Text -- Judges 20:21-48 (NET)

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.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Jdg 20:21

_Why would God suffer them to have so great a loss in so good a cause? Because they had many and great sins reigning among themselves, and they should not have come to so great a work of God, with polluted hands, but should have pulled the beam out of their own eye, before they attempted to take that out of their brother Benjamin's eye: which because they did not, God doth it for them, bringing them through the fire, that they might he purged from their dross; it being probable that the great God who governs every stroke in battle, did so order things, that their worst members should be cut off, which was a great blessing to the whole common - wealth. And God would hereby shew, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. We must never lay that weight on an arm of flesh, which only the Rock of Ages will bear.

Wesley: Jdg 20:22

Heb. strengthened themselves, supporting themselves with the consciousness of the justice of their cause, and putting themselves in better order for defending themselves, and annoying their enemies.

Wesley: Jdg 20:23

Not so much for their sins, as for their defeat and loss.

Wesley: Jdg 20:23

They impute their ill success, not to their own sins, but to their taking up arms against their brethren. But still they persist in their former neglect of seeking God's assistance in the way which he had appointed, as they themselves acknowledged presently, by doing those very things which now they neglected.

Wesley: Jdg 20:26

Sensible of their not being truly humbled for their sins, which now they discover to be the cause of their ill success.

Wesley: Jdg 20:26

To make atonement to God for their own sins.

Wesley: Jdg 20:26

To bless God for sparing so many of them, whereas he might justly have cut off all of them when their brethren were slain: to implore his assistance, yea and to give thanks for the victory, which now they were confident he would give them.

Wesley: Jdg 20:28

This is added to give us light about the time of this history, and to shew it was not done in the order in which it is here placed, after Samson's death, but long before.

Wesley: Jdg 20:28

That is ministered as high-priest.

Wesley: Jdg 20:28

When they sought God after the due order, and truly humbled themselves for their sins, he gives them a satisfactory answer.

Wesley: Jdg 20:29

Though they were assured of the success, by a particular promise, yet they do not neglect the use of means; as well knowing that the certainty of God's promises doth not excuse, but rather require man's diligent use of all fit means for the accomplishment of them.

Wesley: Jdg 20:30

That is, a considerable part of them, who were ordered to give the first onset, and then to counterfeit flight, to draw the Benjamites forth from their strong - hold. See Jdg 20:32.

Wesley: Jdg 20:34

Selected out of the main body, which was at Baal - tamar; and these were to march directly to Gibeah on the one side, whilst the liers in wait stormed it on the other side, and whilst the great body of the army laboured to intercept the Benjamites, who having pursued the Israelites that pretended to flee, now endeavoured to retreat to Gibeah.

Wesley: Jdg 20:37

Or, extended themselves; whereas before they lay close and contracted into a narrow compass, now they spread themselves, and marched in rank and file as armies do.

Wesley: Jdg 20:44

Namely, in the field, of battle.

Wesley: Jdg 20:45

That is, a metaphor from those who gather grapes or corn so clearly and fully, that they leave no relicks for those who come after them.

Wesley: Jdg 20:46

Besides the odd hundred expressed Jdg 20:35, but here only the great number is mentioned, the less being omitted, as inconsiderable. Here are also a thousand more omitted, because he speaks only of them who fell in that third day of battle.

Wesley: Jdg 20:48

Having destroyed those that came to Gibeah, and into the field, now they follow them home to their several habitations.

Wesley: Jdg 20:48

Comprehensively taken, so as to include women and children. If this seem harsh and bloody, either it may be ascribed to military fury; or perhaps it may be partly justified, from that command of God in a parallel case, Deu 13:15, and from that solemn oath by which they had devoted to death all that came not up to Mizpeh, Jdg 21:5, which none of the Benjamites did.

JFB: Jdg 20:33

A palm-grove, where Baal was worshipped. The main army of the confederate tribes was drawn up there.

JFB: Jdg 20:33

Hebrew, "the caves of Gibeah"; a hill in which the ambuscades lay hid.

JFB: Jdg 20:34

This was a third division, different both from the ambuscade and the army, who were fighting at Baal-tamar. The general account stated in Jdg 20:35 is followed by a detailed narrative of the battle, which is continued to the end of the chapter.

JFB: Jdg 20:45

Many of the fugitives found refuge in the caves of this rocky mountain, which is situated to the northeast of Beth-el. Such places are still sought as secure retreats in times of danger; and until the method of blowing up rocks by gunpowder became known, a few men could in such caves sustain a siege for months.

JFB: Jdg 20:46

On comparing this with Jdg 20:35, it will be seen that the loss is stated here in round numbers and is confined only to that of the third day. We must conclude that a thousand had fallen during the two previous engagements, in order to make the aggregate amount given (Jdg 20:15).

JFB: Jdg 20:48

This frightful vengeance, extending from Gibeah to the whole territory of Benjamin, was executed under the impetuous impulse of highly excited passions. But doubtless the Israelites were only the agents of inflicting the righteous retributions of God; and the memory of this terrible crisis, which led almost to the extermination of a whole tribe, was conducive to the future good of the whole nation.

Clarke: Jdg 20:21

Destroyed down to the ground - twenty-two thousand men - That is, so many were left dead on the field of battle.

Clarke: Jdg 20:23

Go up against him - It appears most evident that the Israelites did not seek the protection of God. They trusted in the goodness of their cause and in the multitude of their army. God humbled them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and showed them that the race was not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

Clarke: Jdg 20:26

And wept - Had they humbled themselves, fasted, and prayed, and offered sacrifices at first, they had not been discomfited

Clarke: Jdg 20:26

And fasted that day until even - This is the first place where fasting is mentioned as a religious ceremony, or as a means of obtaining help from God. And in this case, and many since, it has been powerfully effectual. At present it is but little used; a strong proof that self-denial is wearing out of fashion.

Clarke: Jdg 20:28

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar - This was the same Phinehas who is mentioned Num 25:7, and consequently these transactions must have taken place shortly after the death of Joshua.

Clarke: Jdg 20:29

Israel set liers in wait - Though God had promised them success, they knew they could expect it only in the use of the proper means. They used all prudent precaution, and employed all their military skill.

Clarke: Jdg 20:32

Let us - draw them from the city - They had two reasons for this

1.    They had placed an ambuscade behind Gibeah, which was to enter and burn the city as soon as the Benjamites had left it

2.    It would seem that the slingers, by being within the city and its fortifications, had great advantage against the Israelites by their slings, whom they could not annoy with their swords, unless they got them to the plain country.

Clarke: Jdg 20:33

Put themselves in array at Baal-tamar - The Israelites seem to have divided their army into three divisions; one was at Baal-tamar, a second behind the city in ambush, and the third skirmished with the Benjamites before Gibeah.

Clarke: Jdg 20:35

Twenty and five thousand and a hundred - As the Benjamites consisted only of twenty-six thousand and seven hundred slingers; or, as the Vulgate, Septuagint, and others read, twenty-five thousand, which is most probably the true reading; then the whole of the Benjamites were cut to pieces, except six hundred men, who we are informed fled to the rock Rimmon, where they fortified themselves.

Clarke: Jdg 20:38

Now there was an appointed sign - From this verse to the end of the chapter we have the details of the same operations which are mentioned, in a general way, in the preceding part of the chapter.

Clarke: Jdg 20:45

Unto the rock of Rimmon - This was some strong place, but where situated is not known. Here they maintained themselves four months, and it was by these alone that the tribe of Benjamin was preserved from utter extermination. See the following chapter, Judges 21 (note)

It is scarcely possible to imagine any thing more horrid than the indiscriminate and relentless slaughter of both innocent and guilty mentioned in this chapter. The crime of the men of Gibeah was great, but there was no adequate cause for this relentless extermination of a whole tribe. There was neither justice nor judgment in this case; they were on all sides brutal, cruel, and ferocious: and no wonder; there was no king in Israel - no effective civil government, and every man did what was right in his own eyes. There was no proper leader; no man that had authority and influence to repress the disorderly workings of the pell-mell mob.

Defender: Jdg 20:28

The fact that Phinehas was still serving as priest at the tabernacle at Shiloh indicates that this distressing series of events occurred soon after the death of Joshua and the elders that outlived Joshua, during the first anarchistic period in the land of Canaan (Jdg 2:7-10). The rapid descent of the post-Joshua generation of Israelites into apostasy, immorality and inter-tribal warfare (illustrated in these last three chapters of the book of Judges) is a doleful commentary on human nature. Yet, despite it all, God was still merciful and ready to forgive."

Defender: Jdg 20:46

Jdg 20:15 says there were 26,000 men of Benjamin that "drew the sword." Since 25,000 fell on "that day," evidently a thousand had already been slain during the previous days of fighting. The number 25,000 seems here to be a "round number" for the more accurate count (25,100) mentioned in Jdg 20:35."

TSK: Jdg 20:21

the children : Gen 49:27; Hos 10:9

destroyed : Deu 23:9; 2Ch 28:10; Psa 33:16, Psa 73:18, Psa 73:19, Psa 77:19; Ecc 9:1-3; Jer 12:1

TSK: Jdg 20:22

encouraged : Jdg 20:15, Jdg 20:17; 1Sa 30:6; 2Sa 11:25; Psa 64:5

TSK: Jdg 20:23

wept : Jdg 20:26, Jdg 20:27; Psa 78:34-36; Hos 5:15

And the : It seems most evident that the Israelites did not seek the protection of God. When they ""went to the house of God,""(Jdg 20:18), it was not to enquire concerning the expediency of the war, nor of its success, but which of the tribes should begin the attack, and here the question is, ""Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?""Having so much right on their side, they had no doubt of the justice of their cause, and the propriety of their conduct; and having such a superiority of numbers, they had no doubt of success. But God humbled them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies; and shewed them that the race was not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

TSK: Jdg 20:25

destroyed : Jdg 20:21; Gen 18:25; Job 9:12, Job 9:13; Psa 97:2; Rom 2:5, Rom 3:5, Rom 11:33

TSK: Jdg 20:26

all the children : Jdg 20:18, Jdg 20:23

wept : 1Sa 7:6; 2Ch 20:3; Ezr 8:21, Ezr 9:4, Ezr 9:5; Joe 1:14, Joe 2:12-18; Jon 3:5-10

TSK: Jdg 20:27

inquired : Jdg 20:18, Jdg 20:23; Num 27:21

the ark : Jos 18:1; 1Sa 4:3, 1Sa 4:4; Psa 78:60, Psa 78:61; Jer 7:12; The loss of two battles at length brought this stiff-necked people to enquire of the Lord; for all the company at this time met at Shiloh, and kept a day of fasting and prayer with great earnestness and solemnity. ""Behold, the Lord’ s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.""Isa 59:1

TSK: Jdg 20:28

Phinehas : It is evident, from this mention of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, that these transactions must have taken place not long after the death of Joshua. Num 25:7-13; Jos 22:13, Jos 22:30-32, Jos 24:33

stood : Deu 10:8, Deu 18:5

Shall I yet : Jos 7:7; 1Sa 14:37, 1Sa 23:4-12, 1Sa 30:8; 2Sa 5:19-24, 2Sa 6:3, 2Sa 6:7-12; Pro 3:5, Pro 3:6; Jer 10:23

Go up : Jdg 1:2, Jdg 7:9; 2Ch 20:17

TSK: Jdg 20:29

Israel : Though God had promised them success, they knew they could expect it only by the use of proper means. Hence they used all prudent precaution, and employed all their military skill.

liers : Jdg 20:34; Jos 8:4; 2Sa 5:23

TSK: Jdg 20:31

drawn : Jos 8:14-16

smite of the people, and kill, as at : Heb. smite of the people wounded as at, etc

the house of God : or, Beth-el, Gibeah. Jdg 19:13, Jdg 19:14; Isa 10:29

thirty : Jos 7:5

TSK: Jdg 20:32

Let us flee : This was done, not only because they had placed an ambuscade behind Gibeah, which was to enter and burn the city as soon as the Benjamites left it; but it would seem, that the slingers, by being within the city and its fortifications, had great advantage over the Israelites by their slings, when they could not come among them with their swords, unless they got them in the plain country. Jos 8:15, Jos 8:16

TSK: Jdg 20:33

rose up : Jos 8:18-22

put themselves : There appear to have been three divisions of the Israelitish armycaps1 . ocaps0 ne at Baal-tamar (which was situated, says Eusebius, near Gibeah); a second behind the city in ambush; and a third, who skirmished with the Benjamites before Gibeah.

TSK: Jdg 20:34

ten thousand : Jdg 20:29

knew not : Jos 8:14; Job 21:13; Pro 4:19, Pro 29:6; Ecc 8:11, Ecc 8:12, Ecc 9:12; Isa 3:10, Isa 3:11; Isa 47:11; Mat 24:44; Luk 21:34, Luk 21:34; 1Th 5:3

TSK: Jdg 20:35

twenty : Jdg 20:15, Jdg 20:44-46; Job 20:5; Though the numbers of the Israelites were immensely superior to those of Benjamin, though the stratagem was well laid and ingeniously executed, and the battle bravely fought, yet the inspired historian ascribes the victory to the hand of the Lord, as entirely as if he had smitten the Benjamites by a miracle.

TSK: Jdg 20:36

for the men : Jos 8:15-29

TSK: Jdg 20:37

the liers in wait hasted : Jos 8:19

drew themselves along : or, made a long sound with the trumpets, Exo 19:13; Jos 6:5

TSK: Jdg 20:38

Now there : From this verse to the end of the chapter, we have the details of the same operations which are mentioned, in a general way, in the preceding verses of this chapter.

sign : or, time, Gen 17:21; 2Ki 4:16 *marg.

and : Heb. with

flame : Heb. elevation

TSK: Jdg 20:39

And when : Jdg 20:31

smite and kill : Heb. smite the wounded

TSK: Jdg 20:40

a pillar : Gen 19:28; Son 3:6; Joe 2:30; Rev 19:3

looked : Jos 8:20

flame : Heb. whole consumption

TSK: Jdg 20:41

were amazed : Exo 15:9, Exo 15:10; Isa 13:8, Isa 13:9, Isa 33:14; Luk 17:27, Luk 17:28, Luk 21:26; 1Th 5:3; 2Pe 2:12; Rev 6:15-17, Rev 18:8-10

was come upon them : Heb. touched them

TSK: Jdg 20:42

the battle : Lam 1:3; Hos 9:9, Hos 10:9

TSK: Jdg 20:43

enclosed : Jos 8:20-22

with ease : or, from Menuchah, etc

over against : Heb. unto over against

TSK: Jdg 20:45

Rimmon : Jos 15:32; 1Ch 6:77; Zec 14:10

TSK: Jdg 20:46

twenty : Jdg 20:15, Jdg 20:35

TSK: Jdg 20:47

six hundred : Jdg 21:13; Psa 103:9, Psa 103:10; Isa 1:9; Jer 14:7; Lam 3:32; Hab 3:2, rock of Rimmon, The rock Rimmon was doubtless a strong place; but it is uncertain where situated. It is probable however, that it was near, and took its name from, the village of Remmon, mentioned by Eusebius, fifteen miles north from Jerusalem. It appears that rocks are still resorted to in the East, as places of security; and some of them are even capable of sustaining a siege. Deut. Lam. Roque says, that ""The Grand Seignior, wishing to seize the person of the emir (Fakr-eddin, prince of the Druses), gave orders to the pacha to take him prisonercaps1 . hcaps0 e accordingly came in search of him, with a new army, in the district of Chouf, which is part of mount Lebanon, wherein is the village of Gesin, and close to it, the rock which served for a retreat to the emir. It is named in Arabic, Magara Gesin, i.e., the cavern of Gessin, by which name it is famous. The pacha pressed the emir so closely, that this unfortunate prince was obliged to shut himself up in the cleft of a great rock, with a small number of his officers. The pacha besieged him there several months; and was going to blow up the rock by a mine, when the emir capitulated.""

