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Judges 20

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Israel Gathers and Hears the Complaint 1–11

1
Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at Mizpah. ​
2
And the chiefs 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. ​
3
(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpah.) And the children of Israel said, Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass? ​
4
And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
5
And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night; me they thought to have slain, and my concubine they forced, and she is dead.
6
And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. ​
7
Behold, ye children of Israel, all of you, give here your advice and counsel.
8
And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn unto his house.
9
But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot;
10
and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
11
So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.

Benjamin Refuses Justice 12–17

12
And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is come to pass among you? ​
13
Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, that are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel.
14
And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. ​
15
And the children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss. ​
17
And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.

The First Two Defeats 18–25

18
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up first. ​
19
And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
20
And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah.
21
And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day twenty and two thousand men. ​
22
And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day.
23
And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even; and they asked of Jehovah, saying, Shall I again draw nigh to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him. ​
24
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25
And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

Israel Seeks God's Counsel Again 26–28

26
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah. ​
27
And the children of Israel asked of Jehovah (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ​
28
and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And Jehovah said, Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver him into thy hand. ​

The Third Battle and Victory 29–46

29
And Israel set liers-in-wait against Gibeah round about. ​
30
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.
31
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
32
And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city unto the highways.
33
And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers-in-wait of Israel brake forth out of their place, even out of Maareh-geba.
34
And there came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore; but they knew not that evil was close upon them.
35
And Jehovah smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty and five thousand and a hundred men: all these drew the sword. ​
36
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; for the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted unto the liers-in-wait whom they had set against Gibeah.
37
And the liers-in-wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers-in-wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.
38
Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers-in-wait was, that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.
39
And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.
40
But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and, behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven.
41
And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for they saw that evil was come upon them.
42
Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and they that came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst thereof.
43
They inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trod them down at their resting-place, as far as over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
44
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor.
45
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them unto Gidom, and smote of them two thousand men. ​
46
So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valor.

The Remnant and Retaliation 47–48

47
But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months. ​
48
And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city, and the cattle, and all that they found: moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Judges 20

Verse 1

from Dan even to Beersheba — The phrase takes in the whole land, with Gilead east of the Jordan; the city of Dan was named in 18:29. They gather 'as one man' and 'unto the LORD in Mizpeh', a town of Benjamin (Josh 18:26), so the assembly meets inside the territory of the tribe it will judge.

Verse 2

four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword — 'Chief' is pinnah, literally 'corners', a word for the leaders of a people; Saul uses it in 1 Sam 14:38. The 400,000 are counted again in v.17 'beside Benjamin'. Benjamin's own host is 26,000, and 700 chosen men of Gibeah (v.15).

Verse 3

how was this wickedness? — 'Wickedness' is ra'ah, evil. Before any act, the tribes ask for an account, and the Levite gives it in vv.4–7. Benjamin hears that the tribes have gone up to Mizpeh, but no Benjamite is said to attend, and the tribe's answer comes only in vv.13–14.

Verse 6

cut her in pieces — The act in 19:29 is told here by the Levite himself. Saul later sends oxen cut 'in pieces… throughout all the coasts of Israel' to summon the tribes (1 Sam 11:7). 'Lewdness' is zimmah, a word of Lev 18:17, and 'folly in Israel' (nebalah) is said of Shechem in Gen 34:7 and of Achan in Josh 7:15.

Verse 12

What wickedness is this that is done among you? — Israel sends to Benjamin before any battle. The demand in v.13 is to deliver the men 'that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel', the wording of Deut 17:12 and 22:22. Benjamin 'would not hearken to the voice of their brethren'.

Verse 14

gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah — The tribe musters to defend the men of Gibeah instead of giving them up (v.13). Hosea looks back to this place twice: 'as in the days of Gibeah' (Hos 9:9) and 'from the days of Gibeah' (Hos 10:9).

Verse 16

seven hundred chosen men lefthanded — The Hebrew is literally 'bound as to the right hand'. The same word is used of Ehud the Benjamite, 'a man lefthanded' (3:15). Benjamites could 'use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows' (1 Chr 12:2). These 700 are the men of Gibeah (v.15).

Verse 18

asked counsel of God — The Hebrew behind 'the house of God' is the place-name Beth-el. The question, 'Which of us shall go up first', matches that of 1:1, where the LORD said, 'Judah shall go up'. The answer names the tribe to lead, not the result; the first day ends in defeat (v.21).

Verse 21

twenty and two thousand men — The defeat follows an answer from the LORD, which had said only 'Judah shall go up first' (v.18). The word that Israel will win comes first in v.28: 'to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand'. A second defeat, of 18,000, follows in v.25.

Verse 23

wept before the LORD until even — The first question went to 'God' (v.18), and this one to 'the LORD'. Israel now calls Benjamin 'my brother' and asks whether to go up 'again'. The reply is 'Go up against him', yet the second day ends with 18,000 of Israel dead (v.25).

Verse 26

wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted — Each approach adds to the last: arising and asking (v.18), weeping (v.23), and now weeping, a fast 'until even' and 'burnt offerings and peace offerings', the two offerings of Lev 1 and 3. The reply of v.28 is the first to promise the victory.

Verse 27

the ark of the covenant of God was there — This is the only mention of the ark in the book of Judges. The parenthesis, running into v.28, says where the inquiry was made and who ministered, with the ark before him.

Verse 28

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron — He is the priest who rose with a javelin at Baalpeor (Num 25:7). 'Stood before it' is the priest's service, 'to stand before the LORD to minister unto him' (Deut 10:8). The answer here adds what the earlier two lacked: 'I will deliver them into thine hand'.

Verse 29

liers in wait — The verb is arab, as in the ambush the Gazites set for Samson (16:2). The plan follows Joshua's at Ai: 'ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city' (Josh 8:4). A feigned retreat draws Benjamin from the city (v.32).

Verse 35

the LORD smote Benjamin — The text gives the victory to the LORD, as v.28 promised. The verse gives the day's loss as 'twenty and five thousand and an hundred men', and v.46 as 'twenty and five thousand'; vv.44–45 account for the thousands: 18,000, then 5,000, then 2,000.

Verse 45

gleaned of them in the highways — The verb is alal, that of gleaning a vineyard (Lev 19:10: 'thou shalt not glean thy vineyard'). It is also the verb behind 'abused' in 19:25. The 'rock of Rimmon' is where 600 men survive (v.47).

Verse 47

six hundred men — These are all that remain of the tribe after the 25,000 who fell (v.46). They stay four months at the rock Rimmon, where the congregation later sends to 'call peaceably unto them' (21:13).

Verse 48

set on fire all the cities that they came to — Israel turns back on the whole of Benjamin: 'the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand'. The result is stated in 21:3: 'why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?'