What Does Judges 20:20 Mean in the King James?

And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.

Judges 20:20 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The Hebrew verb for Israel’s battle formation is also used for setting a table: arranging is a power, and what it serves depends on what is arranged.

THE MEANING

You see a people moving together into violence: their formation is deliberate, collective, and aimed at Benjamin at Gibeah. Order is not neutral here; what is arranged is a force prepared to injure.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that unity and preparation, by themselves, prove a cause is right.

THE ROOT

וַיַּעַרְכוּ

wayyaʿarkhū

GROWS FROM

ערך

to arrange, set in order, or draw up

“put themselves in array” in this verse is wayyaʿarkhū. Here, wayyaʿarkhū describes Israel drawing up its force for battle. The same root describes setting a table; English makes the battle array and table preparation sound unrelated, while Hebrew shares the act of arranging.

ALSO GROWS

taʿarokh: you set or prepare in order

תַּעֲרֹךְ

Psalm 23:5 uses this form for setting a table, revealing the same root in an act of provision.

maʿarakhah: battle line or formation

מַעֲרָכָה

This related noun makes the military sense of the root explicit: an arrangement can take the form of troops drawn up for battle.

THE PATTERN

Arrangement takes its character from what it sets in place: it can form a battle line, prepare provision, or order a community’s shared life.

And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Genesis 22:9 · KJVThe same Hebrew root describes Abraham arranging the wood, showing the act of ordering within a scene of threatened violence.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23:5 · KJVThe same root sets a table, turning arrangement toward provision even with enemies present.

Let all things be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:40 · KJVHere order shapes a community’s shared practices, showing arrangement at work beyond battle or a table.

THE THREAD

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23:5 · KJV

The Hebrew root ʿārakh sets a table here and sets Israel’s force in battle array in Judges 20:20. English separates “preparest” and “array,” while Hebrew keeps the shared act of arranging; what is arranged changes the scene from provision to attack.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us