TSK: Jdg 20:48

smote them : Deu 13:15-17; 2Ch 25:13, 2Ch 28:6-9; Pro 18:19

came to hand : Heb. was found

they came to : Heb. were found

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Jdg 20:21

Gibeah, being on a hill, was difficult of access to an attacking army, and gave great advantage to the defenders, who fought from higher ground, and probably defended a narrow pass, while their companions on the walls could gall the assailants with their slingstones.

Barnes: Jdg 20:26

Fasted until even - The regular time for ending a fast among the Hebrews was sunset (compare 1Sa 14:24; 2Sa 1:12). Such national fasts are called by the rabbis "fasts of the congregation,"and were enjoined in times of great affliction.

On the offerings, see Lev. i., 3.

Barnes: Jdg 20:28

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar ... - A most important chronological statement, which makes it probable that these events occurred within twenty years of the death of Joshua.

To-morrow - The two former answers only bade them go up against Benjamin; now, for the first time, the promise is added, "Tomorrow,"etc. (compare Jos 8:1).

Barnes: Jdg 20:29

The stratagem described is exactly that by which Joshua took Ai (marginal reference).

Barnes: Jdg 20:31

To the house of God - " To Bethel,"as in the margin. On "Gibeah in the field,"see Jos 18:24 note.

Barnes: Jdg 20:33

Baal-tamar is only mentioned here. It took its name from some palm-tree that grew there; perhaps the same as the "palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel"Jdg 4:5, the exact locality here indicated, since "the highway"Jdg 20:31 along which the Israelites enticed the Benjamites to pursue them, leads straight to Ramah, which lay only a mile beyond the point where the two ways branch off.

The meadows of Gibeah - The word rendered "meadow"is only found here. According to its etymology, it ought to mean a "bare open place", which is particularly unsuitable for an ambush. However, by a change in the vowel-points, without any alteration in the letters, it becomes the common word for "a cavern".

Barnes: Jdg 20:42

The way of the wilderness - i. e., the wilderness which extended from Jericho to the hills of Bethel.

Them which came out of the cities - These must be the Benjamites Jdg 20:15. Hence, "in the midst of them"must mean "in their own cities", where they severally fled for refuge, but failed to find shelter Jdg 20:48. Anathoth, Alemath, Ramah, Ataroth, Geba, Michmash, Ai, Bethel, Migron, etc., would probably be the cities meant, all lying east and north of Gibeah.

Barnes: Jdg 20:43

The language and construction of this verse is poetical; it seems to be an extract from a song, and to describe, in the language of poetry, the same event which the preceding verse described in that of prose.

With ease - Or "rest"Num 10:33; Psa 95:11. The expression is very obscure. The margin takes it as the name of a place.

Barnes: Jdg 20:45

Rimmon - A village named "Rummon", situated on the summit of a conical chalky hill, still exists, and forms a remarkable object in the landscape, visible in all directions. It lies 15 miles north of Jerusalem. It is a different place from Rimmon in the south of Judah Jos 15:32, and Remmon in Zebulon Jos 19:13. Gidom, mentioned nowhere else, was evidently close to Rimmon.

Barnes: Jdg 20:46

In Jdg 20:35 the number given is 25,100. Jdg 20:44-46 give the details of the loss on that day: 18,000, 5,000, and 2,000; in all 25,000. But as the Benjamites numbered 26,700 men Jdg 20:15, and 600 escaped to the rock of Rimmon, it is clear that 1,100 are unaccounted for, partly from no account being taken of those who fell in the battles of the two first days, partly from the use of round numbers, or from some other cause. The numbers given both here and in Jdg 20:35 are expressly restricted to those who fell on "that"(the third) "day."

Barnes: Jdg 20:48

They treated Benjamin as devoted to utter destruction, as Jericho had been Jos 6:17, Jos 6:21, and the whole tribe was all but actually extirpated. We see in the punishment inflicted the same ferocity which marked both the crime and the Levite’ s mode of requiring vengeance.

Poole: Jdg 20:21

Quest Why would God suffer them to have so great a loss in so good a cause?

Answ Because they had many and great sins reigning amongst themselves, and they should not have come to so great a work of God as this with polluted hands, but should have pulled the beam out of their own eye, before they attempted to take that out of their brother Benjamin’ s eye; which because they did not, God doth it for them, making them by this loss more clearly to see their own sins, and their need of God’ s help, without which their great numbers were insignificant; and bringing them through the fire, that they might be purged from their dross; it being probable that the great God, who governs every stroke in battles, did so order things, that their worst and rotten members should be cut off, which was a great blessing to the whole commonwealth.

Poole: Jdg 20:22

Encouraged themselves Heb. strengthened themselves ; partly by supporting themselves with the conscience of the justice of their cause, and the hopes of success; and partly by putting themselves in better order for defending themselves, and annoying their enemies.

In the place where they put themselves in array the first day hereby showing their freedom from that heathenish superstition, whereby they might have been apt to have rejected that as an unlucky place. Compare 1Ki 20:23,28 .

Poole: Jdg 20:23

Went up and wept not so much for their sins as for their defeat and loss, as appears by the sequel.

Against the children of Benjamin my brother they impute their ill success not to their own sins, as they had great reason to do, but to their taking up arms against their brethren, the lawfulness whereof they now begin to doubt of. But still they persist in their former neglect of seeking God’ s assistance in the way which he had appointed, as they themselves acknowledge presently, by doing those very things which now they sinfully neglected, Jud 20:26 , and therefore are again justly punished.

Go up against him: God answers to their question; but as they did not desire his assistance and success, so he doth not promise it.

Poole: Jdg 20:26

Sat there before the Lord and fasted; being now sensible of their former slightness, and now being truly humbled for their sins, which now they discover to be the true cause of their ill success.

Offered burnt-offerings to make atonement to God for their own sins.

Peace-offerings partly to bless God for sparing so many of them, whereas he might justly have cut off all of them when their brethren were slain; and partly to implore his assistance for the future, and to give him thanks for the victory, which now they were confident he would give them.

Poole: Jdg 20:27

Inquired of the Lord to wit, by Urim and Thummim, Num 27:21 .

Was there in Shiloh, where they were now assembled.

Poole: Jdg 20:28

Phinehas the son of Eleazar: this is added to give us some light about the time of this history, and to show it was not done in the order in which it is here placed, after Samson’ s death, but long before.

Stood i.e. ministered, as the word stand oft signifies, as Deu 10:8 18:7 Pro 22:29 Jer 52:12 , compared with 2Ki 25:8 , because standing is the usual posture of servants.

Before it i.e. before the ark; or, before his , i.e. the Lord’ s face, or presence; which shows that he was the high priest, for none else might appear there.

Or shall I cease? which, if thou requirest, we are willing to do, notwithstanding the provocation they have given us, and our own inclination to revenge.

Tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand: now, when they had sought God after the due order, and truly humbled themselves for their sins, he gives them a full and satisfactory answer to their desires.

Poole: Jdg 20:29

Though they were assured of the success by a particular and absolute promise, yet they do not neglect the use of means; as well knowing that the certainty of God’ s purposes or promises doth not excuse, but rather require man’ s diligent use of all fit means for the accomplishment of them.

Round about Gibeah i.e. on several sides of it, as may be gathered from the following verses.

Poole: Jdg 20:30

The children of Israel i.e. a considerable part of them, who were ordered to give the first onset, and then to counterfeit flight, to draw the Benjamites forth of their strong hold. See Jud 20:32 .

On the third day to wit, after the second battle; for the first day after it they spent in perplexing thoughts, and going up to the house of the Lord; the second, in fasting and prayer there; and this third, in the fight. Or this is so called with respect unto the two several foregoing days of battle, and so this was the third day of battle.

Poole: Jdg 20:31

Drawn away from the city by the dissembled flight of the Israelites.

As at other times with the same kind, though not with the same degree of success.

Gibeah in the field so called, to difference it from this Gibeah, which was upon a hill; wherefore they are constantly said to ascend or go up against it, as Jud 20:23,30 . See Jos 18:24,28 .

Poole: Jdg 20:33

Out of their place where they had disposed themselves, that they might fall upon the Benjamites, when they were drawn forth to a sufficient distance from their city, and when they were pursuing that party, mentioned Jud 20:30 .

Came forth out of their places to execute what was agreed upon, even to take Gibeah, and burn it, as they actually did, Jud 20:37 .

Poole: Jdg 20:34

Chosen men out of all Israel selected out of the main body, which was at Baal-tamar; and these were to march directly to Gibeah on the one side, whilst the liers in wait stormed it on the other side, and whilst the great body of the army laboured to intercept these Benjamites, who, having pursued the Israelites that pretended to flee, now endeavoured to retreat to Gibeah.

They knew not that evil was near them they were so puffed up with their former successes, that they were insensible of their danger.

Poole: Jdg 20:35

This is the total sum, whereof the particulars are related Jud 20:11,45 ; and for the odd hundred not there mentioned, they were killed in other places not there expressed.

Poole: Jdg 20:37

Drew themselves along or, extended themselves , i.e. whereas before they lay close and contracted into a narrow compass, now they spread themselves, and marched in rank and file, as armies do. Or, marched or went , Heb. drew their feet . So this verb is oft, used, as Gen 37:28 Exo 12:21 Jud 4:6 Job 21:33 .

Poole: Jdg 20:41

The men of Benjamin were amazed because of their great disappointment, and the present danger wherewith they were surrounded on every side.

Poole: Jdg 20:42

The battle i.e. the men of battle or war; the abstract for the concrete, as poverty , 2Ki 24:14 , pride , Psa 36:11 , deceit , Pro 12:5 , dreams , Jer 27:9 , election , Rom 11:7 , are put for persons that are poor , proud, deceitful, dreamers, elect. Them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them : so the sense may seem to be this, That the Israelites did not only kill the inhabitants of Gibeah, and all the Benjamites that came into the field against them, six hundred excepted; but in the midst of them, or together with them, they killed also the rest of the Benjamites, who, when they saw their army was wholly destroyed, made haste to flee out of their several cities or towns, that so they might escape the sword, which was coming towards them. But the words may be rendered thus: And them who were of the other cities , to wit, of Benjamin, i.e. who abode in their own cities and did not go up to Gibeah,

they destroyed in the midst of them , i.e. in their several cities; or, in the midst of it , i.e. of every city; for so it is said, Jud 20:48 , where it is said that they smote the men of every city . But this I submit to the learned.

Poole: Jdg 20:43

With ease without great difficulty. Now that God gave them his presence and assistance, they easily did that which before they found too hard for them. Or, unto Menuchah; or, as far as Menuchah; a place so called. See 1Ch 2:52 Jer 51:59 .

Poole: Jdg 20:44

There fell to wit, in the field, or battle.

Poole: Jdg 20:45

They gleaned i.e. they cut off the remainders in the pursuit, and spared none; a metaphor from those who gather grapes or corn so clearly and fitly, that they leave no relics for those who come after them.

Poole: Jdg 20:46

Twenty and five thousand besides the odd hundred expressed Jud 20:35 ; but here only the great number is expressed, the less being omitted, as inconsiderable; which way of numbering is frequent in Scripture, as Jud 11:26 2Sa 5:5 , and in other authors, and in vulgar use; as when they are called the seventy interpreters, who in truth and exactness were seventy-two. Here are also a thousand more omitted, because here he speaks only of them who fell in that third day of battle. See Poole "Jud 20:15" .

Poole: Jdg 20:47

In a cave within that rock, where they fortified themselves and fetched in provision as they had opportunity; which they could easily do, when the heat of the battle was over, and the Israelites were not solicitous to pursue them farther.

Poole: Jdg 20:48

Having destroyed those that came to Gibeah, and into the field, now they follow them home to their several habitations.

The men of every city comprehensively taken, so as to include women and children. If this seem harsh and bloody, either it may be ascribed to military fury; or rather, it may be justified; partly, from that high guilt brought upon the whole tribe, in which it is no wonder if their infants suffered, which was not unusual in such cases, as Num 31:17 1Sa 15:3 Jos 7:15 ; partly, from that command of God in a parallel case, Deu 13:15 ; and partly, from that solemn oath by which they had anathematized or devoted to death all that came not up to Mizpeh, Jud 21:5 , which none of the Benjamites did; for which cause also they destroyed all the men, women, and children of Jabesh-gilead, Jud 21:10 .

Haydock: Jdg 20:22

Trusting in their strength. The Lord suffered them to be overthrown, and many of them to be slain, though their cause was just; partly in punishment of the idolatry which they exercised or tolerated in the tribe of Dan, and elsewhere: and partly because they trusted in their own strength: and therefore, though he bid them fight, he would not give them the victory, till they were thoroughly humbled, and had learned to trust in him alone. (Challoner) ---

God's thoughts are often different from ours; and he frequently delays to crown with success the most holy enterprises, that man may learn to be more humble, and to trust wholly in his mercy. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 20:23

And join battle. This is an explanation of Hebrew, "against him." (Haydock) ---

The Israelites still neglected to sue for the divine protection, trusting in their numbers. God sends them again to battle, and suffers them to be routed. Did he deceive them? By no means. He wished them to learn the important lesson of self-diffidence, and he had not promised them the victory. (Haydock) ---

But after they had humbled themselves, He acts like a master. I will deliver, &c., ver. 28. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 20:25

Sword. In each battle the Benjamites kill almost as many as their whole army, in all 40,000 Israelites, without losing a man, ver. 15. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 20:26

Evening. Till then the Jews never eat on fasting days. The Turks still do the like: but they only change day into night, as they sleep till sunset, and then begin to feast and to make merry. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 20:28

Was over. Hebrew, "stood before it at that time," (Haydock) in the camp, (Calmet) or perhaps at Silo, which was not so remote; but some, if not the whole army, might go thither to weep, and to consult the Lord. Phinees had formerly displayed his zeal against the impiety of Beelphegor, Numbers xxv. 7. He was contemporary with Jonathan, the priest of Michas. (Kennicott) ---

Hence it appears that this took place not long after the death of Eleazar, Josue xxiv. (Worthington)

Haydock: Jdg 20:31

To Gabaa, from some other city. (Haydock) ---

This body of men consisted of 10,000, who were designed to draw off the Benjamites from the city into the midst of the forces of Israel, at Baalthamar; while another division, in ambush, on the west of Gabaa, had to enter the city, and having set it on fire, were to prevent the inhabitants from re-entering. (Calmet) ---

They use a similar stratagem to that which Josue (Josue viii.) had employed against Hai. (Salien)

Haydock: Jdg 20:33

Baalthamar, the plain of Jericho; (Chaldean) or rather a village in the vicinity of Gabaa, which Eusebius calls Besthamar.

Haydock: Jdg 20:34

West side. Hebrew mare, "a cavern," (Calmet) "a plain," (Chaldean) "the thickets." (Vat.[Vatable?] &c.) But the Septuagint have read marbe, "the west," with the Vulgate. (Calmet) ---

The Vatican copy leave Maraagabe. (Menochius) ---

Gabaa was situated on a hill, and the ambuscade might be concealed in a cavern, some of which in Palestine are very spacious. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 20:35

The sword. It seems the slingers also used the sword, ver. 16.

Haydock: Jdg 20:36

Flee; some towards the city, others to the wilderness, and to Remmon, ver. 45. (Haydock) ---

That. Hebrew, "because they confided in those whom they had place din ambush, near Gabaa." Hence they were not so eager to prevent their flight, by surrounding them.

Haydock: Jdg 20:37

Arose. Hebrew, "drew along (advanced or sounded the trumpet a long time,") perhaps for a signal, (Calmet) though the firing of the city seems to have been designed for this purpose, ver. 40. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 20:39

Saw. Hebrew, "retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and to kill....about thirty men; for they said, surely they are destroyed before us, (or flee) as in the first battle." It is wonderful that they should thus so easily fall into the very snare laid formerly for the men of Hai, Josue viii. 5.

