He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever doesn't come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
The response of the Israelites constituted the greatest show of military strength since Joshua’s day (assuming eleph means "thousand" here). Bezek stood about 16 miles west of Jabesh-gilead on the River Jordan’s western side (cf. Judges 1:4-5). The division of the soldiers into Israelites and Judahites probably reflects the division of the nation that existed when the writer wrote this book. There is no evidence that such a division existed when the event recorded here happened.