Judges 20: 1 – 48
The Problem Is Not Me – Its You
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. 2 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. 3 (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?” 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!” 8 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; 9 but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. 10 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.” 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man. 12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 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. 14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. 15 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. 16 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. 17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war. 18 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!” 19 So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 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. 21 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. 22 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. 23 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.” 24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. 25 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. 26 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. 27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 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.” 29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. 30 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. 31 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. 32 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.” 33 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. 34 And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites[d] did not know that disaster was upon them. 35 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. 36 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. 37 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. 38 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, 39 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.” 40 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. 41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. 42 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. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. 45 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. 46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor. 47 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. 48 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.
If you are just joining us I would encourage you to get a hold of our study of chapter 19 because today’s teaching is the continuation of the story. In this chapter the Levite’s appeal to the tribal confederacy of Israel is answered. The case is heard and the children of Benjamin are commanded to deliver the wrongdoers for punishment in accordance with the law and the covenant. Their refusal to do so is a breach of covenant which the others see as bringing God’s wrath on themselves unless they do something about it. Thus they seek to put pressure on them to do so.
When this also is rejected they go in to do it themselves. In order, in their view, to avoid the wrath of God, the tribal confederacy seeks to enforce their decree. This results in a tribal war which is evidence of a serious breach of covenant on behalf of ‘Benjamin’, and eventually, after two setbacks, they defeat the children of Benjamin with God’s backing, and exact the vengeance which tradition required. However, the consequence of this civil war resulted in the near extermination of the entire tribe of Benjamin.
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.
After messengers had been sent between the tribes the whole of Israel gathered at Mizpah. This may have resulted from a call from the central sanctuary at Bethel, or possibly on the initiative of the leaders of the tribe of Ephraim where the Levite lived.
Our Precious Holy Spirit reports the tribes sent representatives ‘From Dan to Beersheba’, a rough description of the land possessed west of Jordan, a description regularly used in the Old Testament. Dan was the furthest north of the towns of Israel, and Beersheba the furthest south.
Remember way back in the book of Joshua before the nation of Israel went into the Promised Land, a few tribes petitioned to stay on the other side of the Jordan river. This is those people where the statement ‘Along with the land of Gilead’, is talking about. Those east of Jordan were also included in the call up, ‘Gilead’ being used in its widest sense as representing the whole. All Israel were involved. The Levite had achieved his purpose. He had shocked them into action and united the tribes.
Sometimes our Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – allows horrible situations in order to catch our attention. Please note the statement, ‘As one man.’ The tribal confederation were gathered in unity, which was not always true of them, and all were agreed that the matter should be dealt with. They had gathered to see to the implementing of the covenant of Yahweh, which He had made with them and to which He demanded obedience as their Overlord. It was seen as matter for the whole confederation. They were gathered before God. The gathering was done ‘At Mizpah.’ It means ‘a place of watching’. It was a town of Benjamin, eleven kilometers (seven miles) north of Jerusalem.
2 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.
Now a question many ask is how did they know that the number of soldiers? Were they able to count all the soldiers? Of course our Wonderful Holy Ghost could have given the count to the writer of Judges. I think the best way is that there were 400 officers. Each officer would be in charge of a 1000 soldiers. Ta Da!
3 (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?”
This is a parenthesis. It would hardly seem surprising as they met on Benjaminite territory. But the statement ‘had heard’ probably means that they had received the call and had refused it. It was in fact a grave mistake not to have made more effort to ensure the Benjaminite leaders were there, for had they been there and agreed the verdict the problems that resulted may not have occurred. Trying to force an opinion on people without their participation is a recipe for disaster. Of course if the call to the assembly went with the parts of the concubine’s body that may explain why they did not come. They were offended.
The leaders who had gathered together now commenced the case, and asked for details of what had occurred. There would presumably be present as witnesses the Levite, his servant and the old man from Gibeah.
4 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. 5 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.
The testimony was clear and straightforward, although protecting his honor. The main motive of the men is not mentioned, possibly because he did not want to be associated with such an idea, or possibly as being something he was ashamed to mention in public, but he had had no doubt as to what would have been the end result, especially when he resisted. All present would understand what he meant by the humbling or forcing of his concubine, multiple rape. And it had been so vicious that she had died as a result.