Haydock: Jdg 20:42

Them. Hebrew, "and those who came out of the cities, (of Benjamin) they (destroyed, (Haydock) or the other Israelites) destroyed them who fled in the midst of them."

Haydock: Jdg 20:43

Rest. Hebrew, "with ease, or at leisure they crushed them," &c. Others translate, (Calmet) Monvee, from Nucha, Noua, (Septuagint Roman; Haydock) Menucha," &c. We read of a place in the tribe of Juda, called Menuchta, 1 Paralipomenon ii. 52. (Calmet) ---

The same word may be taken as a proper name, or may signify rest. (Menochius)

Haydock: Jdg 20:45

In that. Hebrew, "and they gleaned of them in the highways 5000 men, and pursued them close to Giddom," of which the Vulgate takes no notice. The Roman Septuagint reads "Gedan;" the rest have "Galaad."

Haydock: Jdg 20:46

War. The Scripture, and other authors of the greatest exactitude, sometimes use round numbers. (Calmet) ---

An odd hundred (ver. 35, and 15.; Haydock) is here neglected. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 20:47

Escape. Mercy was shewn to these, as the tribe had been already treated with sufficient severity. St. Jerome says, they were "reserved for the sake of the apostle Paul," (epit. Paul.; Menochius) who was descended from some of them. (Haydock) ---

Remmon, near Gabaa, Zacharias xiv. 10. Eusebius places it fourteen miles north of Jerusalem. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 20:48

And villages, is not expressed in Hebrew, &c. But as both cities, and all the inhabitants were destroyed, the villages would share the same fate, (Haydock) as being under a curse. The Israelites concluded, from the exemplary vengeance which had been taken of Sodom and Gomorra, that they were authorized to treat their brethren in guilt with the utmost severity. (Calmet)

Gill: Jdg 20:21

And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah,.... Which was their place of rendezvous, and which they came to defend; and in and about which they had stationed their whole army of 26,000 men:

and destroyed down to the ground: killed dead upon the spot:

of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men; wanting but 4000 of their whole number, excepting the men of Gibeah, which was such a rebuff the Israelites did not expect, being engaged in so just a cause, and having such a numerous army. Several Jewish, writers ^q think this was on account of their idolatry, that though they were very zealous to revenge corporeal adultery in the case of the Levite's concubine, and to remove such iniquity from Israel; yet were not zealous to revenge and put away spiritual adultery or idolatry in the case of the Danites, who had set up the image of Micah, and so had spread idolatry not only in their own tribe, but throughout Israel; and therefore God took this opportunity to avenge his own quarrel, and rebuke them for their sin; and now did Benjamin raven as a wolf, according to Jacob's prophecy, Gen 49:27.

Gill: Jdg 20:22

And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves,.... That though they had lost a great number of men, yet still their forces were large and greatly superior to those of Benjamin, and above all their cause was good:

and set their battle again in array formed a line of battle again facing their enemy, inviting to another battle, and bidding defiance:

and in the place where they put themselves in array the first day; by which it seems they kept the field of battle; though they lost so many men, they did not flee before the children of Benjamin, but stood their ground; nor were they so superstitious as to fancy the place unlucky; nor was it a bad situation they were in, to which their want of success was owing, for then they would have changed it.

Gill: Jdg 20:23

And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even,.... The evening of the day in which the battle was fought; not that the whole army went up to Shiloh to the house of God there, but a deputation of them, who lamented their defeat, and the loss of so many lives, but not their sins and transgressions, and particularly the idolatry they had been guilty of:

and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, shall we go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? they seemed to have some doubt, by the loss they sustained, whether they were right in going to war with Benjamin, especially as he was their brother; and therefore the question now is, not who should go up first, which was already determined, but whether they should go at all; and still they do not ask any help of God in battle, nor success, but were depending on their numbers, and the justness of their cause, and therefore neither is promised to them, only they have an answer to their question:

and the Lord said, go up against him; for Benjamin was certainly in the wrong, and therefore the Israelites are directed to go against him, and they also were not sufficiently chastised, nor thoroughly humbled.

Gill: Jdg 20:24

And the children of Israel came near,.... To the city of Gibeah, drew nigh to battle:

against the children of Benjamin the second day; for the two battles were fought two days successively.

Gill: Jdg 20:25

And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day,.... Flushed with the victory they had obtained the day before:

and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men, all these drew the sword, were armed men; this, with the 22,000 slain the day preceding, made 40,000; the same number singled out from among them by lot to provide food for them, and is thought by some to be the case Deborah refers to, Jdg 5:8 and is what is certainly intended in Hos 10:9.

Gill: Jdg 20:26

Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came unto the house of God,.... This looks as if the whole body of the army, with other people from parts adjacent, went up to the tabernacle of God in Shiloh:

and wept and sat there before the Lord; not only wept, but continued weeping, and that not merely for their defeat, but for their sins, since it follows:

and fasted that day until even; afflicted their bodies with fasting, which was a token of the humiliation of their souls for their sins:

and offered burnt offering's and peace offerings before the Lord, to make atonement for their sins, and to implore success on their arms.

Gill: Jdg 20:27

And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord,.... By the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, and which has the same expression in Jdg 20:18 for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days; in Shiloh, where the tabernacle was.

Gill: Jdg 20:28

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,.... Before the ark, ministering before the Lord, which shows that this affair was long before the times of Samson, though placed after them; or otherwise Phinehas must have been more than three hundred years of age, which is not probable ^r. Phinehas's standing before the ark was the posture of the priest when he inquired of the Lord for any by Urim and Thummim; the person that inquired stood before him that was inquired of, as Kimchi observes, and he that was inquired of stood before the Shechinah, or the presence of the divine Majesty, of which the ark was a symbol:

saying, shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? in which the question is put in somewhat different manner than before, not only desiring to know whether it was the will of God they should renew the battle or not, since Benjamin was their brother, but whether they should have success or not; intimating, that if the Lord would bless and help them, they were willing to go up, but if not they chose to desist; for they were fully convinced now they were wrong in depending on their numbers, or the justness of their cause; whereas success depended wholly on the will and pleasure of God, to which they desired to submit:

and the Lord said, go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand; now they are not only directed to go up to the battle, but are promised victory.

Gill: Jdg 20:29

And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. For though they were assured of success and victory, yet they thought proper to make use of means: and though their numbers were very great, they had recourse to art and stratagem, and set an ambush in divers places, much in like manner as Israel did for the men of Ai; the two cases being pretty much similar; this ambush was set in the night, as Josephus says ^s,

Gill: Jdg 20:30

And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day,.... Not the day following the second battle, since it would take more time to go to Shiloh, and fast and offer sacrifices there, but on the third day from the second battle:

and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times; as they had done on the first and second days of battle.

Gill: Jdg 20:31

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people,.... Sallied out of Gibeah upon them, where they had put themselves in array against them:

and were drawn away from the city; the Israelites retreating, and dissembling a flight, which drew the Benjaminites to pursue after them, by which means they were drawn off to a greater distance from the city of Gibeah:

and they began to smite the people, and kill as at other times; at the other two battles:

in the highways; where it seems two ways met:

of which one goeth up to the house of God; to Bethel, as the Targum ^t; or rather to Shiloh, where the house or tabernacle of God was, and was two miles from Gibeah, as Bunting ^u says:

and the other to Gibeah in the field; so called, to distinguish it from the other Gibeah situated on an hill:

about thirty men of Israel; which were killed in this running fight; and it seems as if one part of the army of Israel took one road, and the other the other road, and so divided the army of the Benjaminites that pursued after them.

Gill: Jdg 20:32

And the children of Benjamin said, they are smitten down before us, as at first,.... At the first battle, which gave them great spirit, and they concluded they should have victory, as before:

but the children of Israel said, let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways; pretending to be afraid of them, and not able to face them, and therefore made as if they fled through fear and cowardice, which inspired the Benjaminites with fresh ardour to pursue them closely, and so were drawn from the city to the highways, as expressed in the preceding verse.

Gill: Jdg 20:33

And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place,.... The main body of the army, which fled before Benjamin, when they were come to a proper place, stopped, and rose up out of it, and stood in their own defence:

and put themselves in array at Baaltamar; drew up in a line of battle at that place, facing their enemies, in order to engage with them: this place the Targum calls the plains of Jericho, that being the city of palm trees, which Tamar signifies; and so Jarchi interprets it; but these are too far off; it must be some place near Gibeah. Jerom ^w speaks of a little village in his time in those parts, called Bethamari, and may be thought to be this same place; perhaps in the times of the old Canaanites here was a grove of palm trees, in which Baal was worshipped, from whence it had its name:

and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah; or plain of Gibeah, as the Targum; for as the city was built on a hill, at the bottom of it were a plain and fine meadows of grass, and here an ambush was placed at some little distance from the city; and when the army of the Benjaminites were drawn off from it, in pursuit of Israel, these came forth and placed themselves between them and the city.

Gill: Jdg 20:34

And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel,.... Which, according to Ben Gersom, were the liers in wait; and came from the south, as the Targum says:

and the battle was sore; not between those liers in wait, and the Benjaminites, but between those at Baaltamar, and them who set themselves in battle array against them, and they fought stoutly on both sides:

but they knew not that evil was near them; that there was an ambush laid, by which they were in great danger; they knew nothing of the 10,000 men that were now come out against Gibeah, and were between them and that.

Gill: Jdg 20:35

And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel,.... Gave Israel the victory over them at Baaltamar; for notwithstanding all the art and stratagem they used, their numbers and their valour, victory was of the Lord, and to him it is ascribed; for until now Benjamin, though fewer in number, had been always victorious; and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjaminites that day 25,100; which is the total sum of all that were slain of them that day, the particulars of which are afterwards given:

all these drew the sword; were armed men.

Gill: Jdg 20:36

So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten,.... Their forces broken and worsted, many being killed:

for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjaminites; at first, and made as if they were afraid of them, and so fled before them, which was only to decoy them to a greater distance from the city Gibeah:

because they trusted unto the liers in wait, which they had set beside Gibeah; that these would not only enter the city, and burn it, but meet the Benjaminites fleeing back to it, when they should turn upon them and smite them, and so cut off all that remained of them.

Gill: Jdg 20:37

And the liers in wait hasted,.... When the time was come agreed upon for them to rise out of their ambush:

and rushed upon Gibeah; at unawares, with great force and violence entered the city, and took possession of it; or "extended" ^x, or spread themselves unto it; before they lay close in a narrow compass, but now they put themselves in a regular order, and marched rank and file, and reached from the meadows in which they were, Jdg 20:33, to the city:

and the liers in wait drew themselves along; along the city, in every part of it, spread themselves all over it, and made themselves masters of every corner of it; or "made a long sound" ^y with a trumpet, protracted that to a great length, which was done to terrify the inhabitants, or to let the Israelites know they were possessed of the city:

and smote all the city with the edge of the sword; old men, women, and children, who were not able to bear arms.

Gill: Jdg 20:38

Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait,.... Or an appointed time ^z as the Targum; so Kimchi and Abarbinel. There was a time fixed, at which the men of Israel proposed to be at Baaltamar, exactly when the Benjaminites would be drawn at a proper distance from the city, and then the liers in wait were to break forth, and rush upon it, and enter it:

and that they should make a great flame with smoke to rise up out of the city; set it on fire, and cause the fire to burn fiercely, that there might be a large ascent of flame and smoke to be seen afar off; which, when the men of Israel saw, they would know the city was taken.

Gill: Jdg 20:39

And when the men of Israel retired in the battle,.... Which is before expressed by their fleeing, and giving place to the Benjaminites, and was only an artifice of theirs, to draw them off from the city:

Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; which was done in the highways leading to Shiloh and Gibeah in the field, Jdg 20:31.

for they said, surely they are smitten down before us as in the first battle; when the greater number of the Israelites were slain by them.

Gill: Jdg 20:40

But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke,.... Fire being set to it by the liers in wait, who had entered it, and who made a large fire, which caused a vast pillar of flame and smoke to arise, which might be seen a great way off:

the Benjamites looked behind them; perhaps at hearing the blowing of the trumpet, and the long sound of that:

and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven; went upwards, and reached to a great height.

Gill: Jdg 20:41

And when the men of Israel turned again,.... Turned their faces to the Benjaminites, on whom they had turned their backs; and which they did on hearing the sound of the trumpet, or seeing the flame of the city, or both, and that in order to fight the Benjaminites, and smite them, as now was their opportunity:

the men of Benjamin were amazed; at this strange and sudden change of things, at the sight of the flame of their city behind them, and at the Israelites turning back to fight them, when they thought themselves sure of victory, as at other times:

for they saw that evil was come upon them; that they were in the utmost danger, between two fires, as we usually say, liers in wait behind them, which had seized their city and burnt it, and the army of Israel turning upon them with great spirit and resolution.

Gill: Jdg 20:42

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel,.... And fled from them:

unto the way of the wilderness; what wilderness is not certain, perhaps the wilderness of Judah; they did not turn directly back towards Gibeah, perceiving that was taken, and in the hands of a body of men that would meet them, and therefore they turned on one side towards the wilderness, if happily they could make their escape thither, and shelter themselves:

but the battle overtook them; that is, they that made war, as the Targum, the Israelites that were engaged in battle with them pursued them, and overtook them:

and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them; either the Israelites that came out of their cities to assist their brethren destroyed the Benjaminites as they fled, or the Benjaminites who came out of other cities to Gibeah, these were destroyed in the midst of it with the inhabitants, by the liers in wait, when they entered it.

Gill: Jdg 20:43

Thus they enclosed the Benjaminites round about,.... Surrounded them on all sides, the army of Israel being posted in different places, and people coming out of all the cities to their assistance. Josephus ^a says, they were forced into, and cooped up, in a hollow place in a valley, so that they could not escape:

and chased them; or "caused to pursue" ^b; calling after them a pursuit, crying to one another as they went along, saying, pursue them, pursue them; so Jarchi and Kimchi; which cry, as it inspired the pursuers with zeal, so they pursued with terror:

and trod them down with ease; they making no resistance, being quite dispirited; the Targrim is,"from the house of their rest,''where they took up their rest, and designed to rest that night, but could not, being so closely pursued, and diligently sought after. Some take "menuchah", rendered "ease", to be the name of a place, from or unto which they were pursued and trodden down, see 1Ch 2:52 and so the Septuagint seems to take it for the name of a place, rendering it, "from Noua":

over against Gibeah, towards the sunrising; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, to the east of Gibeah, there was this overthrow and slaughter made.

Gill: Jdg 20:44

And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men,.... Just the number they had slain of Israel in the second battle. This is the number of them that were slain when Israel turned upon them, and by that time they got to the east of Gibeah; afterwards 5000 more were slain on the highways, and 2000 near Gidom, as after related:

all these were men of valour; as appears by three times facing and engaging with the army of Israel, so vastly superior to them, and twice beating them.

Gill: Jdg 20:45

And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon,.... Which signifies pomegranate; perhaps it was in the form of one, and may be the same as in 1Sa 14:2 where Saul is said to be under a pomegranate tree, or under Rimmon, the rock Rimmon, for that is said to be near Gibeah, as this was. There was a village in the times of Jerom called Remmon, fifteen miles from Jerusalem to the north ^c, but could not be near this rock to have its name from thence; hither the rest of the army fled for shelter:

and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; who were scattered one from another, and as they were found in the highways, and picked up, they were slain one after another, just as ears of corn are gleaned one by one, after the harvest is got in, or as grapes in single berries, after the vintage is over:

and pursued hard after them unto Gidom; which perhaps had its name from the cutting off of the Benjaminites there:

and slew two thousand men of them; that is, 2000 more besides the 5000 before mentioned.

