The Meaning of Judges 20:21 Explained

Judges 20:21

KJV: And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.

YLT: and the sons of Benjamin come out from Gibeah, and destroy in Israel on that day two and twenty thousand men -- to the earth.

Darby: The Benjaminites came out of Gib'e-ah, and felled to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.

ASV: And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day twenty and two thousand men.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the children  of Benjamin  came forth  out of Gibeah,  and destroyed down  to the ground  of the Israelites  that day  twenty  and two  thousand  men. 

What does Judges 20:21 Mean?

Chapter Summary: 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

What do the individual words in Judges 20:21 mean?

And came the sons of Benjamin out of Gibeah and cut down of Israel on day that two and twenty thousand men to the ground
וַיֵּצְא֥וּ בְנֵֽי־ בִנְיָמִ֖ן מִן־ הַגִּבְעָ֑ה וַיַּשְׁחִ֨יתוּ בְיִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא שְׁנַ֨יִם וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים אֶ֛לֶף אִ֖ישׁ אָֽרְצָה

וַיֵּצְא֥וּ  And  came 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
בְנֵֽי־  the  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
בִנְיָמִ֖ן  of  Benjamin 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: בִּנְיָמִין 
Sense: Jacob’s and Rachel’s youngest son, Joseph’s full brother.
מִן־  out 
Parse: Preposition
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
הַגִּבְעָ֑ה  of  Gibeah 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: גִּבְעָה  
Sense: a city in the mountain district of Judah.
וַיַּשְׁחִ֨יתוּ  and  cut  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁחַת  
Sense: to destroy, corrupt, go to ruin, decay.
בְיִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
בַּיּ֣וֹם  on  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַה֗וּא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
שְׁנַ֨יִם  two 
Parse: Number, md
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים  and  twenty 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, common plural
Root: עֶשְׂרִים  
Sense: twenty, twentieth.
אֶ֛לֶף  thousand 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: אֶלֶף 
Sense: a thousand.
אִ֖ישׁ  men 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
אָֽרְצָה  to  the  ground 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.