Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was
gathered together as (a) one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the
land of Gilead, unto the (b) LORD in Mizpeh.
(a) That is, all with one consent.
(b) To ask counsel.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 (c) drew sword.
(c) Meaning, men able to handle their weapons.... [ Continue Reading ]
(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were
gone up to Mizpeh.) Then (d) said the children of Israel, Tell [us],
how was this wickedness?
(d) To the Levite.... [ Continue Reading ]
And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent (e) her
throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have
committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
(e) That is, her pieces, to every tribe a piece, (Judges 19:29).... [ Continue Reading ]
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 (f) house.
(f) Before we have avenged this wickedness.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 (g) 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.
(g)... [ Continue Reading ]
And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the (h) tribe of
Benjamin, saying, What wickedness [is] this that is done among you?
(h) That is, every family of the tribe.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 (i) would not hearken to the
voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
(i) Because they would not allow the wicked to b... [ Continue Reading ]
And the children of Israel arose, and went up (k) 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.
(k) That is, to the ark, which was in Shiloh some think in Mizpeh, a... [ Continue Reading ]
And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed
down to the ground of the Israelites that day (l) twenty and two
thousand men.
(l) This God permitted because by this means he would punish their
sins, by the strength of the Israelites.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the
covenant of God [was] (m) there in those days,
(m) That is, in Shiloh.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, (n) 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.
(n) Or, served in the priest... [ Continue Reading ]
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, [and] were
(o) drawn away from the city; and they began to smite 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.
(o)... [ Continue Reading ]
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 (p) highways.
(p) Meaning, crossways or paths to various places.... [ Continue Reading ]
And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all
Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that (q) evil [was]
near them.
(q) They did not know that God's judgment was at hand to destroy them.... [ Continue Reading ]
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of
Israel (r) gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the
liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
(r) Retired to draw them after.... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to
(s) 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.
(s) For they had grown bold because of the two former victories.... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the men of Israel turned (t) again, the men of Benjamin were
amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.
(t) And withstood their enemies.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 (u) in the midst of them.
(u) For they were surrounded from every side.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of
Rimmon: and they (x) gleaned of them in the highways five thousand
men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men
of them.
(x) They slew them one by one, as they were scattered abroad.... [ Continue Reading ]
So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were (y) twenty and five
thousand men that drew the sword; all these [were] men of valour.
(y) Besides eleven hundred that had been slain in the previous
battles.... [ Continue Reading ]
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: also they set on fire
all the (z) cities that they came to.
(z) If they belonged to the Benjamites.... [ Continue Reading ]