Gill: Jdg 20:46

So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and thousand men,.... It is before said 25,100 Jdg 20:35 here the one hundred are omitted, and the round number of thousands given, which is no unusual way of speaking and writing; the whole army of Benjamin consisted of 26,700 of which 18,000 were slain in the field of battle, 5000 in the highways, and 2000 at Gidom, in all 25,000; and we may suppose one hundred as they were straggling in the road, or found in by places, or are not mentioned with either of the thousands for the sake of a round number, and six hundred fled to the rock Rimmon; as for the other 1000, it is highly probable, they fell in the two first battles, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel rightly suppose; for it is not credible, that though they got such amazing victories, it was without the loss of men, and these are as few as well can be imagined. Jarchi thinks these thousand fled to the cities of Benjamin, and were slain when the Israelites entered them, as after related, Jdg 20:48 which is much more probable than a tradition they have, that they went into the land of Romania, and dwelt there. Now all those that were slain were men

that drew the sword; soldiers, not husbandmen, artificers, &c. but armed men:

all these were men of valour; even those that fled, who chose rather to lose their lives than ask for quarter.

Gill: Jdg 20:47

But six hundred men,.... Who were all that were left of 26,700

turned and fled to the wilderness; turned out of the highway or common road, and being swift of foot, got to a wilderness; what wilderness is not certain:

unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months; very probably in a cave of that rock, which might be large enough to hold such a number; Saul is said to have just the same number under it, and David had also a like number in a cave at Engedi, 1Sa 14:2, and from hence these men might send out of their number to fetch in provision for them from parts adjacent, after the heat of the action was over, and the rage and fury of the Israelites subsided.

Gill: Jdg 20:48

And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin,.... After they had destroyed their army, the city of Gibeah, and the inhabitants of it: not content with this, in their wrath and fury, turned and went:

and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city; even men, women, and children, in every city of Benjamin, at least all that lay in their way; and which they might do to be avenged on them, for sending out their militia against them, which had made such a slaughter among them to the loss of 40,000 men, or to fulfil their oath, that such who came not to Mizpeh should be put to death; for which reason also the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead, as well as of the cities of Benjamin, were put to death, men, women, and children, dealing in the same severity with them as with the Canaanitish nations, or as with a city given to idolatry:

as the beast, and all that came to hand; spared no living creature, herds and flocks:

also they set on fire all the cities that they came unto; which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, so exceedingly wroth were they with them, for protecting such that had been the authors of such abominable wickedness, and for the loss of the lives of so many valuable men.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

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.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:43

¹ tc The translation assumes the reading מִנּוֹחָה (minnokhah, “from Nohah”; cf. 1 Chr 8:2) rather than the MT’s מְנוּחָה (mÿnukhah, “resting place”).

² tn Heb “tread down, walk on.”

³ tn Heb “unto the opposite of Gibeah toward the east.” Gibeah cannot be correct here, since the Benjaminites retreated from there toward the desert and Rimmon (see v. 45). A slight emendation yields the reading “Geba.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:45

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the rest [of the Benjaminites]) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “and they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “gleaned.” The word is an agricultural term which pictures Israelites picking off the Benjaminites as easily as one picks grapes from the vine.

⁴ tn Heb “stuck close after them.”

NET Notes: Jdg 20:46

¹ sn The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 429) and C. F. Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days’ fighting emphasizes Israel’s humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator’s emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days’ casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.

² tn 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.

NET Notes: Jdg 20:48

¹ tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.”

² tc The translation is based on the reading מֵעִיר מְתִים (me’ir mÿtim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (me’ir mÿtom, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L).

³ tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:21

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:27

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:28

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's office in those days: for the Jews write that he lived three hundred years.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:31

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 )} By the policy of the children of Israel.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:32

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 ^{( p )} highways.

^{( p )} Meaning, crossways or paths to various places.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:34

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:36

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:39

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:41

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:42

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 ^{( u )} in the midst of them.

^{( u )} For they were surrounded from every side.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:45

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:46

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.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 20:48

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: also they set on fire all the ^{( z )} cities that they came to.

^{( z )} If they belonged to the Benjamites.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Jdg 20:1-48

1 The Levite in a general assembly declares his wrong.

8 The decree of the assembly.

12 The Benjamites, being cited, make head against the Israelites.

18 The Israelites in two battles lose forty thousand.

26 They destroy by a stratagem all the Benjamites, except six hundred.

MHCC: Jdg 20:1-48

The Israelites' abhorrence of the crime committed at Gibeah, and their resolution to punish the criminals, were right; but they formed their resolves with too much haste and self-confidence. The eternal ruin of souls will be worse, and more fearful, than these desolations of a tribe.

Matthew Henry: Jdg 20:18-25

We have here the defeat of the men of Israel in their first and second battle with the Benjamites.

I. Before their first engagement they asked counsel of God concerning the order of their battle and were directed, and yet they were sorely beaten. They did not think it was proper to ask of God whether they should go up at all against Benjamin (the case was plain enough, the men of Gibeah must be punished for their wickedness, and Israel must inflict the punishment or it will not be done), but "Who shall go first?"(Jdg 20:18), that is, "Who shall be general of our army?"for, which soever tribe was appointed to go first, the prince of that tribe must be looked upon as commander-in-chief of the whole body. For, if they had meant it of the order of their march only, it would have been proper to ask, "Who shall go next?"and then, "Who next?"But, if they know that Judah must go first, they know they must all observe the orders of the prince of that tribe. This honour was done to Judah because our Lord Jesus was to spring from that tribe, who was in all things to have the pre-eminence. The tribe that went up first had the most honourable post, but withal the most dangerous, and probably lost most in the engagement. Who would strive for precedency that sees the peril of it? Yet though Judah, that strong and valiant tribe, goes up first, and all the tribes of Israel attend them, little Benjamin (so he is called, Psa 68:27), is too hard for them all. The whole army lays siege to Gibeah, Jdg 20:19. The Benjamites advance to raise the siege, and the army prepares to give them a warm reception (Jdg 20:20). But between the Benjamites that attacked them in the front with incredible fury, and the men of Gibeah that sallied out upon their rear, they were put into confusion and lost 22,000 men, Jdg 20:21. Here were no prisoners taken, for there was no quarter given, but all put to the sword.

II. Before their second engagement they again asked counsel of God, and more solemnly than before; for they wept before the Lord until evening (Jdg 20:23), lamenting the loss of so many brave men, especially as it was a token of God's displeasure and would give occasion to the Benjamites to triumph in the success of their wickedness. Also at this time they did not ask who should go up first, but whether they should go up at all. The intimate a reason why they should scruple to do it, especially now that Providence had frowned upon them, because Benjamin was their brother, and a readiness to lay down their arms if God should so order them. God bade them go up; he allowed the attempt, for, though Benjamin was their brother, he was a gangrened member of their body and must be cut off. Upon this they encouraged themselves, perhaps more in their own strength than in the divine commission, and made a second attempt upon the forces of the rebels, in the same place where the former battle was fought (Jdg 20:22), with the hope of retrieving their credit upon the same spot of ground where they had lost it, which they would not superstitiously change, as if there were any thing unlucky in the place. But they were this second time repulsed, with the loss of 18,000 men, Jdg 20:25. The former day's loss and this amounted to 40,000, which was just a tenth part of the whole army, and the same number that they had drawn out by lot to fetch victuals, Jdg 20:10. They decimated themselves for that service, and now God again decimated them for the slaughter. But what shall we say to these things, that so just and honourable a cause should thus be put to the worst once and again? Were they not fighting God's battle against sin? Had they not his commission? What, and yet miscarry thus! 1. God's judgments are a great deep, and his way is in the sea. Clouds and darkness are often round about him, but judgment and justice are always the habitation of his throne. We may be sure of the righteousness, when we cannot see the reasons, of God's proceedings. 2. God would hereby show them, and us in them, that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, that we are not to confide in numbers, which perhaps the Israelites did with too much assurance. We must never lay the weight on an arm of flesh, which only the Rock of ages will bear. 3. God designed hereby to correct Israel for their sins. They did well to show such a zeal against the wickedness of Gibeah: but were there not with them, even with them, sins against the Lord their God? Those must be made to know their own iniquity that are forward in condemning the iniquity of others. Some think it was a rebuke to them for not witnessing against the idolatry of Micah and the Danites, by which their religion was corrupted, as they now did against the lewdness of Gibeah and the Benjamites, by which the public peace was disturbed, though God had particularly ordered them to levy war upon idolaters, Deu 13:12, etc. 4. God would hereby teach us not to think it strange if a good cause should suffer defeat fore a while, nor to judge of the merits of it by the success of it. The interest of grace in the heart, and of religion in the world, may be foiled, and suffer great loss, and seem to be quite run down, but judgment will be brought forth to victory at last. Vincimur in praelio, sed non in bello - We are foiled in a battle, but not in the whole campaign. Right may fall, but it shall arise.

Matthew Henry: Jdg 20:26-48

We have here a full account of the complete victory which the Israelites obtained over the Benjamites in the third engagement: the righteous cause was victorious at last, when the managers of it amended what had been amiss; for, when a good cause suffers, it is for want of good management. Observe then how the victory was obtained, and how it was pursued.

I. How the victory was obtained. Two things they had trusted too much to in the former engagements - the goodness of their cause and the superiority of their numbers. It was true that they had both right and strength on their side, which were great advantages; but they depended too much upon them, to the neglect of those duties to which now, this third time, when they see their error, they apply themselves.

1. They were previously so confident of the goodness of their cause that they thought it needless to address themselves to God for his presence and blessing. They took it for granted that God would bless them, nay, perhaps they concluded that he owed them his favour, and could not in justice withhold it, since it was in defence of virtue that they appeared and took up arms. But God having shown them that he was under no obligation to prosper their enterprise, that he neither needed them nor was tied to them, that they were more indebted to him for the honour of being ministers of his justice than he to them for the service, now they became humble petitioners for success. Before they only consulted God's oracle, Who shall go up first? And, Shall we go up? But now they implored his favour, fasted and prayed, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings (Jdg 20:26), to make an atonement for sin and an acknowledgment of their dependence upon God, and as an expression of their desire towards him. We cannot expect the presence of God with us, unless we thus seek it in the way he has appointed. And when they were in this frame, and thus sought the Lord, then he not only ordered them to go up against the Benjamites the third time, but gave them a promise of victory: Tomorrow I will deliver them into thy hand, Jdg 20:28.

2. They were previously so confident of the greatness of their strength that they thought it needless to use any art, to lay any ambush, or form a stratagem, not doubting but to conquer purely by a strong hand; but now they saw it was requisite to use some policy, as if they had an enemy to deal with them that had been superior in number; accordingly, they set liers in wait (Jdg 20:29), and gained their point, as their fathers did before Ai (Jos. 8), stratagems of that kind being most likely to take effect after a previous defeat, which has flushed the enemy, and made the pretended flight the less suspected. The management of this artifice is here very largely described. The assurance God had given them of success in this day's action, instead of making them remiss and presumptuous, set all heads and hands on work for the effecting of what God had promised.

(1.) Observe the method they took. The body of the army faced the city of Gibeah, as they had done before, advancing towards the gates, Jdg 20:30. The Benjamites, the body of whose army was now quartered at Gibeah, sallied out upon them, and charged them with great bravery. The besiegers gave back. retired with precipitation, as if their hearts failed them upon the sight of the Benjamites, which they were willing to believe, proudly imagining that by their former success they had made themselves very formidable. Some loss the Israelites sustained in this counterfeit flight, about thirty men being cut off in their rear, Jdg 20:31, Jdg 20:39. But, when the Benjamites were all drawn out of the city, the ambush seized the city (Jdg 20:37), gave a signal to the body of the army (Jdg 20:38, Jdg 20:40), which immediately turned upon them (Jdg 20:41), and, it should seem, another considerable party that was posted at Baal-tamar came upon them at the same time (Jdg 20:33); so that the Benjamites were quite surrounded, which put them into the greatest consternation that could be. A sense of guilt now disheartened them, and the higher their hopes had been raised the more grievous was this confusion. At first the battle was sore (Jdg 20:34), the Benjamites fought with fury; but, when they saw what a snare they were drawn into, they thought one pair of heels (as we say) was worth two pair of hands, and they made the best of their way towards the wilderness (Jdg 20:42); but in vain: the battle overtook them, and, to complete their distress, those who came out of the cities of Israel, that waited to see the event of the battle, joined with their pursuers, and helped to cut them off. Every man's hand was against them.

(2.) Observe in this story, [1.] That the Benjamites, in the beginning of the battle, were confident that the day was their own: They are smitten down before us, Jdg 20:32, Jdg 20:39. Sometimes God suffers wicked men to be lifted up in successes and hopes, that their fall may be the sorer. See how short their joy is, and their triumphing but for a moment. Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast, except he has reason to boast in God. [2.] Evil was near them and they did not know it, Jdg 20:34. But (Jdg 20:41) they saw, when it was too late to prevent it, that evil had come upon them. What evils may at any time be near us we cannot tell, but the less they are feared the heavier they fall. Sinners will not be persuaded to see evil near them, but how dreadful will it be when it comes and there is no escaping! 1Th 5:3. [3.] Though the men of Israel played their parts so well in this engagement, yet the victory is ascribed to God (Jdg 20:35): The Lord smote Benjamin before Israel. The battle was his, and so was the success. [4.] They trode down the men of Benjamin with ease when God fought against them, Jdg 20:43. It is an easy thing to trample upon those who have made God their enemy. See Mal 4:3.

II. How the victory was prosecuted and improved in a military execution done upon these sinners against their own souls. 1. Gibeah itself, that nest of lewdness, was destroyed in the first place. The ambush that entered the city by surprise drew themselves along, that is, dispersed themselves into the several parts of it, which they might easily do, now that all the men of war had sallied out and very presumptuously left it defenceless; and they smote all they found, even women and children, with the sword (Jdg 20:37), and set fire to the city, Jdg 20:40. Sin brings ruin upon cities. 2. The army in the field was quite routed and cut off: 18,000 men of valour lay dead upon the spot, Jdg 20:44. 3. Those that escaped from the field were pursued, and cut off in their flight, to the number of 7000, Jdg 20:45. It is to no purpose to think of out-running divine vengeance. Evil pursues sinners, and it will overtake them. 4. Even those that tarried at home were involved in the ruin. They let their sword devour for ever, not considering that it would be bitterness in the latter end, as Abner pleads long after, when he was at the head of an army of Benjamites, probably with an eye to this very story, 2Sa 2:25, 2Sa 2:26. They put to the sword all that breathed, and set fire to all the cities, Jdg 20:48. So that of all the tribe of Benjamin, for aught that appears, there remained none alive but 600 men that took shelter in the rock Rimmon, and lay close there four months, Jdg 20:47. Now, (1.) It is difficult to justify this severity as it was Israel's act. The whole tribe of Benjamin was culpable; but must they therefore be treated as devoted Canaanites? That it was done in the heat of war, that this was the way of prosecuting victories which the sword of Israel had been accustomed to, that the Israelites were extremely exasperated against the Benjamites for the slaughter they had made among them in the two former engagements, will go but a little way to excuse the cruelty of this execution. It is true they had sworn that whosoever did not come up to Mizpeh should be put to death, Jdg 21:5. But that, if it was a justifiable oath, yet extended only to the men of war; the rest were not expected to come. Yet, (2.) It is easy to justify the hand of God in it. Benjamin had sinner against him, and God had threatened that, if they forgot him, they should perish as the nations that were before them perished (Deu 8:20), who were all in this manner cut off. (3.) It is easy likewise to improve it for warning against the beginnings of sin: they are like the letting forth of water, therefore leave it off before it be meddled with, for we know not what will be in the end thereof. The eternal ruin of souls will be worse, and more fearful, than all these desolations of a tribe. This affair of Gibeah is twice spoken of by the prophet Hosea as the beginning of the corruption of Israel and a pattern to all that followed (Hos 9:9): They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; and (Hos 10:9), Thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah; and it is added that the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not (that is, did not at first ) overtake them.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 20:20-21

As soon as the Israelites had posted themselves at Gibeah in battle array ( מלחמה ערך , to put in a row, or arrange the war or conflict, i.e., to put themselves in battle array, 1Sa 4:2; 1Sa 17:2, etc.), the Benjaminites came out and destroyed 22,000 men of Israel upon that day. ארצה השׁחית , to destroy to the earth, i.e., to lay dead upon the ground.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 20:22

Notwithstanding this terrible overthrow, the people strengthened themselves, and prepared again for battle, "at the same place"where they had made ready on the first day, "seeking out of pure vainglory to wipe out the stains and the disgrace which their previous defeat had brought upon them"(Berleb. Bible).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 20:23

But before renewing the conflict they went up to Bethel, wept there before Jehovah, i.e., before the sanctuary of the ark, where Jehovah was present in the midst of His people, enthroned between the cherubim, until the evening, and then inquired of the Lord (again through the high priest) " Shall I again draw near to war with the children of Benjamin my brother "(i.e., renew the war with him)? The answer ran thus: " Advance against him. "

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 20:24-25

But on the second day also the Benjaminites brought 18,000 of them to the ground. "The second day"is not the day following the first engagement, as if the battles had been fought upon two successive days, but the second day of actual fighting, which took place some days after the first, for the inquiry was made at Bethel as to the will of God between the two engagements.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 20:26

After this second terrible overthrow, " the children of Israel "(k.e. those who were engaged in the war), and " all the people, "i.e., the rest of the people, those members of the congregation who were not capable of bearing arms, old men and women, came to Bethel, to complain to the Lord of their misfortune, and secure His favour by fasting and sacrifices. The congregation now discovered, from this repeated defeat, that the Lord had withdrawn His grace, and was punishing them. Their sin, however, did not consist in the fact that they had begun the war itself-for the law in Deu 22:22, to which they themselves had referred in Jdg 20:13, really required this - but rather in the state of mind with which they had entered upon the war, their strong self-consciousness, and great confidence in their own might and power. They had indeed inquired of God ( Elohim ) who should open the conflict; but they had neglect to humble themselves before Jehovah the covenant God, in the consciousness not only of their own weakness and sinfulness, but also of grief at the moral corruption of their brother-tribe. It is certainly not without significance, that in Jdg 20:18 it is stated that " they asked God "( בּאלהים ישׁאלוּ ), i.e., they simply desired a supreme or divine decision as to the question who should lead the van in the war; whereas, after the first defeat, they wept before Jehovah , and inquired of Jehovah (Jdg 20:23), the covenant God, for whose law and right they were about to contend. But even then there were still wanting the humility and penitence, without which the congregation of the Lord could not successfully carry on the conflict against the ungodly. The remark in Jdg 20:22, " The people felt (showed) themselves strong, and added (continued) to set in array the war, "is thoroughly expressive of the feeling of the congregation. They resolved upon the continuance of the war, in the full consciousness of their superior power and numerical strength; and it was not till afterwards that they complained to the Lord of their misfortune, and inquired whether they should renew the conflict. The question was followed by a corresponding answer on the part of God, " Go up against him, "which certainly sanctioned the continuance of the war, but gave no promise as to the result, because the people, thinking that they might be certain of success, had not inquired about that at all. It was not till after the second severe defeat, when 22,000 and 18,000, the tenth part of the whole army, had fallen, that they humbled themselves before the Lord. They not only wept because of the calamity which had befallen them, but fasted the same day before the Lord, - the fasting being the manifest expression of the bending of the heart before God, - and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. The shelamim here are not thank-offerings, but supplicatory offerings, presented to implore the gracious assistance of God, and to commemorate the enjoyment of fellowship with the Lord, through the sacrificial meal associated with this sacrifice (as in Jdg 21:4; 1Sa 13:9; 2Sa 24:25).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 20:27-28

Having made these preparations, they inquired of the Lord whether they should continue the war, and received this reply: " Go up (against Benjamin); for to-morrow I will give it unto thy hand "( ידך , the hand of the congregation carrying on the war). To this the supplementary remark is appended, that the ark of the covenant was at Bethel in those days, and the high priest served before it. The expression "in those days"implies that the ark of the covenant was only temporarily at Bethel, and therefore had been brought thither from the tabernacle at Shiloh during this war.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 20:29-48

The Victory on the Third Day's Engagement . - Jdg 20:29. The account of this commences with the most important point, so far as their success was concerned: Israel set liers in wait (troops in ambush) round about Gibeah.

Jdg 20:30

They then advanced as on the former occasions.

Jdg 20:31-32

The Benjaminites came out again to meet the people (of Israel), and were drawn away from the town (the perfect הנתּקוּ without ו is subordinate to the preceding verb, and defines more precisely the advance itself, whilst the mode in which they were drawn away from the town is not described more fully till Jdg 20:32, Jdg 20:33), and began to smite the beaten of the people (who pretended to fly) as formerly upon the roads (where two roads part), of which one led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, into the field (Gibeah is the town at which the battle took place, that is to say, somewhere in the neighbourhood, so that a road might easily run from the field of battle towards the town into the field), " about (sc., putting to death) thirty men of Israel ."This statement introduces the more precise definition of the חללים .

Jdg 20:32

Then the Benjaminites supposed that Israel was beaten by them as before; but the Israelites said: We will flee, and draw it (the tribe of Benjamin) away from the town to the roads (the high-roads mentioned in Jdg 20:31). On the Dagesh dirimens in נתקּוּהוּ , see Ewald , §92, c .

Jdg 20:33

Carrying out this plan, "all the men of Israel rose up from their places,"i.e., left the place they had occupied, drew back, "and set themselves in battle array"in Baal-thamar , i.e., palm-place, which still existed, according to the Onom ., in the time of Eusebius , as a small place in the neighbourhood of Gibeah, bearing the name of Bethamar . While this was going on, the ambush of Israel broke forth from its position "from the plains of Geba."The ἁπ. λεγ. מערה , from ערה to strip, denotes a naked region destitute of wood. גּבע is the masculine form for גּבעה , and ממּערה־גבע a more precise definition of ממּקומו . This rendering, which is the one given in the Targum, certainly appears the simplest explanation of a word that has been rendered in very different ways, and which the lxx left untranslated as a proper name, Μαρααγαβέ . The objection raised to this, viz., that a naked level country was not a place for an ambush, has no force, as there is no necessity to understand the words as signifying that the treeless country formed the actual hiding-place of the ambush; but the simple meaning is, that when the men broke from their hiding-place, they came from the treeless land towards the town. The rendering given by Rashi, Trem., and others, "on account of the tripping of Gibeah,"is much less suitable, since, apart from the difficulty of taking מן in different senses so close together, we should at least expect to find העיר (the city) instead of גּבע .

Jdg 20:34

Through the advance of the ambush there came 10,000 picked men of all Israel "from opposite to Gibeah"(who now attacked in the rear the Benjaminites who were pursuing the flying army of Israel); " and the contest became severe, since they (the Benjaminites) did not know that the calamity was coming upon them. "

Jdg 20:35

And Jehovah smote Benjamin before Israel (according to His promise in Jdg 20:28), so that the Israelites destroyed of Benjamin on that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men (i.e., twenty-five thousand and upwards).

This was the result of the battle, which the historian gives at once, before entering more minutely into the actual account of the battle itself. He does this in Jdg 20:36-46 in a series of explanations, of which one is attached to the other, for the most part in the form of circumstantial clauses, so that it is not till Jdg 20:46 that he again comes to the result already announced in Jdg 20:35.

(Note: The opinions expressed by De Wette , etc. that Jdg 20:35 is spurious, and by Bertheau , that Jdg 20:36-46 contain a different account of the battle, simply prove that they have overlooked this peculiarity in the Hebrew mode of writing history, viz., that the generally result of any occurrence is given as early as possible, and then the details follow afterwards; whilst these critics have not succeeded in adducing even apparent differences in support of their opinions.)

Jdg 20:36-38

The Benjaminites, for instance, saw (this is the proper rendering of ויּראוּ with vav consec ., which merely indicates the order of thought, not that of time) that they were beaten, and the man of Israel vacated the field before Benjamin ( מקום נתן , to give place by falling back and flying), because they relied upon the ambush which they had placed against Gibeah. The Benjaminites did not perceive this till the ambush fell upon their rear. But the ambush itself, as is added in Jdg 20:37 by way of further explanation, hastened and fell (fell as quickly as possible) into Gibeah, and went thither and smote the whole town with the edge of the sword. To this there is added the further explanation in Jdg 20:38 : " And the arrangement of the Israelites with the ambush was this: multiply, to cause smoke-rising to ascend (i.e., cause a great cloud of smoke to ascend) out of the city."The only objection that can be raised to this view of הרב , as the imperative Hiphil of רבה , is the suffix ם -attached to להעלותם , since this is unsuitable to a direct address. This suffix can only be explained by supposing that there is an admixture of two constructions, the direct appeal, and the indirect explanation, that they were to cause to ascend. If this be not admitted, however, we can only follow Studer , and erase the suffix as an error of the pen occasioned by the following word משׂאת ; for the other course suggested by Bertheau , namely that הרב should be struck out as a gloss, is precluded by the circumstance that there is no possible way of explaining the interpolation of so apparently unsuitable a word into the text. It certainly stood in the text used by the lxx, though they have most foolishly confounded הרב with חרב , and rendered it μάχαιρα .

Jdg 20:39-41

" And the men of Israel turned in the battle: "that is to say, as is afterwards more fully explained in Jdg 20:39, Jdg 20:40, in the form of a long new circumstantial clause, whilst Benjamin had begun to smite, etc. (repeated from Jdg 20:31, Jdg 20:32), and the cloud ( המּשׂאת = העשׁן משׂאת , Jdg 20:38) had begun to ascend out of the city as a pillar of smoke, and Benjamin turned back, and behold the whole city ascended towards heaven (in smoke), Israel turned (fighting) and Benjamin was terrified, for it saw that misfortune had come upon it (see Jdg 20:34). In Jdg 20:41, the thread of the narrative, which was interrupted by the long circumstantial clause, is again resumed by the repetition of " and the men of Israel turned. "

Jdg 20:42-43

The Benjaminites " now turned (flying) before the Israelites to the way of the desert, "i.e., no doubt the desert which rises from Jericho to the mountains of Bethel (Jos 16:1). They fled therefore towards the north-east; but the battle had overtaken (reached or seized) them, and those out of the towns (had perished). The difficult expression מהערים ואשׁר , of which very different, and for the most part arbitrary, explanations have been given, can only be in apposition to the suffix attached to the verb: "Benjamin, and in fact those who had come to the help of Gibeah out of the towns of Benjamin"(see Jdg 20:14, Jdg 20:15), i.e., all the Benjaminites. The following words, וגו משׁחיתים , are a circumstantial clause explanatory of the previous clause, הדב המּלחמה : " since they (the men of Israel) destroyed him (Benjamin) in the midst of it. "The singular suffix בּתוכו does not refer to Benjamin, as this would yield no sense at all, but to the preceding words, "the way of the desert"(see Jdg 20:45). - In Jdg 20:43 the account is continued by three perfects attached to one another without a copula: " they enclosed (hedged round) Benjamin, pursued him; at the place of rest they trod him down to before Gibeah eastwards. " מנוּחה is not used adverbially in the sense of "quietly,"which would not give any fitting meaning, but is an accus . loci , and signifies place of rest, as in Num 10:33. The notice "to before Gibeah"refers to all three verbs.

Jdg 20:44

In this battle there fell of Benjamin 18,000 men, all brave men. The את before כּל־אלּה is not a preposition, " with "(as the lxx, Cod. Al ., and Bertheau render it), but a sign of the accusative. It serves to show that the thought which follows is governed by the principal clause, "so far as all these were concerned, they were brave men."

Jdg 20:45

The remainder fled to the desert, to the rock (of the place) Rimmon , which is described in the Onom . ( s. v. Remmon ) as a vicus fifteen Roman miles to the north of Jerusalem. It has been preserved in the village of Rummôn , which stands upon and around the summit of a conical limestone mountain, and is visible in all directions ( Rob . Pal. ii. p. 113). " And they (the Israelites) smote as a gleaning upon the roads 5000 men ." עולל , to have a gleaning of the battle, i.e., to smite or slay, as it were, as a gleaning of the principal battle (vid., Jer 6:9). Mesilloth are the high-roads mentioned in Jdg 20:31. "And pursued them to Gideom, and smote of them 2000 more." The situation of Gideom, which is only met with here, is not precisely known; but it must have been somewhere between Gibeah and Rimmon, as the rock Rimmon, according to Jdg 20:47, afforded a safe place of refuge to the fugitives.

Jdg 20:46-47

On the total number of the slain, see the remarks on Jdg 20:15. - In Jdg 20:47 the statement already made in Jdg 20:45 with regard to the flight is resumed; and it is still further related, that 500 men reached the rock Rimmon, and dwelt there four months, i.e., till the occurrence described in Jdg 21:13.

Jdg 20:48

The Israelites turned (from any further pursuit of the fugitive warriors of Benjamin) to the children of Benjamin, i.e., to such of the people of the tribe of Benjamin as were unarmed and defenceless, and smote them with the edge of the sword, " from the town (or towns) onwards, men to cattle (i.e., men, women, children, and cattle), to every one who was found; "i.e., they cut down men and cattle without quarter, from the towns onwards even to those who were found elsewhere. כּל־הנּמצא עד (to all that was found) corresponds to מעיר (from the city), and עד־בּהמה מתם (men to beast) serves as a more precise definition of the עיר (city): everything that was in the city, man and beast. מתם is pointed wrongfully for מתם , men , the reading in several MSS and most of the early editions (see Deu 2:34; Deu 3:6). They also set fire to all the towns that were met with, i.e., all without exception. Thus they did the same to the Benjaminites as to the Canaanites who were put under the ban, carrying out the ban with the strictest severity.

Constable: Jdg 17:1--21:25

III. THE RESULTS OF ISRAEL'S APOSTASY chs. 17--21

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 place during the period of the judges that throw light on conditions in Israel during this era. The purpose behind their inclusion seems to have been to illustrate even more clearly ". . . the low moral standards, . . . the debased religious conceptions and . . . the disordered social structure" in Israel.³⁰⁵

"As was the case in the earlier chapters of the Book of Judges [1:1-3:6], these chapters deal with the subject of spiritual apostasy and its effects upon the nation of Israel."³⁰⁶

Whereas chapters 3-16 record Israel's struggles with her external enemies, chapters 17-21 document the internal conditions of the nation that made her so weak. In chapters 17-18 we see Israel abandoning God, and in chapters 19-21 we see her destroying herself.

The town of Bethlehem features in each of three stories. These stories are Micah and the Danites (chs. 17-18), the Levite and the Benjamites (chs. 19-21), and the story of Ruth in the Book of Ruth. Therefore some scholars refer to this section of Scripture as the "Bethlehem trilogy." These stories also share other themes and motifs.

"They concern individuals in more or less private settings whose identities and activities are nevertheless inseparable from and crucial to a full understanding of the Davidic monarchy which followed them. Accounts of actual events that transpired in the days of the judges, they are included in the sacred record for the purpose of tracing the roots of the Davidic dynasty and justifying its existence in opposition to Saul."³⁰⁷

The first incident (chs. 17-18) describes the fate of the Danites, and the second (chs. 19-21) the fate of the Benjamites. Both tribes received land in Israel's heartland, between Judah and Ephraim, the tribes that would, after the monarchy divided, lead the Southern and Northern Kingdoms respectively. By selecting incidents from these tribes, the narrator showed that the degenerating tendency in Israel was not just a problem in the fringe territories. Canaanite influence had infected the heart of the nation.

