Judges 20:18
New International Version
The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”

New Living Translation
Before the battle the Israelites went to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should go first to attack the people of Benjamin?” The LORD answered, “Judah is to go first.”

English Standard Version
The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”

Berean Standard Bible
The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.

King James Bible
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

New King James Version
Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Judah first!”

New American Standard Bible
Now the sons of Israel set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”

NASB 1995
Now the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”

NASB 1977
Now the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, and said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked of God and said, “Who shall go up for us to begin the battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then Yahweh said, “Judah shall begin it.”

Amplified Bible
The men of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and asked of God and said, “Which of us shall take the lead to battle against the sons [tribe] of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Judah [shall go up] first.”

Christian Standard Bible
They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, “Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites? ” And the LORD answered, “Judah will be first.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, “Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered, “Judah will be first.”

American Standard Version
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up first.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they stood and came up to Bayth Eil and they inquired of God and the sons of Israel were saying: “Who shall go up for us at first to fight with the sons of Benjamin?” and LORD JEHOVAH said, “Yehuda first”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they arose and went up to Baethel, and enquired of God: and the children of Israel said, Who shall go up for us first to fight with the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Juda shall go up first as leader.

Contemporary English Version
So they went to the place of worship at Bethel and asked God, "Which tribe should be the first to attack the people of Benjamin?" "Judah," the LORD answered.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they arose and came to the house of God, that is, to Silo: and they consulted God, and said: Who shall be in our army the first to go to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord answered them: Let Juda be your leader.

English Revised Version
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The men of Israel went to Bethel. They asked God, "Who will go first to fight Benjamin?" The LORD answered, "Judah will go first."

Good News Translation
The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, "Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?" The LORD answered, "The tribe of Judah."

International Standard Version
The Israelis mounted up, traveled to Bethel, and asked God what to do. They said, "Who is to lead us in our opening attack against the descendants of Benjamin?" The LORD replied, "Judah is to open the attack."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said: 'Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?' And the LORD said: 'Judah first.'

Literal Standard Version
And they rise and go up to Beth-El, and ask of God, and the sons of Israel say, “Who goes up for us at the commencement to battle with the sons of Benjamin?” And YHWH says, “Judah—at the commencement.”

Majority Standard Bible
The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.

New American Bible
They went up to Bethel and consulted God. When the Israelites asked, “Who shall go up first for us to do battle with the Benjaminites?” the LORD said: Judah first.

NET Bible
The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God, "Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?" The LORD said, "Judah should lead."

New Revised Standard Version
The Israelites proceeded to go up to Bethel, where they inquired of God, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered, “Judah shall go up first.”

New Heart English Bible
The children of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God; and they said, "Who shall go up for us first to battle against the people of Benjamin?" The LORD said, "Judah will go up first."

Webster's Bible Translation
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

World English Bible
The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God. They asked, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” Yahweh said, “Judah first.”

Young's Literal Translation
And they rise and go up to Beth-El, and ask of God, and the sons of Israel say, 'Who doth go up for us at the commencement to battle with the sons of Benjamin?' and Jehovah saith, 'Judah -- at the commencement.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Civil War Against Benjamin
18The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied. 19The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah.…

Cross References
Numbers 27:21
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him--the entire congregation--will go out and come in."

Judges 20:17
The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.

Judges 20:19
The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah.

Judges 20:23
They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, "Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?" And the LORD answered, "Go up against them."

Judges 20:27
And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there,


Treasury of Scripture

And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

house of

Judges 18:31
And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 19:18
And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.

Joshua 18:1
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.

asked

Judges 20:7,23,26,27
Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel…

Judges 1:1
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

Numbers 27:5,21
And Moses brought their cause before the LORD…

Judah

Judges 1:1,2
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? …

Genesis 49:8-10
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee…

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Battle Benjamin Benjaminites Benjamites Bethel Beth-El Children Commencement Counsel House Inquired Israel Israelites Judah Rise
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Battle Benjamin Benjaminites Benjamites Bethel Beth-El Children Commencement Counsel House Inquired Israel Israelites Judah Rise
Judges 20
1. The Levite in a general assembly declared his wrong
8. The decree of the assembly
12. The Benjamites, being cited, make head against the Israelites
18. The Israelites in two battles lose forty thousand
26. They destroy by a plan all the Benjamites, except six hundred.














(18) To the house of God.--Rather, to Bethel (as in the LXX., Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee). The reason why our translators adopted their translation is shown by the Vulgate, which renders it "to the house of God that is in Shiloh." But Beth El cannot mean "house of God," which is always either Beth ha-Elohim or Beth Adonai (house of the Lord). Why they did not meet at the more central Shiloh we cannot say.

Asked counsel of God.--Namely, by the Urim and Thummim. Apparently the high priest was not prevented by any scruple from taking the ephod, with its jewelled breastplate and Urim and Thummim, to any place where its use was needed. The ark was similarly carried from place to place, and had been brought (Judges 20:27) to the venerable sanctuary of Bethel with the high priest. It is not necessary to suppose that the tabernacle was itself removed. It may have been--for Shiloh was never understood to be more than its temporary resting-place. Bethel--as being a sacred place and near Gibeah--would be a convenient place of rendezvous.

Which of us . . .?--Judges 1:1-2.

Judah . . . first.--This is remarkable as indicating that the Urim and Thummim were something more than a pair of lots, and that the questions with which God was consulted by its means were other than those which admitted a mere positive or negative answer.

Verse 18. - The house of God. In this rendering the A.V. follows the Vulgate, which has in demure Dei, hoc est, in Silo. But the Septuagint has Βαιθὴλ, and all the ancient authorities, as well as modern commentators, generally agree in rendering it Bethel. The reason, which seems a conclusive one, for so doing is that the Hebrew בית אל invariably means Bethel, and that the house of God is always expressed in Hebrew by בית האלהים (beth-ha-elohim). The conclusion is that at this time the ark of God, with the tabernacle, was at Bethel, which was only seven or eight miles from Shiloh. Bethel would be eight or ten miles from Gibeah, i.e. about half way between Shiloh and Gibeah. Asked counsel. The same phrase as Judges 1:1, where it is rendered simply asked (see note to Judges 1:1, and vers. 23, 47). In following this precedent the Israelites put the men of Gibeah on the footing of the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. With reference to ver. 9, it is worth considering whether this is not the fulfilment of the purpose there expressed by the Israelites, to go up against Gibeah by lot; either by understanding that the answer asked was given by a Divinely-directed lot, according to which Judah's turn came first (see Joshua 7:14-18; 1 Samuel 14:41; Acts 1:24-26; etc.), or by taking the expression by lot in a wider sense, as meaning generally Divine direction.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The Israelites
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

set out,
וַיָּקֻ֜מוּ (way·yā·qu·mū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 6965: To arise, stand up, stand

went up
וַיַּעֲל֣וּ (way·ya·‘ă·lū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

to Bethel,
אֵל֮ (’êl)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1008: Bethel -- 'house of God', a city in Ephraim, also a place in southern Judah

and inquired
וַיִּשְׁאֲל֣וּ (way·yiš·’ă·lū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7592: To inquire, to request, to demand

of God,
בֵאלֹהִים֒ (ḇê·lō·hîm)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

“Who
מִ֚י (mî)
Interrogative
Strong's 4310: Who?, whoever, in oblique construction with prefix, suffix

of us
לָּ֣נוּ (lā·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's Hebrew

shall go up
יַעֲלֶה־ (ya·‘ă·leh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

first
בַתְּחִלָּ֔ה (ḇat·tə·ḥil·lāh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8462: A commencement, rel, original

to fight
לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה (lam·mil·ḥā·māh)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4421: A battle, war

against
עִם־ (‘im-)
Preposition
Strong's 5973: With, equally with

the Benjamites?”
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

“Judah will be first,”
יְהוּדָ֥ה (yə·hū·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3063: Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites

the LORD
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

replied.
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say


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OT History: Judges 20:18 The children of Israel arose and went (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 20:17
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