6 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.
He then explained his unusual action in cutting up her body and sending it round to the tribes. What he had done emphasizes that he was asking for the death penalty. That was the significance of the cutting up and sending round of the dead body.
Please note the Levite’s comment ‘Of the inheritance of Israel.’ This was his description of the country that Israel had inherited from God. This reminded them that the country was God’s, and that they were responsible to Him for maintaining justice in His name. They had inherited it from the God of the covenant, and therefore must fulfill the covenant requirements. In this case the land was stained with blood.
The crime of the men of the Tribe of Benjamin is concise and to the point - ‘Lewdness and outrage or folly in Israel.’ ‘Folly in Israel’ was a technical term for the most obscene of behavior. It signified that the culprit had broken the covenant in a way that deserved the ultimate penalty. ‘Lewdness’ defined the particular type of folly that had been committed. They were guilty of attempted sodomy, multiple rape, lack of hospitality to a stranger, intended desecration of a Levite, and murder. Details of this may well have been privately passed to the main judges. It could not be mentioned in public.
7 Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!”
This was probably an official way of ending testimony. He requested the court to consider the facts and give their verdict on behalf of the whole confederation, in the light of the covenant of God made with Israel through Moses.
8 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;
The verdict was unanimous. All were agreed, as indeed they had no option but to be in the light of the evidence, no doubt backed up by that of the servant and the old man. This refers, of course, to the leaders assembled together. The verdict having been reached justice would immediately be done, and they would not return to normal life or rest until this had been put into action.
Now I want you to consider something. Were the leaders correct in all that they have just proposed to do? If you say ‘yes’ Then how come they experience defeat after defeat at the hands of the one tribe of Benjamin?
I suggest to you is that they themselves did not stop and pray and seek God’s forgiveness. We will see soon that this will happen. We all need to remember this important lesson. When you point your finger at someone else for their wrong doing, remember three fingers are pointing right back at you.
9 but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. 10 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.”
One tenth of the men of Israel would be conscripted for the task, chosen by lot. They would arm and provision themselves on behalf of the people with the aim of punishing the men of Gibeah as they deserved. This would certainly be the death penalty in view of their crimes.
11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.
The army was gathered as agreed, and they were all one in their aims. This was probably most unusual for the tribal confederation, and this incident and its result may well have acted to give the confederation a unity that it had previously lacked.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 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.
The first phrase was intended to make them consider the position and was presumably accompanied by the details of the case. The second was a demand that the guilty men be handed over to be put to death.
How insensitive people are. When outsiders seek to impose their will without proper consultation it can only cause resentment within. What they should have done was ensured that the children of Benjamin were included in the deliberations, if so then things might have turned out differently. But men are naturally arrogant, especially when they think they have the truth, and their anger was aroused. What they wanted was right. It was the way they went about it that was wrong. It is not wise to make important decisions in anger. Many a church has been divided by such heavy-handed tactics.
On the other hand Benjamin was part of the tribal confederation. They should have been present, and they had a responsibility to cooperate in the fulfilling of the covenant which the men of Gibeah had broken. And they knew the consequences of refusal. Israel was made up of God’s people. It was therefore necessary to remove sin from among them, especially a gross sin like this one. It reflected on all. Both fornication and murder were capital offences under Mosaic Law. And to misuse a Levite was sacrilege. Indeed if they did not deal with it rightly they knew that they themselves would come under the judgment of God.
The use of the term ‘brothers’ signified their place as members of the tribal confederation. But the Benjaminites, and especially their leaders, were annoyed. This had been done over their heads and was being enforced from outside. Naturally they bridled at the idea. Thus, instead of giving the case a fair examination, they refused to give up the men of Gibeah, who had been guilty of such a great sin.
Both sides were in the wrong, the one for treating the sin lightly because of their pride, the other for their presumption because of their arrogance. But in the eyes of the law the latter were in the right, for God’s law was being ignored and they rightly saw it as a heinous thing. The action of the Levite had brought home to them just how heinous. They felt that if they did not eradicate the sin God might eradicate them. Thus their obstinacy.
14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel.