Both Dan and Benjamin found themselves in dire straits but for different reasons. The Danites could not settle into their allotted inheritance because of Canaanite influence, and the Benjamites could not remain in theirs because of their hostile Israelite brethren. In both instances a nameless Levite with Bethlehem-Judah (17:7-8; 19:1-2) and Mt. Ephraim (17:1; 19:1) connections precipitated the crisis. Both accounts include priestly characters inquiring of God concerning the outcome of a proposed course of action (18:5-6; 20:27-28), and both conclude with a reference to Shiloh (18:31; 21:19-24). In both accounts military contingents of 800 men play a crucial role (18:11, 16, 25; 20:47; 21:7, 12, 14, 16-17, 23), and both contain references to the absence of a king in Israel (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). These parallel phenomena have the effect of making the reader conclude that the Canaanization of Israel had become complete.³⁰⁸

Constable: Jdg 19:1--21:25

B. The Immorality of Gibeah and the Benjamites chs. 19-21

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 demonstration of the Canaanization of Israel during the pre-monarchic period of her history.

Chapters 19-21 teach us how to survive in a society without spiritual and moral standards. Chapter 19 is a story of love and hate. It is so contemporary that with a few minor changes we might read it on the front page of our newspaper any day.

The first verse introduces a new story. The events of chapters 19-21 are not a continuation of those in chapters 17-18. "Those days" were the days of the amphictyony. The reference to Phinehas (20:28) suggests that they took place in the years fairly soon after Joshua's death. The writer of Chronicles did not record that any other descendant of Aaron bore the name Phinehas except the godly son of Eleazar (1 Chron. 6:1-15) and the ungodly son of Eli (1 Sam. 4:4). This series of events (chs. 19-21) evidently transpired during the lifetime of Aaron's grandson, and the previous events (chs. 17-18) did during the lifetime of Moses' grandson. The reference to Israel's lack of a king (v. 1) points to the Israelites' practical denial of Yahweh's lordship over them as well as the absence of an Israelite monarch. This refrain occurs four times in chapters 17-21 (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). It brackets the story in chapters 19-21 and provides the key to its interpretation. This incident shows what happens when God's people fail to acknowledge Yahweh's sovereign authority over their lives. In chapters 17-18 the result was religious apostasy (idolatry), and in chapters 19-21 it was moral degeneracy (immorality), political disintegration (anarchy), and social chaos (injustice).

Constable: Jdg 20:1-48

2. The civil war in Israel ch. 20

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 in chapter 20 (cf. Josh. 7).

Constable: Jdg 20:20-28

The Israelites' initial defeats 20:20-28

The Lord granted the Benjamites success to discipline the other Israelites for their independence, not because He approved of the Benjamites' actions. The Benjamites became God's temporary instrument to discipline the other tribes, as God also used Israel's foreign foes (the Canaanites, Midianites, Philistines, et al.).

"The congregation now discovered, from this repeated defeat, that the Lord had withdrawn His grace, and was punishing them. Their sin, however, did not consist in the fact that they had begun the war itself--for the law in Deut. xxii 22, to which they themselves had referred in ver. 13, really required this,--but rather in the state of mind with which they had entered upon the war, their strong self-consciousness, and great confidence in their own might and power. They had indeed inquired of God (Elohim) who should open the conflict; but they had neglected to humble themselves before Jehovah the covenant God, in the consciousness not only of their own weakness and sinfulness, but also of grief at the moral corruption of their brother tribe."³⁶³

With each successive defeat the Israelites became more concerned about getting God's guidance. They had previously just asked Him to bless their plans with success.

". . . by reducing the size of the army, God was showing them that numbers alone did not guarantee victory. They needed to trust God to accomplish the impossible, as he did for Gideon's three hundred (cf. 7:7)."³⁶⁴

"Just as the worship of Baal had brought about a near catastrophe in the plains of Moab (Num 25:1-9), so the Baal cult was probably responsible for subverting the Benjamites. This must have been comparatively soon after the earlier incident, for the same priest Phinehas intervened on both occasions (Num 25:7-8; Judg 20:28)."³⁶⁵

Constable: Jdg 20:29-48

The Israelites' final victory 20:29-48

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).

The location of Baal-tamar is unknown (v. 33), but Marreh-geba was evidently Geba, which stood a few miles northeast of Gibeah. Rimmon ("Pomegranate," v. 45) was farther to the north and east of Bethel. The site of Gidom is still unknown.

The writer carefully recorded that it was the Lord who struck Benjamin (v. 35).

"The word for whole' (kalil, v. 40) is often used of whole burnt offerings' (Deut 33:10) and is in fact used of burning a town whose people have become involved in idolatry (Deut 13:16). The entire town [of Gibeah] literally became a burnt offering!"³⁶⁶

The Israelites did to the Benjamites as they had done to the Canaanites who were under the ban (v. 48). This was excessively severe treatment contrary to God's will (Lev. 19:18).

This chapter illustrates the far-reaching consequences of a single sexual sin (19:1). It also reveals the inverted values of people who did not acknowledge God as their king. Unwarranted protection of a neighbor replaced love for God in the warring factions of the nation. Excessive loyalty to brothers replaced loyalty to God. Vengeance and overkill replaced adherence to God's gracious will. Furthermore we see here that God's guidance may involve discipline for the independent as well as punishment for the rebellious. However, we should not conclude that one person's problems always have their roots in his or her personal sins (cf. Job; John 9:2-3).

Guzik: Jdg 20:1-48

Judges 20 - Israel's War With Benjamin and Gibeah

A. The nation gathers to judge Gibeah.

1. (1-2) The nation gathers at the Levite's request.

So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword.

a. So all the children of Israel came out: It was a positive sign to see Israel gather for such a reason. This showed that they were willing to deal with the problem of sin in their midst.

i. It seems that the crime of Gibeah shocked the conscience of Israel. Today it seems that the crime at Gibeah would be material for tabloid news, Court TV, daytime talk shows, and talk radio - more than a national call to righteousness and repentance.

b. The leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves: Deuteronomy 13:12-18 instructed Israel how to deal with such abominations among them. It said they must first test the truth of the accusations. If the charges were true, they must then utterly destroy those who committed such an abomination.

2. (3-7) The Levite describes the abuse and murder of his concubine.

(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the children of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?" So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!"

a. They intended to kill me, but instead ravished my concubine: The Levite spins the story to his own advantage. What he says is true, but he doesn't mention the cruel and callous way he abandoned his concubine to the mob.

3. (8-11) Preparations for war made.

So all the people arose as one man, saying, "None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel." So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.

a. They may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel: This was extreme, but a valid and proper fulfillment of God's command to Israel Deuteronomy 13:12-18.

4. (12-17) Benjamin's help sought and not given.

Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!" But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss. Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

a. But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren: The other tribes of Israel did the right thing in asking the tribe of Benjamin to deliver up the men who committed this crime. They sought to justly resolve the crisis without full war. But the tribe of Benjamin committed a great sin by putting their loyalty to the tribe before obedience to God's Law.

i. Modern followers of God can make the same mistake today when they put the interests of their own nation before the interests of the Kingdom of God. It is important for Christians to remember that they are citizens of the Kingdom of God first (Philippians 3:20).

b. Seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss: The tribe of Benjamin not only failed to support the just cause of the other tribes, the actively resisted the other tribes with an assembled army. The army included this division of seven hundred select men.

i. And not miss: The Hebrew word translated miss is literally sin. This illustrates the principle that the word "sin" literally means to "miss the mark" - whether you are off by an inch or a yard.

c. Besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men: The tribes of Israel prepared for a small civil war against the tribe of Benjamin. Israel was right in believing that the greatest good was not unity. Unity apart from justice and truth is unity not worth having.

B. The battle against Benjamin and Gibeah.

1. (18-21) The first day of battle - Israel is defeated before Benjamin.

Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, "Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?" The LORD said, "Judah first!" So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.

a. Went up to the house of God to inquire of God: In the first battle, Israel sought the LORD - yet they were defeated. We can speculate that though they inquired of God, they still trusted in the might of their army and in the goodness of their cause, but not in the LORD.

2. (22-23) Israel seeks God after the first defeat.

And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, "Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Go up against him."

a. Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening: To their credit, the children of Israel did not stop seeking the LORD after the first disaster in battle. They properly humbled themselves before God and sought Him regarding the next battle.

3. (24-25) On the second day of battle Israel is defeated before Benjamin again.

So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword.

a. Cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel: The loss on the second day of battle was worse than the loss on the first day of battle. This shows that even though the tribes of Israel sought the LORD and fought in a just cause, it was still a very difficult struggle. There was a great cost for them to pay in doing what was right.

4. (26-28) Israel repents before God after the second defeat.

Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 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 my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand."

a. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening: God allowed the two days of defeat for the purpose of bringing Israel low. They needed to be humbled, and these days of defeat compelled them to humble themselves.

i. God used this to humble the whole nation. They had to understand that the horror of the crime at Gibeah was not merely the result of the sin of one group of men, or one city, or even one tribe. The whole nation had to be humbled because they first thought that the sin problem was only in Benjamin. Israel had to see that that nation as a whole had a sin problem.

ii. After the first failure, Israel was sorry and wept. But it was only after the second failure that they put their repentance into action by fasting and made a sacrifice for sins. Sorrow and weeping are not enough if they are not matched by real repentance and taking care of the sin problem through sacrifice - the sacrifice of the cross.

iii. Part of their demonstration of humility was in fasting. In 1827, Adam Clarke wrote about fasting: "At present it is but little used; a strong proof that self-denial is wearing out of fashion." Clarke thought this was true of his day; he would probably think it all the more true of modern times.

b. Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand: God didn't want the two days of humbling to make Israel think that they could never win. They were encouraged to go out tomorrow and trust God's promise.

5. (29-48) Third day of battle - victory for Israel over Benjamin and Gibeah.

Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. And the children of Benjamin said, "They are defeated before us, as at first." But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways." So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel's men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword. So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city, whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, "Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle." But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor. But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword; from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.

a. Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways: The strategy used by the tribes of Israel against Gibeah was remarkably similar to the strategy used at Ai (Joshua 8). Perhaps they got this strategy by reading the writings of Joshua and Moses - that they returned to God's word in the course of their repentance.

b. Six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness: The two days of defeat made the tribes of Israel ruthless towards the tribe of Benjamin, and they killed thousands of men of Benjamin. As a result of the battle, there remained only a 600-man remnant from the tribe of Benjamin.

c. The men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword; from every city, men and beasts, all who were found: The tribe of Benjamin was undeniably guilty, but there was no need for the complete slaughter as described here. This too-severe judgment against the tribe of Benjamin would be regretted by Israel.

© 2003 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Judges (Book Introduction)

JUDGES is the title given to the next book, from its containing the history of those non-regal rulers who governed the Hebrews from the time of Joshua to that of Eli, and whose functions in time of peace consisted chiefly in the administration of justice, although they occasionally led the people in their wars against their public enemies. The date and authorship of this book are not precisely known. It is certain, however, that it preceded the Second Book of Samuel (compare Jdg 9:35 with 2Sa 11:21), as well as the conquest of Jerusalem by David (compare Jdg 1:21 with 2Sa 5:6). Its author was in all probability Samuel, the last of the judges (see Jdg 19:1; Jdg 21:25), and the date of the first part of it is fixed in the reign of Saul, while the five chapters at the close might not have been written till after David's establishment as king in Israel (see Jdg 18:31). It is a fragmentary history, being a collection of important facts and signal deliverances at different times and in various parts of the land, during the intermediate period of three hundred years between Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy. The inspired character of this book is confirmed by allusions to it in many passages of Scripture (compare Jdg 4:2; Jdg 6:14 with 1Sa 12:9-12; Jdg 9:53 with 2Sa 11:21; Jdg 7:25 with Psa 83:11; compare Jdg 5:4-5 with Psa 7:5; Jdg 13:5; Jdg 16:17 with Mat 2:13-23; Act 13:20; Heb 11:32).

JFB: Judges (Outline)

• THE ACTS OF JUDAH AND SIMEON. (Jdg 1:1-3)
• ADONI-BEZEK JUSTLY REQUITED. (Jdg. 1:4-21)
• SOME CANAANITES LEFT. (Jdg 1:22-26)
• AN ANGEL SENT TO REBUKE THE PEOPLE AT BOCHIM. (Jdg 2:1-10)
• WICKEDNESS OF THE NEW GENERATION AFTER JOSHUA. (Jdg 2:11-19)
• NATIONS LEFT TO PROVE ISRAEL. (Jdg 3:1-4)
• BY COMMUNION WITH THESE THE ISRAELITES COMMIT IDOLATRY. (Jdg 3:5-7)
• OTHNIEL DELIVERS ISRAEL. (Jdg 3:8-11)
• EHUD SLAYS EGLON. (Jdg. 3:12-30)
• DEBORAH AND BARAK DELIVER ISRAEL FROM JABIN AND SISERA. (Jdg. 4:1-17)
• DEBORAH AND BARAK'S SONG OF THANKSGIVING. (Jdg. 5:1-31)
• THE ISRAELITES, FOR THEIR SINS, OPPRESSED BY MIDIAN. (Jdg 6:1-6)
• A PROPHET REBUKES THEM. (Jdg 6:7-10)
• AN ANGEL SENDS GIDEON TO DELIVER THEM. (Jdg 6:11-16)
• GIDEON'S PRESENT CONSUMED BY FIRE. (Jdg. 6:17-32)
• THE SIGNS. (Jdg 6:33-39)
• GIDEON'S ARMY. (Jdg 7:1-8)
• HE IS ENCOURAGED BY THE DREAM AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BARLEY CAKE. (Jdg 7:9-15)
• HIS STRATAGEM AGAINST MIDIAN. (Jdg 7:16-24)
• THE EPHRAIMITES OFFENDED, BUT PACIFIED. (Jdg 8:1-9)
• ZEBAH AND ZALMUNNA TAKEN. (Jdg. 8:10-27)
• MIDIAN SUBDUED. (Jdg 8:28)
• ABIMELECH IS MADE KING BY THE SHECHEMITES. (Jdg 9:1-6)
• JOTHAM BY A PARABLE REPROACHES THEM. (Jdg 9:7-21)
• GAAL'S CONSPIRACY. (Jdg. 9:22-49)
• ABIMELECH SLAIN. (Jdg 9:50-57)
• TOLA JUDGES ISRAEL IN SHAMIR. (Jdg 10:1-5)
• ISRAEL OPPRESSED BY THE PHILISTINES AND AMMONITES. (Jdg 10:6-9)
• THEY CRY TO GOD. (Jdg 10:10-15)
• THEY REPENT; GOD PITIES THEM. (Jdg 10:16-18)
• JEPHTHAH. (Jdg 11:1-3)
• THE GILEADITES COVENANT WITH JEPHTHAH. (Jdg 11:4-11)
• HIS VOW. (Jdg 11:29-31)
• HE OVERCOMES THE AMMONITES. (Jdg 11:32-33)
• THE EPHRAIMITES QUARRELLING WITH JEPHTHAH. (Jdg 12:1-3)
• DISCERNED BY THE WORD SIBBOLETH, ARE SLAIN BY THE GILEADITES. (Jdg 12:4-15)
• ISRAEL SERVES THE PHILISTINES FORTY YEARS. (Jdg 13:1)
• AN ANGEL APPEARS TO MANOAH'S WIFE. (Jdg 13:2-10)
• THE ANGEL APPEARS TO MANOAH. (Jdg 13:11-14)
• MANOAH'S SACRIFICE. (Jdg 13:15-23)
• SAMSON BORN. (Jdg 13:24-25)
• SAMSON DESIRES A WIFE OF THE PHILISTINES. (Jdg 14:1-5)
• HE KILLS A LION. (Jdg 14:5-9)
• HIS MARRIAGE FEAST. (Jdg 14:10-11)
• HIS RIDDLE. (Jdg 14:12-18)
• HE SLAYS THIRTY PHILISTINES. (Jdg 14:19-20)
• SAMSON IS DENIED HIS WIFE. (Jdg 15:1-2)
• HE BURNS THE PHILISTINES' CORN. (Jdg 15:3-8)
• HE IS BOUND BY THE MEN OF JUDAH, AND DELIVERED TO THE PHILISTINES. (Jdg 15:9-13)
• SAMSON CARRIES AWAY THE GATES OF GAZA. (Jdg 16:1-3)
• DELILAH CORRUPTED BY THE PHILISTINES. (Jdg 16:4-14)
• HE IS OVERCOME. (Jdg 16:15-20)
• THE PHILISTINES TOOK HIM AND PUT OUT HIS EYES. (Jdg 16:21-22)
• THEIR FEAST TO DAGON. (Jdg 16:23-25)
• HIS DEATH. (Jdg 16:26-31)
• MICAH RESTORING THE STOLEN MONEY TO HIS MOTHER, SHE MAKES IMAGES. (Jdg 17:1-4)
• THE DANITES SEEK OUT AN INHERITANCE. (Jdg. 18:1-26)
• THEY WIN LAISH. (Jdg 18:27-29)
• THEY SET UP IDOLATRY. (Jdg 18:30-31)
• A LEVITE GOING TO BETHLEHEM TO FETCH HIS WIFE. (Jdg 19:1-15)
• AN OLD MAN ENTERTAINS HIM AT GIBEAH. (Jdg 19:16-21)
• THE GIBEAHITES ABUSE HIS CONCUBINE TO DEATH. (Jdg 19:22-28)
• THE LEVITE, IN A GENERAL ASSEMBLY, DECLARES HIS WRONG. (Jdg 20:1-7)
• THEIR DECREE. (Jdg 20:8-17)
• THE PEOPLE BEWAIL THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. (Jdg 21:1-15)
• THE ELDERS CONSULT HOW TO FIND WIVES FOR THOSE THAT WERE LEFT. (Jdg 21:16-21)

