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Texts -- Judges 20:29-48 (NET)

Context
20:29 So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah . 20:30 The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day ; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before . 20:31 The Benjaminites attacked the army , leaving the city unguarded . They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before . On the main roads (one leads to Bethel , the other to Gibeah ) and in the field , they struck down about thirty Israelites . 20:32 Then the Benjaminites said , “They are defeated just as before .” But the Israelites said , “Let’s retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads .” 20:33 All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar , while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah . 20:34 Ten thousand men , well-trained soldiers from all Israel , then made a frontal assault against Gibeah – the battle was fierce . But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep . 20:35 The Lord annihilated Benjamin before Israel ; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites . 20:36 Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated . The Israelites retreated before Benjamin , because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah . 20:37 The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah . They attacked and put the sword to the entire city . 20:38 The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal . When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal from the city , 20:39 the Israelites counterattacked . Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites ; they struck down about thirty men . They said , “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle .” 20:40 But when the signal , a pillar of smoke , began to rise up from the city , the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky . 20:41 When the Israelites turned around , the Benjaminites panicked because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep . 20:42 They retreated before the Israelites , taking the road to the wilderness . But the battle overtook them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down . 20:43 They surrounded the Benjaminites , chased them from Nohah , and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba . 20:44 Eighteen thousand Benjaminites , all of them capable warriors , fell dead. 20:45 The rest turned and ran toward the wilderness , heading toward the cliff of Rimmon . But the Israelites caught five thousand of them on the main roads . They stayed right on their heels all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more. 20:46 That day twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors . 20:47 Six hundred survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness , to the cliff of Rimmon . They stayed there four months . 20:48 The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities , the animals , and everything they could find . They set fire to every city in their path.

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • Gibeah

    [ebd] a hill or hill-town, "of Benjamin" (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as "Gibeah of Saul" (11:4; Isa. 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite's concubine which led to the almost utter extirpation ...
    [isbe] GIBEAH - gib'-e-a (gibh`ah, "hill"): The Hebrew word denotes generally an eminence or hill, in distinction from har, which is used for mountain, or mountain range. It occurs, however, in two instances, as a place-name. Under...
    [smith] a word employed in the Bible to denote a hill. Like most words of this kind it gave its name to several towns and places in Palestine, which would doubtless be generally on or near a hill. They are -- Gibeah, a city in the m...
    [nave] GIBEAH 1. Of Judah, Josh. 15:57. 2. Of Saul. Called also Gibeah of Benjamin. The people's wickedness, Judg. 19:12-30; Hos. 9:9; 10:9. Destroyed by the Israelites, Judg. 20. The city of Saul, 1 Sam. 10:26; 15:34; 22:6. Th...

  • War

    [smith] The most important topic in connection with war is the formation of the army which is destined to carry it on. [ARMY] In (1 Kings 9:22) at a period (Solomon?s reign) when the organization of the army was complete, we have ...
    [nave] WAR Divine approval of, 2 Sam. 22:35. Civil, Judg. 12:1-6; 20; 2 Sam. 2:12-31; 3:1; 20; 1 Kin. 14:30; 16:21; Isa. 19:2; forbidden, 2 Chr. 11:4; averted, Josh. 22:11-34. Enemy harangued by general of opposing side, 2 Kin. 1...

  • Vows

    [nave] VOWS Mosaic laws concerning, Lev. 23:37, 38; Num. 29:39. Must be voluntary, see below. Must be performed, see below. Estimation of the redemption price of things offered in vows, to be made by the priest, according to age a...

  • Armies

    [nave] ARMIES Who of the Israelites were subject to service in, Num. 1:2, 3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5; who were exempt from service in, Num. 1:47-50; 2:33; Deut. 20:5-9; Judg. 7:3. Enumeration of Israel's military forces, Num. 1:2, 3; 26...