Recognizing that the next move would be for the tribal confederacy to attack Gibeah, the Benjaminites gathered their fighting men together there in order to fight off any attack. They were determined to protect it and defend it against the other tribes. It was their city and no one else had a right to interfere. But this was not only a breach of the covenant, it an act of civil war.
Of course, had they been more conciliatory and agreed to try the men themselves things would have taken a different turn. But now it was prestige that was at stake, and in order to defend that they were prepared to overlook gross sin. So do men behave in their folly. The case was not well thought out. In the end, although they were powerful fighters, they had no hope against such superior numbers. Perhaps they hoped that the tribal confederation would back down, but they had not counted on the effect on the confederate leaders of receiving a part of a woman’s torso with its consequent realization of how great the sin had been against God.
15 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.
The children of Benjamin were numbered for battle and their numbers came to twenty six military units, compared with the four hundred military units of the tribal confederacy. They also had the men of Gibeah who would fight to the death for their city. There were seven hundred of them and they were ‘chosen men’, powerful fighters. But what were they against so many?
16 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.
Each unit would have a number of slingers and in all they numbered seven hundred. They slung left-handed and were deadly accurate.
17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
The opposing tribal confederacy had four hundred fighting units. But as verse 10 may be telling us, they were at first only committing forty.
18 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!”
Bethel was where God had revealed Himself to Jacob/Israel their ancestor. There they sought God’s guidance. They were on a sacred mission and looked to God to guide them. This may have been through the Urim and Thummim, the answer to which would be taken as indicating Yahweh’s will. This prevented any feeling of resentment with regard to the matter, otherwise each might have argued for the privilege of leading into battle. And the decision was that the units of Judah should lead into battle.
19 So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.
The forty units of the tribal confederacy, with Judah to the fore, marched to Gibeah and encamped near the city. Please notice that it is ‘the children of Israel’ who go forward, not just the men of Judah. Thus Judah are just the leading units into battle.
20 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 at the appropriate time they left their camp and set themselves in battle array ready for action, forty units against twenty six units.
21 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.
The phrase ‘cut down to the ground’ is unusual. They were not necessarily all killed, but many knocked to the ground as though dead. This may have been partly through the sling stones. But they lost in this way twenty two of their units, a shattering defeat.
Notice the point that I had made regarding defeat. The question may be asked why they were defeated when they were in a righteous cause. Besides not repenting of their own sins, the answer may also lie in a similar complaint to that when Joshua failed against Ai. Instead of taking their whole army they had sent only a tenth. They had, like Joshua, been presumptuous and had gone forward confident in their own strength and ability. Others have attributed it to the fact that idolatry was still rife in the land as illustrated in chapter 18. The men of Dan, who had set up their own graven image and established their own priesthood, were in the confederacy. But a third possibility lies in the fact that God does not always give success immediately. Sometimes failure is a test to see whether His people will persevere in what is right even when things go wrong. What He promises is final success, and this they would achieve.
22 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.
This may indicate that they brought up further reinforcements as a result of messengers going back to the main force with an indication of what had happened. It may also indicate that many men who had seemed fatally struck down had not been so, and had been brought back to camp ready for further battle. They still considered that their tactics of the first day had been right. So they once again set their forces in array ready for a further battle. But first they wanted confirmation from Yahweh.
23 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.”
Their confidence had been dented, so as well as bringing up reinforcements they again sought God. ‘Went up’ suggests that some of their number went again to the central sanctuary at Bethel on their behalf. Or it may be that the Priest was there wearing the ephod and they gathered to the Priest. ‘They wept before Yahweh until evening’. This was partly because of their disastrous defeat and in mourning for their fallen comrades, but no doubt with great heart searching as to the reasons why God had let them down. Have this ever happened to you? Then study on to see how you can avoid this in the future from happening. Maybe there was also a great searching of their hearts for sins that may have been responsible, including their lack of brotherhood towards Benjamin.
The lot fell for a further attack on Benjamin. This confirmed for them that Benjamin now shared in the guilt of Gibeah, as well as also being seen as traitors against the covenant and the tribal confederacy.
24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. 25 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.
Once again the children of Israel advanced against the Benjaminites. The children of Israel were swordsmen and could not cope with this weapon that knocked them down to the ground before they had even reached the enemy.
