This final verse of the subsection underlines the major theme of unity by repeating the words all, one, man and Israel, and by adding the word united. It reads literally “And he gathered all the man of Israel against the city as one man united.”

So all the men of Israel gathered against the city: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered So introduces a result here. The Israelites’ speech has ended and this clause tells how they reacted. They joined forces to attack Gibeah. Here the word men (“man” in Hebrew) is used, rather than the term “people,” which occurs often in the previous verses. Gathered renders a Hebrew verb that can be used to speak of objects, such as gathering the harvest. However, here it refers to people gathering for war (see verse 6.33, where it is translated “came together”). The city refers to Gibeah.

United as one man forms an inclusio with the phrase “as one man” in verse 20.1. Here the phrase is more emphatic, as an additional word underlines that the Israelite troops were united or unified around a common cause.

Translation models for this verse are:

• So the Israelite soldiers, as one man, went to attack [the town of] Gibeah.

• So, united as one man, the Israelite soldiers went against the town [of Gibeah].

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 .