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Text -- Judges 20:1-48 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Civil War Breaks Out
20:1 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the Lord at Mizpah .
20:2 The leaders of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people , which numbered four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers .
20:3 The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah . Then the Israelites said , “Explain how this wicked thing happened !”
20:4 The Levite , the husband of the murdered woman , spoke up , “I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.
20:5 The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died .
20:6 I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces throughout the territory occupied by Israel , because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity in Israel .
20:7 All you Israelites , make a decision here !”
20:8 All Israel rose up in unison and said , “Not one of us will go home ! Not one of us will return to his house !
20:9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah : We will attack the city as the lot dictates.
20:10 We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand , and a thousand of every group of ten thousand ) to get supplies for the army . When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel .”
20:11 So all the men of Israel gathered together at the city as allies .
20:12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin , saying , “How could such a wicked thing take place ?
20:13 Now , hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness .” But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers .
20:14 The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites .
20:15 That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers , besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah .
20:16 Among this army were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers . Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target.
20:17 The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin ) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers , every one an experienced warrior .
20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God , “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites ?” The Lord said , “Judah should lead .”
20:19 The Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah .
20:20 The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin ; they arranged their battle lines against Gibeah .
20:21 The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day .
20:22 The Israelite army took heart and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before .
20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening . They asked the Lord , “Should we again march out to fight the Benjaminites , our brothers ?” The Lord said , “Attack them!”
20:24 So the Israelites marched toward the Benjaminites the next day .
20:25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers .
20:26 So all the Israelites , the whole army , went up to Bethel . They wept and sat there before the Lord ; they did not eat anything that day until evening . They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace to the Lord .
20:27 The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days ;
20:28 Phinehas son of Eleazar , son of Aaron , was serving the Lord in those days ), “Should we once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers , or should we quit ?” The Lord said , “Attack , for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
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.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jdg 20:1; Jdg 20:1; Jdg 20:1; Jdg 20:1; Jdg 20:2; Jdg 20:2; Jdg 20:4; Jdg 20:4; Jdg 20:4; Jdg 20:5; Jdg 20:6; Jdg 20:6; Jdg 20:6; Jdg 20:7; Jdg 20:7; Jdg 20:8; Jdg 20:8; Jdg 20:8; Jdg 20:9; Jdg 20:9; Jdg 20:10; Jdg 20:10; Jdg 20:11; Jdg 20:12; Jdg 20:12; Jdg 20:13; Jdg 20:13; Jdg 20:14; Jdg 20:15; Jdg 20:16; Jdg 20:16; Jdg 20:16; Jdg 20:17; Jdg 20:18; Jdg 20:18; Jdg 20:18; Jdg 20:19; Jdg 20:20; Jdg 20:21; Jdg 20:22; Jdg 20:22; Jdg 20:23; Jdg 20:23; Jdg 20:23; Jdg 20:23; Jdg 20:24; Jdg 20:25; Jdg 20:26; Jdg 20:26; Jdg 20:26; Jdg 20:26; Jdg 20:26; Jdg 20:28; Jdg 20:28; Jdg 20:28; Jdg 20:28; Jdg 20:28; Jdg 20:30; Jdg 20:31; Jdg 20:31; Jdg 20:31; Jdg 20:31; Jdg 20:31; Jdg 20:32; Jdg 20:32; Jdg 20:33; Jdg 20:34; Jdg 20:34; Jdg 20:35; Jdg 20:36; Jdg 20:37; Jdg 20:37; Jdg 20:37; Jdg 20:38; Jdg 20:39; Jdg 20:39; Jdg 20:39; Jdg 20:40; Jdg 20:41; Jdg 20:41; Jdg 20:42; Jdg 20:42; Jdg 20:43; Jdg 20:43; Jdg 20:43; Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:46; Jdg 20:46; Jdg 20:48; Jdg 20:48; Jdg 20:48
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:9 As the lot dictates. The Israelite soldiers intended to cast lots to determine which tribe would lead the battle charge (see v. 18).
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:10 Heb “to do at their arrival in Geba of Benjamin according to all the disgraceful [thing] which he [collective = “Benjamin”] did in I...
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:15 Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.”
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:20 Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:21 Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:25 Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the g...
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:31 The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:33 Verses 33-36a give a condensed account of the battle from this point on, while vv. 36b-48 offer a more detailed version of how the ambush contributed ...
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:35 Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:38 Heb “they”; the referent (the men hiding in ambush) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:39 The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:40 Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.”
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:43 Heb “unto the opposite of Gibeah toward the east.” Gibeah cannot be correct here, since the Benjaminites retreated from there toward the d...
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NET Notes: Jdg 20:46 Heb “So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.
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