TSK: Judges (Book Introduction)

The book of Judges forms an important link in the history of the Israelites. It furnishes us with a lively description of a fluctuating and unsettled nation; a striking picture of the disorders and dangers which prevailed in a republic without magistracy; when " the high-ways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through by-ways" (Jdg 5:6), when few prophets were appointed to control the people, and " every one did that which was right in his own eyes" (Jdg 17:6). It exhibits the contest of true religion with superstition; and displays the beneficial effects that flow from the former, and the miseries and evil consequences of impiety. It is a most remarkable history of the long-suffering of God towards the Israelites, in which we see the most signal instances of his justice and mercy alternately displayed. the people sinned, and were punished; they repented, and found mercy. These things are written for our warning. none should presume, for God is just; none need despair, for God is merciful. Independently of the internal evidence of the authenticity of this sacred book, the transactions it records are not only cited or alluded to by other inspired writers, but are further confirmed by the traditions current among heathen nations.

TSK: Judges 20 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Jdg 20:1, The Levite in a general assembly declares his wrong; Jdg 20:8, The decree of the assembly; Jdg 20:12, The Benjamites, being cited, make head against the Israelites; Jdg 20:18, The Israelites in two battles lose forty thousand; Jdg 20:26, They destroy by a stratagem all the Benjamites, except six hundred.

Poole: Judges (Book Introduction)

BOOK OF JUDGES

THE ARGUMENT

THE author of this book is not certainly known, whether it was Samuel, or Ezra, or some other prophet; nor is it material to know.

1. It matters not who was the king’ s secretary, or with what pen it was written, if it be once known that it was. the king who made the order or decree: it is sufficient that unto the Jews were committed to the oracles of God , Rom 3:2 , i.e. the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, one part of which this was, by confession of all; and that the Jews did not falsify their trust therein, but kept those holy books themselves, and delivered them to the world, entire, without addition or diminution; for neither Christ nor his apostles, who severely rebuke them for their mistakes and misunderstandings of some passages of Scripture, ever charge them with any perfidiousness about the canon or books of the Scripture. This book is called the Book of Judges , because it treats of the judges, or of the state of the commonwealth of Israel under all the judges, except Eli and Samuel, who being the last of the judges, and the occasions or instruments of the change of this government, are omitted in this book. The judges were a sort of magistrates inferior to kings, and could neither make new laws, nor impose any tributes, but were the supreme executors of God’ s laws and commands, and the generals of their armies.

Poole: Judges 20 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 20

The Israelites assemble at Mizpeh: the Levite declares his wrong, Jud 20:1-7 . Their decree, Jud 20:8-11 , They require the delinquents of the Benjamites to do justice on them; they are denied, Jud 20:12-17 . Whereupon, having consulted God, they march to fight against them; are twice foiled; and lose forty thousand men, Jud 20:18-25 . Being humbled, and receiving clearer revelation from God, they, by a stratagem, destroy the whole tribe, six hundred men excepted, (who fled away,) and burnt their cities, Jud 20:26-48 .

MHCC: Judges (Book Introduction)

The book of Judges is the history of Israel during the government of the Judges, who were occasional deliverers, raised up by God to rescue Israel from their oppressors, to reform the state of religion, and to administer justice to the people. The state of God's people does not appear in this book so prosperous, nor their character so religious, as might have been expected; but there were many believers among them, and the tabernacle service was attended to. The history exemplifies the frequent warnings and predictions of Moses, and should have close attention. The whole is full of important instruction.

MHCC: Judges 20 (Chapter Introduction)

The tribe of Benjamin nearly extirpated.

Matthew Henry: Judges (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Judges

This is called the Hebrew Shepher Shophtim , the Book of Judges, which the Syriac and Arabic versions enlarge upon, and call it, The Book of the Judges of the Children of Israel; the judgments of that nation being peculiar, so were their judges, whose office differed vastly from that of the judges of other nations. The Septuagint entitles it only Kritai , Judges. It is the history of the commonwealth of Israel, during the government of the judges from Othniel to Eli, so much of it as God saw fit to transmit to us. It contains the history (according to Dr. Lightfoot's computation) of 299 years, reckoning to Othniel of Judah forty years, to Ehud of Benjamin eighty years, to Barak of Naphtali forty years, to Gideon of Manasseh forty years, to Abimelech his son three years, to Tola of Issachar twenty-three, to Jair of Manasseh twenty-two, to Jephtha of Manasseh six, to Ibzan of Judah seven, to Elon of Zebulun ten, to Abdon of Ephriam eight, to Samson of Dan twenty, in all 299. As for the years of their servitude, as were Eglon is said to oppress them eighteen years and Jabin twenty years, and so some others, those must be reckoned to fall in with some or other of the years of the judges. The judges here appear to have been of eight several tribes; that honour was thus diffused, until at last it centred in Judah. Eli and Samuel, the two judges that fall not within this book, were of Levi. It seems, there was no judge of Reuben or Simeon, Gad or Asher. The history of these judges in their order we have in this book to the end of ch. 16. And then in the last five chapters we have an account of some particular memorable events which happened, as the story of Ruth did (Rth 1:1) in the days when the judges ruled, but it is not certain in which judge's days; but they are put together at the end of the book, that the thread of the general history might not be interrupted. Now as to the state of the commonwealth of Israel during this period, I. They do not appear here either so great or so good as one might have expected the character of such a peculiar people would be, that were governed by such laws and enriched by such promises. We find them wretchedly corrupted, and wretchedly oppressed by their neighbours about them, and nowhere in all the book, either in war or council, do they make any figure proportionable to their glorious entry into Canaan. What shall we say to it? God would hereby show us the lamentable imperfection of all persons and things under the sun, that we may look for complete holiness and happiness in the other world, and not in this. Yet, II. We may hope that though the historian in this book enlarges most upon their provocations and grievances, yet there was a face of religion upon the land; and, however there were those among them that were drawn aside to idolatry, yet the tabernacle-service, according to the law of Moses, was kept up, and there were many that attended it. Historians record not the common course of justice and commerce in a nation, taking that for granted, but only the wars and disturbances that happen; but the reader must consider the other, to balance the blackness of them. III. It should seem that in these times each tribe had very much its government in ordinary within itself, and acted separately, without one common head, or council, which occasioned many differences among themselves, and kept them from being or doing any thing considerable. IV. The government of the judges was not constant, but occasional; when it is said that after Ehud's victory the land rested eighty years, and after Barak's forty , it is not certain that they lived, much less that they governed, so long; but they and the rest were raised up and animated by the Spirit of God to do particular service to the public when there was occasion, to avenge Israel of their enemies, and to purge Israel of their idolatries, which are the two things principally meant by their judging Israel. Yet Deborah, as a prophetess, was attended for judgment by all Israel, before there was occasion for her agency in war, Jdg 4:4. V. During the government of the judges, God was in a more especial manner Israel's king; so Samuel tells them when they were resolved to throw off this form of government, 1Sa 12:12. God would try what his own law and the constitutions of that would do to keep them in order, and it proved that when there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes; he therefore, towards the latter end of this time, made the government of the judges more constant and universal that it was at first, and at length gave them David, a king after his own heart; then, and not till then, Israel began to flourish, which should make us very thankful for magistrates both supreme and subordinate, for they are ministers of God unto us for good. Four of the judges of Israel are canonized (Heb 11:32), Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephtha. The Learned bishop Patrick thinks the prophet Samuel was the penman of this Book.

Matthew Henry: Judges 20 (Chapter Introduction)

Into the book of the wars of the Lord the story of this chapter must be brought, but it looks as sad and uncomfortable as any article in all that history; for there is nothing in it that looks in the least bright or pleasant but the pious zeal of Israel against the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, which made it on their side a just and holy war; but otherwise the obstinacy of the Benjamites in protecting their criminals, which was the foundation of the war, the vast loss which the Israelites sustained in carrying on the war, and (though the righteous cause was victorious at last) the issuing of the war in the almost utter extirpation of the tribe of Benjamin, make it, from first to last, melancholy. And yet this happened soon after the glorious settlement of Israel in the land of promise, upon which one would have expected every thing to be prosperous and serene. In this chapter we have, I. The Levite's cause heard in a general convention of the tribes (Jdg 20:1-7). II. A unanimous resolve to avenge his quarrel upon the men of Gibeah (Jdg 20:8-11). III. The Benjamites appearing in defence of the criminals (Jdg 20:12-17). IV. The defeat of Israel in the first and second day's battle (Jdg 20:18-25). V. Their humbling themselves before God upon that occasion (Jdg 20:26-28). VI. The total rout they gave the Benjamites in the third engagement, by a stratagem, by which they were all cut off, except 600 men (v. 29-48). And all this the effect of the indignities done to one poor Levite and his wife; so little do those that do iniquity consider what will be the end thereof.

Constable: Judges (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The English title, Judges, comes to us from the Latin translation (Vulgate) that the Greek translation (Septuagint) influenced. In all three languages the title means "judges." This title is somewhat misleading, however, because most English-speaking people associate the modern concept of a judge with Israel's judges. As we shall see, judges then were very different from judges now. The Hebrew title is also Judges (Shophetim). The book received its name from its principle characters, as the Book of Joshua did.

The judge in Israel was not a new office during the period of history that this book records. Moses ordered the people to appoint judges in every Israelite town to settle civil disputes (Deut. 16:18). In addition, there was to be a chief justice at the tabernacle who would, with the high priest, help settle cases too difficult for the local judges (Deut. 17:9). Evidently there were several judges at the tabernacle who served as a supreme court (Deut. 19:17).

When Joshua died God did not appoint a man to succeed him as the military leader of the entire nation of Israel. Instead each tribe was to proceed to conquer and occupy its allotted territory. As the need arose God raised up several different individuals who were judges in various parts of Israel at various times to lead segments of the Israelites against local enemies. These judges were similar to modern mayors of towns. God endowed them with certain qualities and identified them in various ways as being those He had chosen to lead His people. This leadership sometimes involved military command. As God had raised up Moses and Joshua, and as he would raise up David (1 Sam. 16:13), so He also raised up the judges. The writer also described Yahweh as a judge in Judges (11:27). This points out the fact that the judges were God's agents in Israel who judged under Him at this period in the nation's history.

"Though the judge enjoyed great prestige, he was in no sense a king. His authority was neither absolute, nor permanent, nor in any case hereditary; it rested solely in those personal qualities (the charisma) that gave evidence that he was the man of Yahweh's spirit. It was a type of authority perfectly expressive of the faith and constitution of early Israel: the God-King's direct leadership of his people through his spirit-designated representative. . . .

"The judges were by no means men of identical character. Some (e.g., Gideon) rose to their task at the behest of a profound experience of divine vocation; one (Jephthah) was no better than a bandit who knew how to strike a canny bargain; one (Samson) was an engaging rogue whose fabulous strength and bawdy pranks became legendary. None, so far as we know, ever led a united Israel into battle. All, however, seem to have had this in common: they were men who, stepping to the fore in times of danger, by virtue only of those personal qualities (charisma) which gave evidence to their fellows that Yahweh's spirit was upon them, rallied the clans against the foe."¹

Judges is the second book of the Former Prophets section of the Hebrew Old Testament. As I pointed out in the notes on Joshua, the fact that the Hebrews placed the book in this section of their canon is significant. It demonstrates that they recognized it as God's selective history of the period designed to teach spiritual lessons more than simply to record historical facts. God revealed Himself through the events of life and history as well as through the sermons of the prophets.

Date and Writer

Internal references help us locate the approximate date of composition of this book. The clause, "In those days there was no king in Israel," (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) suggests that someone wrote Judges during the monarchical period that followed the period of rule by judges (amphictyony). Someone probably wrote it after 1051 B.C. when Saul became king. However at the time of writing Jerusalem was still in the hands of the Jebusites (1:21). David captured Jerusalem about 1004 B.C. Therefore the writing of Judges seems to date between 1051 and 1004 B.C.

Jewish tradition suggests that Samuel wrote Judges.² This was the opinion of the writers of the Talmud, the collection of Jewish writings that grew up around revealed Scripture beginning very early in Israel's history. Samuel is a likely writer because of his role in Israel when someone wrote Judges. Samuel's ministry began about 1090 B.C. and apparently ended a few years before Saul's death (ca. 1021 B.C.). If Samuel wrote Judges, he probably did so between 1051 and about 1021 B.C.

Scope

In contrast to Joshua, which spans only about 35 years, Judges covers a much longer period of Israel's history.

The book opens shortly after the death of Joshua (1:1). God did not give us sufficient information to enable us to fix the date of Joshua's death. Leon Wood figured that he died about 1390 B.C.³ Eugene Merrill calculated his death at about 1366 B.C.⁴ The latest event the writer of Judges recorded is probably the death of Samson (16:30-31). Wood believed Samson died about 1055 B.C.⁵ Merrill wrote that he died near 1084 B.C.⁶ Consequently the Book of Judges records about 300 years of Israel's history (cf. 11:26).⁷ The period of rule by the judges, however, extended beyond the events the Book of Judges records to Saul's coronation in 1050 or 1051 B.C.⁸ According to Wood's chronology this was five years beyond the end of Judges and according to Merrill's it was 33 years beyond.

The judgeships of some of the individual judges apparently overlapped. Some ruled in one area of Israel while one or more others ruled elsewhere in some cases.⁹

The Book of Judges does not record the ministries of all Israel's judges. Eli and Samuel were also judges whose work the writer of 1 Samuel recorded. Only the judges whom the divine Author selected for inclusion appear in this book.

Purpose

Arthur Cundall suggested that one of the purposes of Judges may have been to provide apologetic justification for Israel's monarchy.¹⁰ William Dumbrell believed its purpose was primarily to show the sovereign grace of God in preserving Israel in spite of Israel.¹¹ Leon Wood wrote that its primary purpose was to show why Israel did not experience God's promised blessings.¹² Herbert Wolf believed the primary purpose was to show that Israel's spiritual condition determined its political and material situation.¹³ Daniel Block argued that it was to reveal the Canaanization of Israel in the premonarchic period of Israel's history.¹⁴ All these explanations seem to me to be in harmony with what the book records.

Message¹⁵

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 respect Joshua and Judges are like two sides of one coin. The former is a positive lesson and the latter a negative one.

Judges portrays the deterioration of the nation of Israel: what caused it, the course it followed, and the chaos that resulted.

