on the second day the Israelites repositioned themselves to fight, and the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah to attack them.”

And felled to the ground eighteen thousand men of the people of Israel is literally “and they destroyed/killed among the sons [or, children] of Israel again 18,000 man to [the] ground,” with the pronoun “they” referring to the Benjaminites. Those killed are less than the first time. See verse 20.21 for all the vocabulary items here. Revised Standard Version omits the Hebrew word meaning “again,” but Contemporary English Version expresses it by saying “leaving another eighteen thousand Israelite soldiers dead on the battlefield.”

All these were men who drew the sword: This sentence adds a note of sadness to the narrative, since the Israelites who died were capable, well trained soldiers. It also emphasizes the strength of the Benjaminites who were able to defeat such qualified men. For men who drew the sword, see verse 8.10 and verse 20.2.

Translation models for this verse are:

• The Benjaminites came out of [or, emerged from] Gibeah to attack the Israelites a second time, killing eighteen thousand men, all armed warriors.

• From Gibeah the Benjaminites attacked them once again. That day they killed eighteen thousand Israelite armed soldiers.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .