The Rival Forces Are Counted

Both armies are prepared near Gibeah before combat.

The roster follows Benjamin's refusal and mobilization in 20:12-14 and precedes the first inquiry and Israelite defeat in 20:18-21. Its detail about Benjamin's slingers helps readers understand that a much smaller army is tactically formidable. The seven hundred slingers are described from among the people, so they should not be added as a separate third body to a derived total.

Both sides bring formidable forces to a civil war.

Understanding the Big Idea

Benjamin numbers twenty-six thousand swordsmen from the towns and seven hundred selected men from Gibeah. Among the force are seven hundred left-handed slingers described as striking a hair without missing. Israel's other tribes number four hundred thousand swordsmen. The passage establishes military capacity, not the justice of either side or the outcome of battle.

Set out the mobilized forces and the left-handed slingers before the battle.

Army size and skill are neither moral verdicts nor saving power. The gospel is Christ's death for sins and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Neither the assembly's zeal nor the war's outcome is the gospel, and this narrative gives no mandate for present violence.

1. How many are counted for Benjamin?
2. What skill is mentioned?
3. How many Israelites apart from Benjamin are counted?
4. Does a large force guarantee a just outcome?