26 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.
‘Now wait a minute Lord, what are you doing? You tell us to go and fight and then you lead us to defeat.’ This is not true.
You have to stop and think about this. Our Great Yahweh Elohe Yisrael – The Lord God of Israel, only answered their direct questions with a direct answer. The Israelites had forsaken God. Remember, how everyone did what was right in their own eyes. They had nothing to do with God. And now all of a sudden God should be rejoicing that they have come back to Him. I don’t think so. What they are doing now is what they should have done before anything else. Do you see the point here? They should have been on their face repenting and fasting and crying for their cold rejection of the Holy One Who they owe their entire existence to.
What about us? You see someone who has lead a life away from God in sin and they just show back up like nothing happened? I think our God wants to see humble repetitive hearts before rejoining the congregation.
27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
The mention of the Ark of the Covenant, in which were the ten commandments against which the men of Gibeah were judged, in a way points out the sins of the 11 Tribes also.
28 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.”
The question not only reflects their concern about their defeat, but also their concern about whether they should be fighting against this wayward member of the tribal confederacy. It was probably put in two parts. ‘Should we go up?’ and ‘Will You deliver them into our hand.’ It is possible that the Urim and Thummim could only give the answers ‘yes’ or ‘no reply’ This time God not only told them to go forward, but also promised victory on the morrow.
29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah.
There was now a change of tactics. Their previous tactics had not worked, probably because of the slingers. Now they decided that they must draw the children of Benjamin out of the city allowing the warriors in wait to come in from behind and capture the city. These may well have been put in place at night. The tactics followed those of Joshua at Ai as discussed in the book of Joshua chapter 8. They had probably been reminded of them on recognizing that their behavior had been similar to Israel’s then, with the same arrogance, a similar need to deal with sin, and now the promise of final victory.
30 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.
There were three memorable days of battle. This was the third of them. They appeared to be following the same plan as previously, but this time with their full force. The children of Benjamin no doubt thought that their luck was in. They thought that these foolish children of Israel would never learn. They were about to lose again.
31 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.
The children of Israel went into retreat drawing the Benjaminites after them into the highways in the open country going towards Bethel. The Benjaminites, exulting in this further success, followed them leaving Gibeah relatively undefended. And they killed thirty men of Israel. But this time the rapid retreat had prevented maximum use of the slingers.
32 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.”
They men of the tribe of Benjamin were overconfident and became careless, forgetting that their previous victories had been due to the slingers and the massed ranks of their enemies coming towards them. This was the strategy of the children of Israel, to draw the Benjaminites away from the city by pretending to be afraid of them and not able to face them. So they fled along the highways which enabled them to move at speed without becoming too disorganized, followed by the hotly pursuing Benjaminites.
33 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.
These men who ‘rose up out of their place’ were probably a large force lying in ambush. As the fleeing Israelites came towards them, followed by the exultant Benjaminites, they rose up and drew up in battle formation at Baaltamar, a place on the route. Tamar means ‘palm tree’. Possibly it was a grove of palm trees where Baal worship had been prominent.
34 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.
These ten units may have been the Israelite warriors in wait, or they may have been the forces in ambush that suddenly appeared in front of the horrified Benjaminites, joining forces with the fleeing children of Israel. Or they may have been a third force which had been waiting for this moment. .
The new strategy had rendered the slingers relatively ineffective for they worked best against massed troops before battle was actually joined, not against rapidly moving fleeing targets, and the retreat had probably disorganized them. The cutting down of fleeing troops was not work for slingers, and the Benjaminites had not been expecting the extra reinforcements.
35 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.
Twenty five out of twenty six Benjaminite units were destroyed. One unit had probably remained to protect Gibeah. The ‘hundred’ men were probably specifically a unit of the men of Gibeah
36 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.
The soldiers of Benjamin now became aware that their end was near. This was part of the explanation for the pretended flight. It also nullified the slingers and drew the Benjaminites into an ambush.
37 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.
The weakly defended city, with only one fighting unit available, was unable to stem the onset and succumbed, and all were put to the sword for they were seen as sharing the guilt of Gibeah. They were subject to The Ban, total extermination.
