Misinterpretations often portray this gathering as mere warmongering or a quest for dominance over fellow Israelites, ignoring the context of righteous indignation over the Levite's concubine outrage and the tribes' inquiry of the Lord for guidance; another error assumes the number represents the entire population rather than battle-ready men, diminishing its emphasis on near-total tribal solidarity for moral accountability.
Judges 20:2
King James Version (1769)
2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
Judges 20:2 depicts the extraordinary unity and resolve of Israel as leaders from every tribe assembled 400,000 armed footmen at Mizpah, responding to the horrific crime in Gibeah of Benjamin, underscoring their collective commitment to justice, communal holiness, and covenant fidelity under God's authority rather than individual tribal autonomy.