And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel …: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And begins this verse, but many versions omit it (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Again strong emphasis is placed on the fact that all the Israelites were in agreement to fight their brothers, the Benjaminites. Along with the repetition of the word all, the word people also appears twice. In this context the Hebrew word for chiefs refers to the leaders of the tribes of Israel. This word is literally “corners,” used figuratively here for leaders (see verse 1 Sam 14.38; Isa 19.13). The phrases all the people and all the tribes of Israel refer to the same set of people, with the second expression modifying or making more specific the first one. Translators need to ensure that readers do not understand there are two groups. This repetition emphasizes the unity of the people in coming forward to address the issue at hand. We might say “The chiefs [or, leaders] of all the people from each of the Israelite tribes….”
Presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God: For presented themselves, New International Version‘s “took their places” is closer to the Hebrew than Good News Translation‘s “were present.” The Hebrew verb here is the same one used when Moses is told to meet Pharaoh (Exo 8.20). It suggests a purposeful action. Assembly renders a general Hebrew word (qahal) that can refer to gatherings to prepare for war or for worship. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the Israelites met here to decide what to do about the tragedy that had occurred. The people of God (literally “people of the God”) renders an unusual phrase in Hebrew, referring to the Israelites, who belonged to, or were in a covenant relationship with God. Good News Translation translates the assembly of the people of God as “this gathering of God’s people,” which is a good model to follow.
Four hundred thousand men on foot that drew the sword renders an independent clause in Hebrew, so we might say “and there were…” (Good News Translation). Though certainly many different members of the community came to the assembly, these words specifically mention soldiers. This is probably another touch of irony, because normally an assembly would come to discuss what to do, but here it would appear many have already decided on war. Given the times, four hundred thousand is an enormous number of soldiers. It may be easier to use the numeral “400,000” (Good News Translation) instead of words, since in many languages such figures are extremely long. The Hebrew word for thousand can designate 1,000 soldiers or a group of soldiers (see verse 1.4), so four hundred thousand men may be rendered “400,000 soldiers” or “400 contingents of soldiers.” What is clear is that the number of Israelite soldiers far exceeded that of the Benjaminites. Men on foot refers to infantry soldiers, as opposed to soldiers who might be on horseback or in chariots. Men on foot who drew the sword refers literally to soldiers who were capable of drawing a sword from its scabbard and using it, but this is clearly a figurative expression to refer to armed, competent soldiers ready for battle (see verse 8.10). We might say “There were 400,000 foot soldiers, all armed for battle” or “There were 400,000 soldiers on foot, all fighting men.”
Translation models for this verse are:
• The leaders of all the Israelite tribes met together in the assembly of God’s people. Four hundred groups of infantry gathered there as well, all armed with swords.
• The chiefs of each tribe in Israel were present at the gathering of the people of God. Altogether there were four hundred thousand (400,000) soldiers, all with their swords, prepared to fight.
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 .