Judges 20 · WEB
Civil War Against Benjamin
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Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, to Yahweh at Mizpah.
2The chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand men on foot who drew sword.
3Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. The children of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this wickedness happen?"
4The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
5The men of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house by night. They intended to kill me, and they have violated my concubine and she is dead.
6I took my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
7Behold, you children of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here."
8All the people arose as one man, saying, "We will not any of us go to his tent, and we will not any of us turn to his house.
9But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot;
10and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to get food for the people, that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the folly that they have done in Israel."
11So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.
12The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that has taken place among you?
13Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel." But Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel.
14The children of Benjamin gathered together out of their cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
15The children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities: twenty-six thousand men who drew swords, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling stones at a hair and not miss.
17The men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew sword; all these were men of war.
18The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God; and they said, "Who shall go up first for us to battle against the children of Benjamin?" Yahweh said, "Judah first."
19The children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
20The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel lined up for battle against them at Gibeah.
21The children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites to the ground that day.
22The people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and lined up for battle again in the place where they had lined up the first day.
23The children of Israel went up and wept before Yahweh until evening; and they asked of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?" Yahweh said, "Go up against him."
24The children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25Benjamin went out against them out of Gibeah the second day and struck down eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel to the ground; all these drew sword.
26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.
27The children of Israel asked of Yahweh (for the ark of God's covenant was there in those days,
28and 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 Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?" Yahweh said, "Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand."
29Israel set ambushes against Gibeah all around.
30The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day and lined up against Gibeah as at other times.
31The children of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
32The children of Benjamin said, "They are struck down before us as at the first." But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways."
33All the men of Israel rose up out of their place and lined up at Baal Tamar; and the Israelite ambush rushed out of its place, even out of Maareh Geba.
34Ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was severe; but they didn't know that evil was close to them.
35Yahweh struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men; all these drew sword.
36So the children of Benjamin saw that they were struck; for the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the ambush which they had set against Gibeah.
37The ambush rushed quickly upon Gibeah; and the ambush spread out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.
38Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambush was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.
39The men of Israel turned in the battle; and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel; for they said, "Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle."
40But when the cloud began to rise up out of the city as a pillar of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to the sky.
41The men of Israel turned; and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that evil had come on them.
42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel toward the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and those who came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst.
43They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them down, and trod them down easily over against Gibeah toward the sunrise.
44There fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor.
45They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and pursued after them to Gidom, and struck two thousand men of them.
46So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew sword; all these were men of valor.
47But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and stayed at the rock of Rimmon four months.
48The men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, including those of every city, both the livestock and all that they found. Moreover all the cities which they found, they set them on fire.
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Summary
All Israel assembles at Mizpah and hears the Levite's account of the atrocity at Gibeah. They demand Benjamin hand over the guilty men; Benjamin refuses and rallies to defend Gibeah instead. In two devastating defeats, Israel loses forty thousand men, returning to Bethel each time to weep and seek God before pressing on. On the third day, using a feint-and-ambush strategy, Israel destroys nearly the entire tribe of Benjamin — over twenty-five thousand soldiers — and burns their cities. Only six hundred men escape to the rock of Rimmon, leaving Benjamin on the edge of extinction.
Themes
- Corporate accountability: the entire nation mobilizes to address tribal sin
- The cost of justice: Israel loses forty thousand men fighting for a righteous cause
- Seeking God even in the midst of painful setbacks and apparent defeat
- The near-annihilation of an entire tribe as the consequence of protecting wickedness
- The unity of "Dan to Beersheba" in moral outrage — the first time Israel acts as one people in the entire book
Key verses
- Judg 20:13 — “Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel.”
- Judg 20:26 — “Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted that day until evening.”
- Judg 20:35 — “Yahweh struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men.”
Context & background
Mizpah (modern Tell en-Nasbeh, in the West Bank, about eight miles north of Jerusalem) was a major gathering place for the Israelite confederation, functioning as a judicial assembly site throughout this period. Gibeah (modern Tel el-Ful, just north of Jerusalem in the West Bank) was the Benjaminite town where the atrocity occurred and which Benjamin chose to defend. Bethel (modern Beitin, West Bank) was the location of the ark of the covenant at this time and served as the worship center where Israel went to seek divine guidance. The rock of Rimmon where six hundred Benjaminites fled is generally identified with a location in the hill country of the West Bank. The reference to Phinehas son of Eleazar (v. 28) places these events near the beginning of the settlement period — the genealogy suggests this appendix (chs. 17-21) is chronologically early in the judges era despite its narrative placement.
Cross-references
- 1 Sam 10:26; 11:4 — Gibeah later becomes Saul's hometown: the city's dark history shadows the monarchy from its very beginning
- Deut 13:12-16 — The law commanding Israel to destroy cities that harbor apostasy or gross sin: Israel is explicitly following Torah in their corporate response
- Gen 19:24-25 — Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by fire from heaven: the destruction of Gibeah and Benjamin's cities echoes the destruction of the cities that inspired the comparison in chapter 19
- Josh 7:1-26 — Achan's sin brings defeat on all Israel until the sin is dealt with: the same principle is at work here — corporate guilt requires corporate action
- Rom 13:4 — The governing authorities bear the sword as God's servant to execute wrath on wrongdoers — the civil war of Judges 20 illustrates this principle at the tribal level