And there came against Gibe-ah ten thousand picked men out of all Israel is literally “And they came against Gibeah 10,000 man chosen from all Israel.” This unusual word order conveys a climax. Translators can use stylistic features in their language that would be appropriate for this high point in the story. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “Then” (New International Version) or omitted (Good News Translation). The Hebrew preposition rendered against can also mean “in front of” or “opposite.” For came against, New International Version says “made a frontal attack,” and Good News Translation says simply “attacked.”

Ten thousand picked men out of all Israel refers to the Israelite soldiers who hid in ambush, not those who took battle positions at Baal-tamar. The Hebrew expression for ten thousand can mean “ten companies” (see verse 1.4). This was an incredible number of troops to be in hiding. For picked men, see verse 20.15. The Israelites put their most qualified soldiers in ambush to ensure victory. The phrase all Israel is typical of Deuteronomy, Joshua, and 1-2 Samuel (see verse 8.27). Contemporary English Version‘s “Ten thousand of Israel’s best soldiers” is a good model here.

And the battle was hard is literally “and the battle was heavy.” In many languages the Hebrew waw conjunction (and) can be omitted, as in New International Version. Most languages will have a special idiomatic expression to describe a battle that is intense. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “and the battle was furious.” Another possibility is “and both sides fought hard/intensely.”

But the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them: The Benjaminites had been tricked into leaving their town behind and venturing forth into the open. They had no idea that they were falling into a trap. The Israelite soldiers who were lying in ambush came out and positioned themselves between this army and their town of refuge. This sentence in Hebrew is full of emotion, as it describes, almost with sadness, that the Benjaminites were totally unaware of their fate. It reads literally “and they, they did not know that was reaching upon them the evil.” But renders the Hebrew waw conjunction. Translators can try to capture some of the tone here by saying “But, as for the Benjaminites, they did not know…” or “In the meantime, the Benjaminites had no idea….” The general verb know may also be rendered “realize” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version).

Disaster was close upon them is an important clause, since it uses the Hebrew key term raʿah (disaster), elsewhere translated “evil” (see verse 2.15). In Hebrew this word occurs at the end of sentence, which seems to heighten the suspense. Was close renders a Hebrew verb that means “reach” or “touch.” While the general meaning here is that the Benjaminites will soon be defeated, translators should try to preserve some of the flavor of the original text for effect, for example, “defeat/disaster would soon be upon them.”

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 .