Text -- Judges 20:1-42 (NET)

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.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jdg 20:1

¹ sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.

² sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

³ tn Heb “went out.”

⁴ tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:2

¹ tn Heb “the cornerstones”; or “the supports.” The word is used of leaders in only three other texts – 1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4.

² tn The words “which numbered” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

NET Notes: Jdg 20:4

¹ tn Heb “The man, the Levite.”

² tn Heb “came to.”

³ tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:5

¹ tn Heb “arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:6

¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent is more naturally stated in English as “the pieces.”

² tn Heb “throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel.”

³ tn Heb “a wicked and disgraceful [thing].”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:7

¹ tn Heb “Look, all of you sons of Israel.”

² tn Heb “give for yourselves a word and advice here.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:8

¹ tn Heb “as one man.”

² tn Heb “to his tent.”

³ tn Or “turn aside.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:9

¹ tn Heb “against her by lot.” The verb “we will go up” (נַעֲלֶה, na’aleh) has probably been accidentally omitted before “against her” (עָלֶיהָ, ’aleha).

sn As the lot dictates. The Israelite soldiers intended to cast lots to determine which tribe would lead the battle charge (see v. 18).

NET Notes: Jdg 20:10

¹ tn Or “people.”

² tn Heb “to do at their arrival in Geba of Benjamin according to all the disgraceful [thing] which he [collective = “Benjamin”] did in Israel.” Here “Geba” must be an error for “Gibeah.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:11

¹ tn Heb “gathered at the city as one man, united.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:12

¹ tc The MT reads the plural, but surely the singular (which is supported by the LXX and Vulgate) is preferable here.

² tn Heb “What is this wicked thing which happened among you?”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:13

¹ tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”

² tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:14

¹ tn Heb “assembled from the cities at Gibeah.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:15

¹ tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:16

¹ tn Heb “And from all this people.”

² tn Heb “seven hundred choice men, bound/restricted in the right hand.” On the significance of the idiom, “bound/restricted in the right hand,” see the translator’s note on 3:15.

³ tn “at a single hair and not miss.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:17

¹ tn Heb “a man of war.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:18

¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

² tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

³ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:19

¹ tn Heb “encamped.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:20

¹ tn Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Jdg 20:21

¹ tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:22

¹ tn Heb “The people, the men of Israel.”

² tn Or “encouraged one another.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:23

¹ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

² tn Heb “approach for battle.”

³ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

⁴ tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).

NET Notes: Jdg 20:24

¹ tn Heb “drew near to.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:25

¹ tn 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 ground, all of these were wielding the sword.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:26

¹ tn Heb “and all the people.”

² tn Heb “went up and came [to].”

³ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

⁴ tn Traditionally, “fasted.”

⁵ tn Or “peace offerings.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:28

¹ tn Heb “standing before him.”

² tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

³ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

⁴ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

⁵ tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

NET Notes: Jdg 20:30

¹ tn Heb “the third day.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:31

¹ tn Heb “went out to meet.”

² tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”

³ tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.”

⁴ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

⁵ tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

NET Notes: Jdg 20:32

¹ tn Or “run away.”

² tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

NET Notes: Jdg 20:33

¹ sn 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 to Gibeah’s defeat.

NET Notes: Jdg 20:34

¹ tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.”

² tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:35

¹ tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:36

¹ tn Heb “gave place to.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:37

¹ tn Heb “hurried and put off [their hiding place].”

² tn Heb “the men hiding in ambush.”

³ tn Or “deployed.” The verb normally means “to lead” or “to draw.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:38

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men hiding in ambush) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Jdg 20:39

¹ tn Heb “turned in the battle.”

² tn Heb “And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel.”

³ tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

NET Notes: Jdg 20:40

¹ tn Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:41

¹ tn Or “were terrified.”

² tn Heb “disaster touched against them.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:42

¹ tn Heb “clung to”; or “stuck close.”

² tn Heb “and those from the cities were striking them down in their midst.”