‘ And the children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities, twenty six eleph men who drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.'
The children of Benjamin were numbered for battle and their numbers came to twenty six military units, compared with the four hundred military units of the tribal confederacy. They also had the men of Gibeah who would fight to the death for their city. There were seven hundred of them and they were ‘chosen men', powerful fighters. But what were they against so many? (These numbers vary in the Septuagint and the versions between 23 and 25 military units, the latter being also cited by Josephus. But they are all fairly close).