¹ tn Heb “he summoned the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men, accomplished in war.”

³ tn Heb “all which was good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all the house of Benjamin.”

¹ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin by its borders round about, by their clans.”

⁵ sn From the Benjamin Gate…on to the Corner Gate marks the northern wall of the city of Jerusalem from east to west.

¹ tn Heb “and he was discerning and broke up from all his sons to all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities.”

¹ tc The Hebrew text has simply “Benjamin,” but בְּנֵי (b^ene, “sons of”) has dropped out by haplography (בְּנֵי בִּנְיָמִן, b^ene binyamin).

¹ tn Heb “he summoned all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men, accomplished in war.”

² tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).

¹ tn Heb “And all the assembly sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the cliff of Rimmon and they proclaimed to them peace.”

² tn Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were 25,000 men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.

¹ tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”

¹ tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day 22,000 men to the ground.”

¹ tn Heb “And, look, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth is the one speaking to you.”

⁴ tn Heb “if I am bereaved I am bereaved.” With this fatalistic sounding statement Jacob resolves himself to the possibility of losing both Benjamin and Simeon.

² sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

² tn Heb “An inheritance for the remnant belonging to Benjamin, and a tribe from Israel will not be wiped away.” The first statement lacks a verb. Some prefer to emend the text to read, “How can an inheritance remain for the remnant of Benjamin?”

³ sn A comparison of Ezek 8:3 and 9:2 in their contexts will show that this probably refers to the northern gate to the inner court of the temple. It is called Upper because it was on higher ground above the gate in the outer court. It is qualified by “in the Lord’s temple” to distinguish it from the Benjamin Gate in the city wall (cf. 37:13; 38:7). Like the Benjamin Gate in the city wall it faced north toward the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

¹ sn The sons of Benjamin. It is questionable whether youthful Benjamin had ten sons by the time he went into Egypt, but it is not impossible. If Benjamin was born when Joseph was six or seven, he was ten when Joseph was sold into Egypt, and would have been thirty-two at this point. Some suggest that the list originally served another purpose and included the names of all who were in the immediate family of the sons, whether born in Canaan or later in Egypt.