Judges 20:1-48
1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, 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,a 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,b 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 an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an 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.
15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD 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 put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.
21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.
22 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.
23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD 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.
26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (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 the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
29 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put 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 smitec of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, 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 from the city unto the highways.
33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.
34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.
35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an 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 the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along,d and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.
38 Now there was an appointed signe between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.
39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smitef 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 flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.
41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was comeg upon them.
42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.
43 Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with easeh over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.
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 pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.
47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock 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, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand:i also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.
Life Without Law
Judges
Philip Smith
Chapter 20
v1 Then all the *Israelites from Dan to Beersheba came to meet together. They also came from the area called Gilead. They all met at Mizpah, where the *Lord was. v2 This meeting of God’s people included the leaders of all *Israel’s *tribes. There were 400 000 people with swords. v3 (The people in Benjamin’s *tribe heard that *Israel’s people had gathered at Mizpah.) The *Israelites said, ‘Tell us how this awful crime happened.’ v4 The husband of the woman that the wicked men had murdered spoke. (He was the man from Levi’s *tribe.) He said, ‘I and my *concubine came to spend the night in Gibeah. It is in the area where Benjamin’s *tribe lives. v5 During the night, the men that lived in Gibeah came. And they surrounded the house. They intended to kill me. They forced my *concubine to have sex with them. And she died. v6 I took her body and I cut it into pieces. I sent one piece to each region where *Israel’s people live. This was because of this evil and foolish act. v7 Now, all you *Israelites, what should we do? Please say what you think.’
People from most *tribes came to the meeting. So this event probably happened early, when the judges began to rule. Later, foreign nations controlled the country and that made long journeys difficult. ‘Dan to Beersheba’ meant the whole country from north to south. It does not mean that Dan’s *tribe had gone to live somewhere else. The *Israelites met at Mizpah. This is probably the Mizpah that is near Bethel. People have talked about what the number 400 000 means. It seems very large. Many people believe that we should translate the word ‘thousand’ as ‘families’ or ‘captains of military groups’.
v8 All the people replied together. They said, ‘We will not go home. Not one person will go. Not one will return to his house. v9 This is what we will do to Gibeah. We will *draw lots. v10 We will take 10 men from every 100 men. We will take 100 men from every 1000 men. And we will take 1000 men from 10 000 men. They will get food for the army. The army will punish the people in Gibeah. (It is in the area where Benjamin’s *tribe lives.) We will punish them because they have done this foolish act in *Israel.’ v11 So all *Israel’s men came together. And they all united as one group against the town.
Benjamin’s *tribe had not come to help the other *tribes. So the military action would last a long time. The other *tribes therefore made careful plans for their supplies. This situation was very different from the usual one. The *tribes did not usually unite so much during the time when the judges ruled.
v12 *Israel’s *tribes sent people with messages to Benjamin’s *tribe. ‘A wicked crime has happened among you. v13 Give these wicked men in Gibeah to us. Then we can kill them. We can remove this evil thing from the country where *Israel’s *tribes live.’ But the people in Benjamin’s *tribe would not listen. v14 They came from their towns to Gibeah, to fight against the *Israelites. v15 They got 26 000 soldiers from their towns. And they also got 700 men that people had chosen from Gibeah. v16 These 700 men were left-handed. They could throw a stone at a hair and they would not miss it. v17 The army from *Israel’s other *tribes consisted of 400 000 men. These men could fight and they had swords.
The other *tribes made an official request to Benjamin’s *tribe. They asked that *tribe to give to them the people that had done this wrong thing. Benjamin’s *tribe refused. They chose to fight and they gathered their army. This included many left-handed men. These men could throw stones very skilfully.
v18 The *Israelites went to Bethel and they asked God a question. ‘Which *tribe shall go first to fight against Benjamin’s *tribe?’ The *Lord replied, ‘Judah’s *tribe shall go first.’
