20:1 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba 2 and from the land of Gilead 3 left their homes 4 and assembled together 5 before the Lord at Mizpah.
1 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
2 sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.
3 sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
4 tn Heb “went out.”
5 tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”