38 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,
The smoke would alert their fellow soldiers that the city had been taken and would bring alarm and despondency to the enemy. For the Benjaminites, if Gibeah was taken, the enemy was behind them, and they had nowhere to retreat, and their whole reason for fighting had gone.
39 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.” 40 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.
A huge pillar of smoke ascended from the city and one of their number first noticed it and yelled, and others then turned and saw it, and soon the word spread until all saw it. They knew exactly what it meant. What they were fighting for had been destroyed, and they had nowhere to go back to, only avenging forces whose number they did not know. Nothing produces more panic than uncertainty.
41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them.
Their city destroyed behind them in an appalling way by a force of unknown strength, the sudden resolute turning of what they had thought was a defeated army, and the appearance of extra troops could only cause them to panic, and seeming victory was turned into defeat.
42 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.
The Benjaminites saw no alternative but to flee for their lives into the rough country, for the highways would just lead them into enemy forces, but it did them no good for their pursuers were relentless. They chased them hard and slew them one by one.
43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east.
This describes a typical pursuit in such a situation. The Benjaminites were surrounded on all sides, for the confederation dwelt in lands all round, and men would come from all sides to wreak vengeance on Benjamin. Pursuit was so fierce that as soon as Benjaminites stopped exhausted for a rest they would be overtaken and trodden down, that is, slaughtered. As far as they fled to the east so were they pursued? But some would inevitably slip through the net and disappear, hiding in the mountains or wandering disguised through confederate lands as travelers.
44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor.
Eighteen military units were destroyed in the initial battle and pursuit, the same number as they themselves had destroyed in the second battle.
45 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.
This would be a rocky cliff with caves, possibly modern Rammon, eight miles east of Bethel. They knew that if they reached that rocky fortress they would be able to hide and defend themselves against any who tried to encroach. Rimmon means ‘pomegranate’. Perhaps that was what it looked like.
46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor.
The picture is dreadful, but vivid. One by one the men of Benjamin were picked off as they used the highways to try to reach Rimmon, a whole five units of men. The gleanings were the bits that were left over when the harvest was reaped, to be picked up a little at a time, and they were the gleanings. Two units managed to reach Gidom, but there they had to make a stand and were defeated. The name means ‘a cutting down, a breaking in pieces’.
47 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.
Of the army that started out only six hundred identifiable men remained, although we can be sure that here and there stragglers escaped and found refuge somewhere. There are almost always some who escape even the worst massacres, to later describe what happened. The Rock of Rimmon was clearly inaccessible except individually and thus could easily be defended by a small force while they had supplies. The confederacy knew that they were there but could seemingly do little about it.
48 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.
From city to city they went, killing with their swords every living person, old men, women and children, and then destroying all domestic beasts and every possession. The cities were burned to the ground. Nothing was to be left. Seemingly it took about four months. This was the punishment for betrayal of the covenant and rejection of the authority of the tribal confederacy to which by oath they belonged. It was an object lesson to all the members of the confederacy as to what would happen to them if they betrayed their brothers. And the six hundred men were cooped up in the Rock of Rimmon knowing what was happening to their wives and children. But in the end this was the consequence of the behavior of the men of Gibeah and the unwillingness of God’s people in Benjamin to do anything about it.
What lessons do we learn from this passage of Scripture?
Firstly, that God is holy and requires full payment for sin. The men of Gibeah had committed crimes which required the death penalty, for there were no reliable prisons where they could be given life imprisonment. It was necessary that those penalties be exacted.
Secondly that breach of a covenant with God is a serious matter. God will act to preserve its integrity. If we treat sin lightly then we must expect God’s judgment, whether now or delayed. It was not God Who chose the manner of punishment. This was decided by man on the basis of custom. But they had God’s general support because their aims were in the right.
Thirdly that if we are faithless in our behavior we cannot expect God to act on our behalf. God is not mocked.
Fourthly that if we repent of our sins then He will forgive us and begin to act for us.
In regard to the final consequences we must remember the world in which these people lived. The covenant was the basis of their security. It was also in their eyes the guarantee of the graciousness of their God towards them. The whole safety of their families and the nation depended on everyone being faithful to their commitment to it. If one member failed it could bring disaster on all. Thus the penalty for such unfaithfulness was total.