v19 The next morning the *Israelites got up and they camped near Gibeah. v20 They went out to fight against Benjamin’s *tribe. They went into their positions for the battle against them. This was at Gibeah. v21 The men from Benjamin’s *tribe came out from Gibeah. And they killed 22 000 *Israelites that day. v22 But *Israel’s men encouraged each other. They went into their positions where they had been the day before. v23 The *Israelites went up and they wept to God. They did this until the evening. They asked the *Lord this. ‘Shall we go up? Shall we fight against our brothers from Benjamin’s *tribe again?’ The *Lord said, ‘Go up against them.’
v24 On the 2nd day, the *Israelites went out to fight against Benjamin’s *tribe. v25 The men from Benjamin’s *tribe came from Gibeah. They came to oppose the *Israelites. Then they killed 18 000 more *Israelites.
At first Benjamin’s *tribe was successful. There were a lot of hills. This helped people that were defending themselves. It did not help people that were attacking. The men from Benjamin’s *tribe knew this area. God chose Judah’s *tribe to fight against them. This was probably because Judah’s *tribe were very skilful fighters. They lived in an area that was similar to this one. The men from Benjamin’s *tribe won this battle and they killed many soldiers from Judah’s *tribe. Benjamin’s *tribe was fighting for its life as a *tribe. Perhaps its soldiers knew that. The other *tribes may not have wanted to fight against their relatives. The *tribes asked whether God wanted them to fight again. The *Lord said ‘yes’. Then they went into their positions. Again Benjamin’s *tribe defeated them.
v26 Then all the *Israelites went up to Bethel. They sat there and they wept to the *Lord. They did not eat that day until the evening. Then they offered *burnt offerings and *peace offerings. v27 At that time, the *ark of the *covenant was there. v28 Phinehas served in front of it. Phinehas was Eleazar’s son and Eleazar was Aaron’s son. The people asked the *Lord, ‘Shall we go again to fight against our brothers from Benjamin’s *tribe? Or shall we not go?’ The *Lord replied, ‘Go. Tomorrow I will cause you to beat them.’
v29 Then the *Israelites hid men all round Gibeah. v30 They went up on the 3rd day. They went into their positions. So they were ready to fight against Gibeah as they had done before. v31 Benjamin’s *tribe came out to fight. The *Israelites made them go away from the town. But they began to kill the *Israelites as they had done before. They killed about 30 men in the field and on the roads. These roads led to Bethel and to Gibeah. v32 The men from Benjamin’s *tribe said, ‘We are defeating them again.’ The *Israelites said, ‘Let us run away. Let us make them go away from the town to the roads.’ v33 When the *Israelites’ main army reached *Baal Tamar, it stopped. Then its men arranged themselves in a different way. Some *Israelites had hidden near Gibeah, on its west side. They came out from there and they attacked. v34 10 000 men that were *Israel’s best men attacked Gibeah. The fighting was very hard. The men from Benjamin’s *tribe did not know how near their defeat was. v35 The *Lord gave to the *Israelites *victory over Benjamin’s *tribe. On that day, the *Israelites killed 25 100 soldiers from Benjamin’s *tribe. v36a Then Benjamin’s *tribe knew that the *Israelites had defeated them.
The *tribes then went to Bethel to ask for God’s help. The 2nd defeat must have been very difficult for them. This time they not only wept, but they also offered *sacrifices. They did not eat food. Perhaps they had not really trusted God in their previous attacks. They had had a larger army then. This time they changed their minds. They asked for God’s help. The writer refers to Phinehas. Phinehas was the priest when Joshua was alive. This means that these things happened quite early. Phinehas was the priest at the place where they praised God at that time. He was a very great and holy man from among *Israel’s people. The name Phinehas means a child with dark skin. Its origin is from Egypt. This is the only time in the book called Judges when the writer mentions the *ark of the *covenant. (The *ark of the *covenant was a box that people had made from gold. It contained the 10 special laws that God had given to *Israel’s people.)
