After the Israelites heard that no one had come from Jabesh, they decided to carry out their oath and kill the inhabitants of that town.

So the congregation sent thither twelve thousand of their bravest men: So renders well the Hebrew waw conjunction, which introduces a result here. The word congregation (see verse 20.1) may cause confusion for some English speakers. This does not refer to a group of believers making up a church, but to all the Israelites who met together at Bethel to worship the LORD and to plan concerning the surviving Benjaminite soldiers. Good News Translation uses the word “assembly,” and Revised English Bible has “community.” Contemporary English Version simply uses the pronoun “they.” The Hebrew verb rendered sent (shalach) is a keyword that often occurs in the context of conflict (see verse 3.15). The locative thither refers to the town of Jabesh, and may be rendered “there” or “to that place.”

Twelve thousand of their bravest men is literally “twelve thousand man from the sons of strength.” This phrase certainly has an ironic twist. Twelve thousand is a huge number to send to a relatively small town. Twelve is also a symbolic number, often used to refer to the twelve tribes of Israel. Its appearance here emphasizes the fact that Israel was not unified. As noted earlier, one tribe was missing (verse 21.3). In many languages twelve thousand is better rendered “12,000” (New Living Translation) or “twelve thousand (12,000).” For bravest men, see the comments on verse 20.44, where a similar expression is used in reference to the Benjaminites. Here it refers ironically to the Israelite soldiers who went to kill more of their own brothers. This phrase could be rendered “strongest warriors” or “bravest soldiers.”

And commanded them is literally “and they commanded them, saying.” Contemporary English Version says simply “with these orders” (similarly Good News Translation). Some languages will prefer indirect speech here (see first model below), but this may diminish the force of the command.

Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword: This is the order given to the 12,000 Israelite soldiers. Some languages might say “Go strike down…,” while in others the initial verb Go might be omitted. For smite … with the edge of the sword, see verse 1.8.

Also the women and the little ones is literally “and the women and the little one.” The incidents in the appendices are already horrific, but the narrative takes yet another downward turn, as Israelites are ordered to also put to death the women and the children of the town of Jabesh-gilead. In all Israel’s history, such acts had never been committed. The Israelite soldiers were given orders, not just to kill those who were considered “deserters,” but to slaughter totally innocent women and children. The reference to women could be confusing, since the point of this raid was to capture women to marry the Benjaminite survivors. Only later is it revealed that not all the women were to be killed, but only those who were married or who were not virgins. In Hebrew the little ones is singular, but it has a collective sense (see verse 18.21). A good rendering for this whole phrase is “including the women and children” (New International Version).

Translation models for this verse are:

• Thus they sent twelve thousand of their bravest warriors with orders to kill all the residents of Jabesh-gilead, including [all] the women and the children.

• So they sent 12,000 of their best soldiers to Jabesh in Gilead, and told them “Go and put to death every inhabitant, even the women and children.

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 .