Judges 21:10 (WEB)

Passage

The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.

Nearby Context

Judges 21:8 They said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up to Yahweh to Mizpah?” Behold, no one came from Jabesh Gilead to the camp to the assembly.

Judges 21:9 For when the people were counted, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there.

Judges 21:10 The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.

Judges 21:11 This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.”

Judges 21:12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "congregation", "sent", "twelve", "thousand", "most", "valiant", "commanded", and "saying". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "congregation" and "sent", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "For when the people were counted behold..." into verse 11's "This is the thing that you shall...", so "congregation" and "sent" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "congregation" and "sent" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.