  • BETHLEHEM

    [isbe] BETHLEHEM - beth'-le-hem (bethlechem; Baithleem, or Bethleem, "house of David," or possibly "the house of Lakhmu," an Assyrian deity): I. Bethlehem Judah: Bethlehem Judah, or EPHRATH or EPHRATHAH (which see) is now Beit Lahm...

  • JUDAH, KINGDOM OF

    [isbe] JUDAH, KINGDOM OF - || I. CANAAN BEFORE THE MONARCHY 1. The Coming of the Semites 2. The Canaanites 3. The Israelite Confederacy 4. Migration into Canaan 5. The Bond of Union 6. Early Rulers 7. The Judges 8. Hereditary Kings...

  • Benjamin

    [nave] BENJAMIN 1. Son of Jacob by Rachel, Gen. 35:18, 24; 46:19. Taken into Egypt, Gen. 42-45. Prophecy concerning, Gen. 49:27. Descendants of, Gen. 46:21; Num. 26:38-41. Tribe of Census of, at Sinai, Num. 1:37; in the plain ...

  • Zeal

    [nave] ZEAL, Religious Josh. 24:15, 16; 2 Sam. 24:24, 25; 1 Kin. 9:4; 1 Kin. 15:14; 1 Chr. 29:17; 2 Chr. 15:15; 2 Chr. 19:3; Ezra 7:23; Job 16:19; Psa. 42:1, 2; Psa. 60:4; Psa. 96:2, 3, 10; Psa. 119:139; Prov. 11:30; Eccl. 9:10; ...

  • Wolf

    [ebd] Heb. zeeb, frequently referred to in Scripture as an emblem of treachery and cruelty. Jacob's prophecy, "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf" (Gen. 49:27), represents the warlike character of that tribe (see Judg. 19-21). Isaiah ...

  • ARCHERY

    [isbe] ARCHERY - ar'-cher-i: (1) The art of using the arcus, or bow and arrow for hunting and in battle is of great antiquity. It is mentioned in Gen 21:20, as well as in the Iliad and the Odyssey, and depicted on Egyptian monument...

  • Congregation

    [ebd] (Heb. kahal), the Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15). Every circumcised Hebrew from twenty years old and upward was a member of the congregation. Strangers resident in the land, if circumcised, were,...

  • Strategy

    [nave] STRATEGY, in war, Gen. 14:14, 15; 32:7, 8; Josh. 8:3-25; Judg. 7:16-23; 20:29-43; 2 Sam. 15:32-34, with 2 Sam. 17:7-14; Neh. 6; Isa. 15:1; Jer. 6:5. See: Ambushes; Armies.

  • Ambush

    [nave] AMBUSH. Instances of At Ai, Josh. 8:2-22; Shechem, Judg. 9:25, 34; Gibeah, Judg. 20:29-41. Near Zemaraim, 2 Chr. 13:13. By Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 20:22. See: Armies. Figurative Jer. 51:12.

  • Rimmon

    [ebd] pomegranate. (1.) A man of Beeroth (2 Sam. 4:2), one of the four Gibeonite cities. (See Josh. 9:17.) (2.) A Syrian idol, mentioned only in 2 Kings 5:18. (3.) One of the "uttermost cities" of Judah, afterwards given to Simeon...
    [smith] (pomegranate) the name of several towns. A city of Zebulun (1 Chronicles 6:77; Nehemiah 11:29) a Levitical city, the present Rummaneh , six miles north of Nazareth. A town in the southern portion of Judah, (Joshua 15:3) a...
    [nave] RIMMON 1. Father of the murderers of Ish-bosheth, 2 Sam. 4:2, 5, 9. 2. A city S. of Jerusalem, Zech. 14:10. Allotted to Judah, Josh. 15:32; Neh. 11:29; afterward to Simeon, Josh. 19:7; 1 Chr. 4:32. Called Remmon, Josh. 19...

