Judges 20:1-48 NIV
The Israelites Punish the
Benjamites
1Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of
Gilead came together as one and assembled Before The Lord in Mizpah. 2The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their
places in the assembly of GOD’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with
swords. 3(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to
Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and
my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded
the house, intending to kill me.
They raped my concubine, and she died. 6I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to
each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and
outrageous act in Israel. 7Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have
decided to do.”
8All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go
home. No, not one of us will return to his house. 9But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it
in the order decided by casting lots.10We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of
Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get
provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they
deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” 11So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the
city.
12The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of
Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may
put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.”
But the Benjamites would not
listen to their fellow Israelites. 14From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against
the Israelites. 15At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen
from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living
in Gibeah. 16Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops
who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand
swordsmen, all of them
fit for battle.
18The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of GOD. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the
Benjamites?”
The Lord Replied, “Judah shall go first.”
19The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near
Gibeah. 20The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up
battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two
thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. 22But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up
their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23The Israelites went up and wept before The Lord until evening, and they inquired of The Lord.
They said, “Shall we go up
again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”
The Lord Answered, “Go up against them.”
24Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose
them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed
with swords.
26Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and
there they sat weeping before The Lord. They
fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship
offerings to The Lord. 27And the Israelites inquired of The Lord.
(In those days the Ark of the Covenant of GOD was there, 28 with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of
Aaron, ministering before it.)
They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites,
our fellow Israelites, or not?”
The Lord Responded, “Go, for tomorrow I Will Give them into your hands.”
29Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. 30They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up
positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from
the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that
about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to
Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as
before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the
city to the roads.”
33All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up
positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on
the westc of Gibeah.d 34Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal
attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize
how near disaster was. 35The Lord Defeated Benjamin before Israel, and
on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with
swords. 36Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.
Now the men of Israel had given
way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near
Gibeah. 37Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah,
spread out and put the whole city to the sword. 38The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should
send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39and then the Israelites would counterattack.
The Benjamites had begun to
inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are
defeating them as in the first battle.” 40But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the
Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke.
41Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were
terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them. 42So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the
wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came
out of the towns cut them down there. 43They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easilye overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on
the east. 44Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.45As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of
Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept
pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand
more.
46On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all
of them valiant fighters. 47But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to
the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.48The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to
the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns
they came across they set on fire.
The
Israelites Lose Forty Thousand
20:18-28
The children of Israel arose, and went up to the House of GOD - This consultation at Shiloh was right. But
they ought to have done it at the commencement of their proceedings. Instead of
this, all their plans were formed, and never doubting. It would seem, that the war was just and
inevitable, the only subject of their inquiry related to the precedency of the
tribes - a point which it is likely was discussed in the assembly.
If they had asked Counsel
of GOD sooner, their expedition would have been conducted on a different
principle - most probably by reducing the number of fighting men, as in the
case of Gideon's army. As it was, the vast number of volunteers formed an
excessive force, unfit for strenuous and united action against a small,
compact, and well-directed army.
A panic ensued, and
the confederate tribes, in two successive engagements, sustained great losses.
These repeated disasters (notwithstanding
their attack on Benjamin had been Divinely authorized) overwhelmed them
with shame and sorrow. Led to reflection, they became sensible of their guilt
in not repressing their national idolatries, as well as in too proudly relying
on their superior numbers and the rashness of this expedition. Having humbled
themselves by prayer and fasting, as well as observed the appointed method of
expiating their sins, they were assured of acceptance as well as of victory.
The presence and services of Phinehas on this occasion help us to ascertain the chronology thus far, that the date of the occurrence must be fixed shortly after the death of Joshua.
The presence and services of Phinehas on this occasion help us to ascertain the chronology thus far, that the date of the occurrence must be fixed shortly after the death of Joshua.
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