Judges 20:1-14

The War Against the Benjamites Judges 20:1-14

Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead unto the Lord in Mizpeh.

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.
3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, 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 upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that 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 are all children of Israel; 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 into his house.
9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;
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 victual 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.
12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?
13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.

1.

Where was Mizpeh? Judges 20:1

Mizpeh is known as Neby Samuel, not far from Ramah, and is visible from Jerusalem. It is a poor village seated on an elevated ridge. Gibeah would be plainly visible from Mizpeh, as it was the first high hill east of Mizpeh. As the men of Gibeah looked directly westward, they would see Mizpeh as the highest hill directly west of their situation. Thus the armies of Israel were in plain site of the men of Benjamin as they gathered to defend the men of Gibeah.

2.

Did all of Israel's army come out to battle? Judges 20:2

When the men of war were counted in Numbers, chapter one, there were 603,550 men twenty years of age and older. As they paused before crossing Jordan into Canaan, they were counted again. At that time Israel's men of war totaled 601,730 (Numbers 26). On many occasions it was necessary for some of the men eligible for battle to stay behind to care for the women, children, flocks and fields. This must have been the case in this instance, since 400,000 would hardly be all of the men old enough to go to war.

3.

Did the Levite give a true account of the crime at Gibeah? Judges 20:4-5

As the men of Israel came together to avenge the crime committed in Gibeah, they asked how the wickedness occurred, The Levite, the husband of the woman who was slain, told them how, when he came to Gibeah to find lodging, the men of Gibeah rose against him besetting the house round about by night. He also said that they intended to slay him. In the account of the events recorded in chapter 19, no mention is made of their intention of killing him; but their evil treatment of him might have resulted in this tragic end for the Levite. They did kill his concubine. All the other details fit, and the evidence was properly presented to the men of Israel for their judgment.

4.

Why did Israel decide to go against the men of Benjamin by lot? Judges 20:9

The men of Israel outnumbered the men of Benjamin many times. In the mustering of the troops there are 400,000 men of war listed in Israel. Only 26,000 armed men were found in Benjamin. The men of Israel must have felt it was unnecessary for all of the soldiers to go into this battle. Furthermore, they wanted the leading of the Lord and asked for Him to indicate which one of the tribes should take the lead in the battle.

5.

Why were so many needed to prepare victuals? Judges 20:10

Forty thousand men were assigned to the task of providing the necessary provisions for the rest of the fighting men. Such an arrangement is not at all uncommon. When David went to battle against the Amalekites, he took only two-thirds of his men into the actual battle. The rest of them were weary and were left behind to guard the baggage (1 Samuel 30:10). On one occasion Moses called for only 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel to go to war (Numbers 31:4). In hardly any situation would people be able to sustain an army in the field unless there were those who were assigned to the task of seeing that they had the necessary supplies. It would probably take a tenth of the able-bodied men to keep the rest of the men in fighting shape.

6.

Why would the men of Benjamin not surrender the men of Gibeah? Judges 20:13

They let their love of their tribesmen overpower their sense of right and justice. Repeated mention is made of the men of Benjamin coming out of the cities (Judges 20:14-15). Some Bible students have gathered from this that the men of Benjamin were rulers who had settled in towns and subdued the Canaanites who settled as dependents in the villages. Still others believe that the Benjaminites formed military brotherhoods living unmarried in the towns. Those who take this position believe this accounts for the abominable crime to which the inhabitants were addicted. It is further held that the Benjaminites then defended these sinful unmarried brotherhoods of military men. Such inferences are extremely uncertain, but at any rate the men of Benjamin seemed fiercely determined to protect the criminals in Gibeah.

7.

From what cities did the men of Gibeah gather? Judges 20:14

When territory was assigned to the men of Benjamin, their land included such villages and cities as Luz, Ataroth-Addar, Beth-Horon the Upper and Beth-Horon the Lower, Kiriath-jearim, and Jebus or Jerusalem. Still others were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emak-Keziz, Beth-Arbah, Zemarim, Geba, Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, Mizpeh, Chepirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Gibeath and Gibeah. In fact, twenty-six different cities are listed in Joshua, chapter 18.