For the 3rd attack, some *Israelites hid and they waited in that position. They were ready to jump out. (The *Israelites had also done this at Ai, when Joshua was their leader.) The men from Benjamin’s *tribe came out to attack. It seemed as if they had won. The *Israelites’ main army pretended to run away. Benjamin’s men ran after them. Then the *Israelites’ smaller army that was hiding, came in behind Benjamin’s men. That smaller army started a fire in the town. (We will read about this in verse 40.) At this time the *Israelites’ main army, which was running away, turned round. Now the army from Benjamin’s *tribe ran away. The *Israelites killed about 25 000 men from that army.
v36b *Israel’s men had run away from Benjamin’s men. The *Israelites trusted the men that were hiding round Gibeah. v37 These men ran quickly into Gibeah. They spread out in the town. And they killed everyone that was there. v38 These men had been hiding. The *Israelites had told them to send up a cloud of smoke. This was a signal. v39 When the *Israelites saw this, they would turn round. The army from Benjamin’s *tribe had begun to kill *Israel’s men. They killed about 30 *Israelites. They said, ‘We are defeating them, as we did in the first battle.’ v40 Then a cloud of smoke began to rise from the town. The army from Benjamin’s *tribe saw that the whole town was burning. v41 Then *Israel’s men turned round and Benjamin’s men were very afraid. They knew that the *Israelites would destroy them. So they were afraid. v42 So they ran away towards the desert, but they could not escape. Some men from *Israel’s *tribes came out from the towns. And they killed Benjamin’s men there. v43 They surrounded Benjamin’s men and they chased them. They passed them near Gibeah, on its east side. v44 They killed 18 000 men from Benjamin’s *tribe. All these men were brave soldiers. v45 Benjamin’s men turned. And they ran towards the desert to the rock called Rimmon. Then the *Israelites killed 5000 men along the roads. The *Israelites continued to chase Benjamin’s men as far as Gidom. They killed 2000 more men. v46 On that day they killed 25 000 brave soldiers from Benjamin’s *tribe. v47 600 men from that *tribe ran away and they went to the rock called Rimmon. They stayed there for 4 months. v48 *Israel’s men went back to the area where Benjamin’s *tribe lived. They killed all the people in the towns. They also killed the animals. And they killed everything else that they found. They started a fire in all the villages.
The writer now concentrates on the people that destroyed Gibeah. They got into the town easily. The *Israelites’ main army had pretended to run away. The men from Benjamin’s *tribe rushed out from the city. They left it so that it had no protection. The smaller army that had been hiding went into the city. Then they started a fire there. This was a signal for the main army. When the main army saw the smoke, it would turn round. And it would fight against Benjamin’s men. The people that had been protecting the town chased after the *Israelites’ main army. Some *Israelites from the smaller army were hiding near Geba. These men attacked Gibeah. Benjamin’s men that ran away went east towards the desert. The *Israelites started a fire in the town. They tried to stop Benjamin’s men so that these would not run away. They killed 18 000 men from Benjamin’s *tribe. Those that were still alive ran to the rock called Rimmon. This was north-east from Geba. The *Israelites killed 7000 more men on the way. 600 men escaped to Rimmon. Then the armies killed many other men from Benjamin’s *tribe. They destroyed their towns and villages too. In Deuteronomy 13:12-18, God had given a command to the *Israelites. In towns whose people had praised other gods, they should burn all the people, animals and possessions. Perhaps the *Israelites now thought that the men from Benjamin’s *tribe had done an even worse crime than that.
Israelites ~ the people that belonged to the nation called Israel. God had chosen them as his own special people.Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
Lord ~ a name for God. It means that he is the master, the ruler over all. Also, people often use this word to translate Yahweh, a very special Hebrew name for God.
Yahweh ~ the name of God. It means ‘I am what I am’. Or it can mean ‘the same always’.
Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham’s descendants; and they spoke a language called Hebrew.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
tribe ~ a large group of people that are all relatives of each other.
concubine ~ a woman that lives with a man, but she has a lower position than his wife.'draw lots ~ select one thing (or person) from several things by luck.
covenant ~ an agreement between two groups of people; or an agreement between God and his people. In God’s agreement, he promised to bless his people if they obeyed him.
Baal ~ the false god of rain and good crops.
victory ~ success in war.
sacrifice ~ something valuable (usually food or a dead animal) that people offer to God or to a false god.