  • Baal-tamar

    [ebd] lord of palm trees, a place in the tribe of Benjamin near Gibeah of Saul (Judg. 20:33). It was one of the sanctuaries or groves of Baal. Probably the palm tree of Deborah (Judg. 4:5) is alluded to in the name.
    [isbe] BAAL-TAMAR - ba-al-ta'-mar ba`al tamar; Baal Thamar, "Baal of the palm tree"): Evidently a seat of heathen worship (Jdg 20:33) between Bethel and Gibeah (compare Jdg 20:18,31). The place was known to Eusebius (Onomasticon, w...
    [nave] BAAL-TAMAR, a place near Gibeah, Judg. 20:33.

  • Gidom

    [isbe] GIDOM - gi'-dom (gidh`om): The limit eastward, from Gibeah toward the wilderness, of the pursuit of Benjamin by Israel (Jdg 20:45). No name suggesting this has yet been recovered. It is not mentioned elsewhere.
    [smith] (desolation), a place named only in (Judges 20:45) It would appear to have been situated between Gibeah (Tuliel-el-Ful) and the cliff Rimmon.
    [nave] GIDOM, limit of pursuit after battle of Gibeah, Judg. 20:45.

  • MEADOW

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. ha'ahu (Gen. 41:2, 18), probably an Egyptain word transferred to the Hebrew; some kind of reed or water-plant. In the Revised Version it is rendered "reed-grass", i.e., the sedge or rank grass by the river side. (2...
    [isbe] MEADOW - med'-o: (1) `aroth, "the meadows (the King James Version "paper reeds") by the Nile" (Isa 19:7); ma`areh-gabha`, the King James Version "meadows of Gibeah," the Revised Version (British and American) "Maareh-geba," ...
    [smith] In (Genesis 41:2,18) meadow appears to be an Egyptian term meaning some kind of flag or waterplant, as its use in (Job 8:11) (Authorized Version "flag") seems to show. In (Judges 20:33) the sense of the Hebrew word translate...

  • FLAME

    [isbe] FLAME - flam (lahabh, and other forms from same root; phlox): In Jdg 13:20 bis; Job 41:21; Isa 29:6; Joel 2:5, the word is lahabh. Various other words are translated "flame"; mas'eth, "a lifting or rising up" (Jdg 20:38,40 t...

  • RIMMON (1)

    [isbe] RIMMON (1) - rim'-on: (1) The rock Rimmon (cela` rimmon; he petra Rhemmon): The place of refuge of the 600 surviving Benjamites of Gibeah (Jeba`) who "turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode ...