Israel failed because her heart turned from Yahweh, and then her head forsook His covenant. Keil and Delitzsch wrote, "The writer writes throughout from a prophet's point of view. He applies the standard of the law to the spirit of the age by which the nation was influenced as a whole, and pronounces a stern and severe sentence upon all deviations from the path of rectitude set before it in the law."¹⁶

We could visualize the structure of the book as a descending spiral. Israel departed from God, fell under His discipline, repented, experienced deliverance from her oppressors, dedicated herself anew to Yahweh, experienced His blessing, and then apostatized again. In each cycle Israel seems to have sunk lower than she had been previously even though each cycle included a spiritual revival.

Judges reveals the course and process by which Israel deteriorated as a nation. The same process takes place on the personal level as well as on the national level, but it is easier to observe on the national level in Judges.

The root cause of Israel's deterioration was religious apostasy. The Israelites turned from God. They did not drive out the Canaanites as God had commanded (1:21, 27-33). Instead they made covenants with them (2:1-2). Rather than destroying the pagan altars, the Israelites served idols and forsook the Lord (2:11-12, 17, 19).

Their apostasy began with toleration of things that God had condemned and prohibited. In time the Israelites began to admire these things. Finally they conformed to them.

The story of Micah and the Danites (chs. 17-18) is a short illustration of the religious apostasy in Israel at this time. Chapters 17-21 are an appendix to the book.

Religious apostasy led to political disorganization in Israel. Shortly after Israel departed from God it began to come apart as a nation. The people stopped working together toward their God-given goal of possessing the entire land and began fighting with one another instead. At the beginning of the amphictyony the tribes were fairly united, but by the end of this period of Israel's history anarchy prevailed (21:25).

The government in Israel deteriorated from theocracy (rule by God) to anarchy (no rule or government). Israel became fragmented, weak, and unable to withstand her enemies. This is ironic because after Joshua died Israel was in position to begin to enjoy the benefits of the theocracy in the land for the first time. Until Judges opens, God was preparing Israel to enjoy the theocracy in the land.

There are several examples of tribal jealousies in Judges (e.g., 8:1-3; 12:1-6), but the worst example of political disorganization is the vignette that concludes the book. This is the civil war in which 11 of the tribes almost annihilated the twelfth, Benjamin (chs. 20-21). Instead of destroying the Canaanites, God's people allowed them to live among them while the Israelites proceeded to destroy one another.

Another evidence of Israel's deterioration as a nation was social chaos.

Three characteristics marked the social chaos in Israel during the period of the judges. Lawlessness characterized national life. People were afraid to go out in public and traveled the byways rather than the highways of the land (5:6). People committed violent crimes without fear of punishment (ch. 19). Blindness also characterized the people. They were blind to what was happening in their midst, namely, God using discipline after apostasy to bring them to repentance and deliverance. They were also blind to God's dealings with their ancestors in their history. Third, immorality marked Israel's social life. Even Samson, one of the judges, was a victim of this cancer.

The story of the Levite and his concubine who visited the town of Gibeah (ch. 19) is a slice of life out of the period of the judges that shows the immorality that characterized Israel's social life. The behavior demonstrated in this story was the fruit of departure from God. The sin that had previously characterized the Canaanites of Sodom (Gen. 19) now marked God's people. Chapter 19 is a third part of the appendix to the book.

God revealed this process of deterioration to warn all people. Spiritual apostasy leads to political disorganization and social chaos. Social and governmental evils rise out of spiritual conditions. When the Israelites repented and rededicated themselves to God, God brought political deliverance and restored social order.

Judges not only reveals what causes deterioration, but it also clarifies the steps to restoration. Israel's history during this period resembles a downward spiral. The general trend was downward. Nevertheless there were six revivals of the peoples' faith in God and commitment to him too. These revivals cycled in Israel's history at this time.

Israel began from a privileged position of divine blessing.

In time the people apostatized by turning away from God and His covenant to the gods and practices of the Canaanites.

To bring them back to Himself God disciplined His people by allowing them to fall under the control and domination of their enemies. Israel chose to bow down to idols, so God allowed the idolaters to bend her over in bondage. The Israelites tolerated the Canaanites, but God made the Canaanites intolerant of them. The people with the birthright to the land had to hide in caves and among the rocks fearing to show themselves (6:2). God disciplined them severely for their apostasy. In Joshua God dealt with sin primarily among the Canaanites, but in Judges He dealt with it primarily among the Israelites. However, God's discipline was always remedial. God designed it to bring the Israelites back to a consciousness of sin and their need for God.

When the Israelites cried out to Yahweh in repentance, God heard their cry and delivered them mercifully. I mean "repentance" in the general sense of turning to God, not in the specific sense of cleaning up the life. God did not give deliverance as a reward the people had earned, but as grace in response to their helpless cry, as the text makes clear.

When they truly repented, He delivered them by raising up a judge. In each case, deliverance came at the right moment. It always came by the right instrument. God raised up the right person in each case. In almost every case God used one person, either a man or a woman. Judges reveals how God remarkably works through all types of different individuals to accomplish His purposes. He raised up the judge whom He had prepared for the needs of his time and place. Each judge was just right for his mission. In almost every case God used one single individual to change the whole course of history in Israel. E. M. Bounds wrote, "The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through man. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but people--people of prayer."

As a result of this deliverance the people rededicated themselves anew to Yahweh. Spiritual revival was the result of God's physical deliverance.

The people then began to enjoy God's blessing again. God gave them rest from the oppression of their enemies. Arthur Cundall labeled these stages "sin, servitude, supplication, and salvation."¹⁷

God's methods are the same today as they were in the days of the judges.

The fact that the writer repeated this cycle of events six times in Judges points to its timeless quality and its universality. Charles Feinberg wrote, "If ever there were history with a purpose it is here."¹⁸

I would state the message of the Book of Judges therefore as follows. Apostasy leads to disorganization and chaos, but repentance results in deliverance and blessing. This is true nationally and personally.

Constable: Judges (Outline)

Outline

I. The reason for Israel's apostasy 1:1-3:6

A. Hostilities between the Israelites and the Canaanites after Joshua's death 1:1-2:5

1. Initial successes and failures ch. 1

2. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5

B. Israel's conduct toward Yahweh and Yahweh's treatment of Israel in the period of the judges 2:6-3:6

1. Review of Joshua's era 2:6-10

2. The pattern of history during the judges' era 2:11-23

3. God's purposes with Israel 3:1-6

II. The record of Israel's apostasy 3:7-16:31

A. The first apostasy 3:7-11

B. The second apostasy 3:12-31

1. Oppression under the Moabites and deliverance through Ehud 3:12-30

2. Oppression under the Philistines and deliverance through Shamgar 3:31

C. The third apostasy chs. 4-5

1. The victory over Jabin and Sisera ch. 4

2. Deborah's song of victory ch. 5

D. The fourth apostasy 6:1-10:5

1. The story of Gideon 6:1-8:32

2. Israel's departure from Yahweh 8:33-35

3. The story of Abimelech ch. 9

4. The judgeships of Tola and Jair 10:1-5

E. The fifth apostasy 10:6-12:15

1. Renewed oppression 10:6-7

2. Oppression under the Ammonites 10:8-18

3. Deliverance through Jephthah 10:1-12:7

4. The judgeships of Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon 12:8-15

F. The sixth apostasy chs. 13-16

1. Samson's birth ch. 13

2. Samson's intended marriage to the Timnite ch. 14

3. Samson's vengeance on the Philistines ch. 15

4. Samson's final fatal victory ch. 16

III. The results of Israel's apostasy ch. 17-21

A. The idolatry of Micah and the Danites ch. 17-18

1. The idolatry of Micah ch. 17

2. The apostasy of the Danites ch. 18

B. The immorality of Gibeah and the Benjamites chs. 19-21

1. The atrocity in Gibeah ch. 19

2. The civil war in Israel ch. 20

3. The preservation of Benjamin ch. 21

Constable: Judges

Judges

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Judges (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION.

THE BOOK OF JUDGES.

This Book is called Judges, because it contains the history of what passed under the government of the judges, who ruled Israel before they had kings. The writer of it, according to the more general opinion, was the prophet Samuel. (Challoner) --- Some are of opinion, that the judges might have each left records of their respective administration, (Menochius) which might be put in order by Samuel. The author of this book seems to have lived under the reign of Saul, before David had expelled the Jebusites, chap. xviii. 31. (Du Hamel) --- The captivity, which is mentioned [in] ver. 30, must be understood of that when the ark of God, as well as the idol Micha, and may of the people were taken by the Philistines. (Huet) --- Many passages of the Psalms, &c., are taken from this book, which shew its antiquity, Psalm lxvii. 8., and 2 Kings xi. 21. The divine Providence is here displayed in a very striking manner. (Du Hamel) --- The theocracy still subsisted and God generally chose these judges to be his ministers, and to deliver the people, on their repentance, from some dreadful calamity. (Haydock) --- They exercised a supreme power, yet without bearing the insignia of regal authority, or imposing taxes, or making any alteration in the established laws. The Suffetes, who were Carthaginian magistrates, seem to have taken their name from these Ssuptim. (Du Hamel) --- When God did not raise up judges, in an extraordinary manner, a kind of ananchy prevailed. (Haydock) --- Each of the tribes regarded only their own affairs, and the republic was dissolved. (Grotius) --- Prosperous and unfortunate days succeeded each other, in proportion as the people gave themselves up to repentance or to dissolution. Sicut se habebant peccata populi & misericordia Dei, alternaverunt prospera & adversa bellorum. (St. Augustine, City of God xviii. 23.) St. Jerome (ep. ad Eust. & ad Paulin.) exhorts us to penetrate the spiritual sense of the historical books, and he regards "the judges as so many figures" of the apostles, who established the church of Christ. Though some of them had been noted for their misconduct, they were reclaimed by the grace of God. Then all the judges, every one by name, whose heart was not corrupted, who turned not away from the Lord, that their memory might be blessed, &c., Ecclesiasticus xlvi. 13, 14. (Worthington) --- St. Paul mentions four of them, though the conduct of Jephte and of Samson might have been regarded as more exceptionable than that of Othoniel, who is said to have been filled with the spirit of the Lord, chap. iii. 10. Serarius doubts not but they are all in heaven. Salien (in the year of the world 2640,) supposes that the transactions recorded in the five last chapters, took place before this 40th year from the death of Josue, which was the last of Othoniel. With respect to the chronology of these times, there are many opinions. Houbigant endeavours to shew that the system of Usher is inadmissible, as well as that of Petau. Marsham maintains that many of the captivities, and of the Judges, related only to some tribes, so that the different years which are specified, must be referred to the same period of time. Thus while Jephte ruled over those on the east side of the Jordan, and fought against the Ammonites, other judges endeavoured to repel the armies of the Philistines on the west. See 3 Kings vi. 1., and Judges xi. 16. By this expedient, he finds no difficulty in shewing that 480 years elapsed from the departure out of Egypt till the building of the temple, and that the Israelites had occupied the country of the Ammonites during the space of 300 years. (Haydock) --- Houbigant seems to adopt this system in some respects, and he thinks that errors have crept into some of the numbers, so that Aod procured a peace of only 20 instead of 80 years, &c. He observes that the name of judge here designates, 1. A warrior, like Samson; 2. a person who passes sentence according to the law, which was the office of Heli; 3. one divinely commissioned to exercise the sovereign authority, as Samuel did, even after Saul had been elected king. (Proleg. Chronol.) Others have compared the power of these judges with that of the Roman Dictators, or the Archontes of Athens. (Serarius) --- They were properly God's lieutenants. Their revenue seems to have been very precarious, and their exterior deportment modest and unassuming. They were guided by the declarations of the high priests, when arrayed with the Urim and Thummim; and their business was to promote the observance of the true religion, and to defend the people of God. This book concludes with the history of Samson, describing the transactions of 317 years, (Calmet) according to the calculation of Usher, which has met with the approbation of many of the learned, and is therefore chiefly inserted in this edition, as it was in that which was published in 1791, at Dublin, by the care of the Rev. B. Mac Mahon, who seems to have made some alterations. It is not indeed free from many serious difficulties. But we have not leisure to examine them at present. See chap. iii. 11, 30. We shall only subjoin the chronological table of Houbigant, which is not very common, that the reader may perceive where they are chiefly at variance. Moses governed 40 years, Josue 20, the Ancients 20, king of Mesopotamia 8, Othoniel 40, Moabites 18, Aod 20, Samgar 0, the Chanaanites 20, Debora and Barac 40, Madianites 7, Gedeon 40, Abimelech 3, Thola 23, Ammonites 0, Jair 22, Jephte 6, Abesan 7, Ahialon 10, Abdon 8, Philistines 0, Samson 20, and with Heli 20, Heli and Samuel 25, Samuel and Saul 20, David 40, Solomon 3. In the 4th year of his reign the temple was begun, 480 years after the liberation from Egypt. Those to whom no years are assigned, lived at the same time with others whose years enter into the calculation. Thus Samgar gained a victory over the Philistines, while the Chanaanites held the Israelites in subjection, chap. iii. 31. For other particulars we must refer to the author. (Chron. sacra.) (Haydock)

Gill: Judges (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES

The title of this book in the Hebrew copies is Sepher Shophetim, the Book of Judges; but the Syriac and Arabic interpreters call it,

"the Book of the Judges of the Children of Israel;''

and the Septuagint only Judges; so called, not because it was written by them, though some think it was compiled out of annals and diaries kept by them; but it seems to be the work of one person only: the true reason of its name is, because it treats of the judges of Israel, gives an account of their lives and actions, and especially such as concerned their office; which office was different from that of kings, and seems only to have been occasional, and chiefly lay in delivering the people out of the hands of their enemies, when oppressed, distressed, or carried captive by them; in protecting them in the enjoyment of their country, rights, and liberties; in leading out their armies against their enemies when needful; and in settling differences, judging law suits, and administering justice. The government of the nation, during their time, was a theocracy. It is not certain who was the penman of this book; some ascribe it to King Hezekiah, others to Ezra; but the Jewish writers ^a are generally of opinion that it was written by Samuel, which is most likely, who was the last of the judges; and it seems plainly to be written before the times of David, us appears from a speech of Joab, 2Sa 11:21; and from some passages in Psa 68:8, which seem to refer or allude to Jdg 5:4; and from Jerusalem being called Jebus, which shows it to be inhabited by the Jebusites in the time of the writer of this book, whereas it was taken out of their hands by David; besides, Samuel himself refers to the annals of this book; 1Sa 12:9; and from whose testimonies, as well as from others in the New Testament, there is no doubt to be made of its being genuine and authentic, and written by divine inspiration; as is evident from the use the Apostle Paul, and the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, have made of it, Act 13:20; it is useful as an history, and without which the history of the people of Israel would not be complete; it containing an account of all their judges, excepting the two last, Eli and Samuel, of whom an account is given in the following books, and of some facts incidental to those times, related in an appendix at the end of it, concerning the idol of Micah, and the war of Benjamin; and furnishes out many useful moral observations concerning God's displeasure at sin in his own people Israel, and his corrections for it; and about his providential care of them in raising up for them deliverers in their time of need, as well as points at various virtues and excellencies in great and good men, worthy of imitation. It contains, according to Piscator, Dr. Lightfoot, and others, an history of two hundred ninety and nine years.

Gill: Judges 20 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 20

This chapter relates, how that there was an assembly of the children of Israel at Mizpeh, upon what had happened to the concubine of the Levite, where he appeared and related the whole affair to them, Jdg 20:1 upon which they unanimously agreed to chastise the inhabitants of Gibeah for what they had done, Jdg 20:8, and in order to do that sent to the tribe of Benjamin to deliver the guilty, but instead of that they took to their arms, and prepared for battle in defence of them, Jdg 20:12 and two battles ensued on this, in which the Israelites, who were on the right side of the question, were worsted, Jdg 20:18 but upon their seeking the Lord again, and their humiliation before him, they engaged a third time in battle, and got an entire victory over the Benjaminites, and destroyed them all excepting six hundred men, Jdg 20:26.