  • BETHEL

    [ebd] house of God. (1.) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The name Bethel was at first app...
    [smith] (the house of God) well known city and holy place of central Palestine, about 12 mlles north of Jerusalem. If we are to accept the precise definition of (Genesis 12:8) the name of Bethel would appear to have existed at this s...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The closest example of this ever happening in Israel that Scripture records occurs in Judges 20 in the case of Gibeah, a city in Benjamin. The circumstances were not exactly the same, but the other Israelites did discipline t...
  • Having completed the major addresses to the Israelites recorded to this point in Deuteronomy, Moses needed only to make a few final arrangements before Israel was ready to enter the land. The record of these events concludes ...
  • When the people had dealt with the sin of Achan as God had commanded, Israel was ready to engage the enemy again.8:1-2 In view of Israel's defeat God's encouraging words were necessary to strengthen Joshua's resolve (cf. 1:9)...
  • Joshua reveals that victory, success, and progress result when God's people trust and obey Him consistently. Judges shows that defeat, failure, and retrogression follow when they fail to trust and obey consistently. In this r...
  • I. The reason for Israel's apostasy 1:1-3:6A. Hostilities between the Israelites and the Canaanites after Joshua's death 1:1-2:51. Initial successes and failures ch. 12. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5B. Israel's c...
  • The first major section in the book (1:1-3:6) explains very clearly why the period of the judges was a dark chapter in Israel's history. God revealed the reasons for Israel's apostasy and consequent national problems in terms...
  • 1:1 The Book of Judges begins with a conjunction translated "now"or "and."God intended Judges to continue the narrative of Israel's history where the Book of Joshua ended (cf. Josh. 1:1). This verse provides a heading for the...
  • The Moabites and Ammonites were not only neighbors who both lived to the southeast of Canaan, but they were also descendants of the same ancestor, Lot. The Amalekites lived on Israel's southern border and were descendants of ...
  • The writer of Judges structured this book so the story of Gideon would be its focal center."Within the main body of the book, seven major narrative blocks can be noted. Moreover, there are certain parallel features between th...
  • The following two extended incidents (ch. 17-21) differ from the records of the judges just completed (chs. 3-16). They are not accounts of the activities of any of Israel's judges. They are the record of events that took pla...
  • God undoubtedly included the story of Micah and the Danites in the sacred record because it relates the establishment of image worship in Israel. This was a new and catastrophic departure from Yahweh for the Israelites. Image...
  • Chapter 19 records an event that provoked civil war in Israel. The account of that war follows in chapter 20. Then the consequences of the war unfold in chapter 21. This section of the book is the climactic and supreme demons...
  • This chapter continues the story begun in chapter 19. The emphasis in chapter 19 was on moral degeneracy and that of chapter 20 is Israel's political disorganization. One man's sin in chapter 19 resulted in over 65,000 deaths...
  • Verses 29-36a give an overview of the battle, and 36b-48 provide a more detailed explanation.Israel's strategy was similar to what God had specified against Ai (Josh. 8:1-29) and what Abimelech used against Shechem (9:33-44)....
  • In chapter 20 Israel tried desperately to destroy the tribe of Benjamin.367In chapter 21 she tried just as hard to deliver this tribe from the extinction that her own excessive vengeance threatened to accomplish. The anarchy ...
  • The "wife oath"that the Israelites had taken at Mizpah (20:8-11) may have had some connection with God's commands concerning Israel's treatment of the Canaanites (Lev. 7:1-3). Israel was to destroy these enemies utterly and n...
  • Verse 25 concludes the story of the atrocity of the men of Gibeah and the Benjamites (chs. 19-21). This second vignette from the period of the judges began and ends with the same statement (cf. 19:1). It reflects the failure ...
  • The Book of Joshua recorded Israel's victory over her enemies through trust in and obedience to God. The Book of Judges shows the defeat of the nation by its enemies from without and within due to refusal to trust and obey Go...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. Land of the Bible. Phildelphia: Westminster Press, 1962.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The...
  • God had promised the Israelites that if they departed from Him He would discipline them by sending famine on the Promised Land (Deut. 28:17, 23, 38-40, 42).16The famine on Israel at this time indicates God's judgment for unfa...
  • The last major section of the Book of Samuel (2 Sam. 21-24) consists of six separate pericopes that together constitute a conclusion to the whole book (cf. Judg. 17-21). Each pericope emphasizes the theological message of the...
  • The priests presented the evening offering (v. 5) between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. in Jesus' day.130Ezra's prayer contains four primary characteristics: solidarity, confession, readiness to change, and faith in God's mercy.131In hi...
  • In contrast to Ahaz, who refused to listen to and obey God, the Lord would raise up a faithful king who would be born and reign in the future (the Millennium). This pericope climaxes the present section (7:1-9:7) dealing with...
  • 9:7 Israel was to know that the days of her punishment and retribution were imminent because the nation's iniquity was fat and its hostility to the Lord was great. Another reason for her judgment was that the Israelites had r...
  • 10:9 The Israelites had sinned consistently since the days of the atrocity at Gibeah (Judg. 19-20; cf. 9:9; Isa. 1:10). The prophet visualized them as warriors standing at Gibeah. He asked rhetorically if the Lord's battle ag...
  • The first pericope gives hope for the future by showing that even now some Jews believe.11:1 The opening question carries on the rhetorical style of 10:18 and 19. God has not rejected the Israelites because they have, on the ...
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