Judges 20
20
Civil War Breaks Out
1 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba#sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites. and from the land of Gilead#sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River. left their homes#tn Heb “went out.” and assembled together#tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.” before the Lord at Mizpah. 2 The leaders#tn Heb “the cornerstones”; or “the supports.” The word is used of leaders in only three other texts – 1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4. of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, which numbered#tn The words “which numbered” are supplied in the translation for clarification. four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers. 3 The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!” 4 The Levite,#tn Heb “The man, the Levite.” the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, “I and my concubine stopped in#tn Heb “came to.” Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin#tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.” to spend the night. 5 The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying.#tn Heb “arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night.” They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died. 6 I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces#tn Heb “her”; the referent is more naturally stated in English as “the pieces.” throughout the territory occupied by Israel,#tn Heb “throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel.” because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity#tn Heb “a wicked and disgraceful [thing].” in Israel. 7 All you Israelites,#tn Heb “Look, all of you sons of Israel.” make a decision here!”#tn Heb “give for yourselves a word and advice here.”
8 All Israel rose up in unison#tn Heb “as one man.” and said, “Not one of us will go home!#tn Heb “to his tent.” Not one of us will return#tn Or “turn aside.” to his house! 9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will attack the city as the lot dictates.#tn Heb “against her by lot.” The verb “we will go up” (נַעֲלֶה, na’aleh) has probably been accidentally omitted before “against her” (עָלֶיהָ, ’aleha).sn As the lot dictates. The Israelite soldiers intended to cast lots to determine which tribe would lead the battle charge (see v. 18). 10 We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army.#tn Or “people.” When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel.”#tn Heb “to do at their arrival in Geba of Benjamin according to all the disgraceful [thing] which he [collective = “Benjamin”] did in Israel.” Here “Geba” must be an error for “Gibeah.” 11 So all the men of Israel gathered together at the city as allies.#tn Heb “gathered at the city as one man, united.”
12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe#tc The MT reads the plural, but surely the singular (which is supported by the LXX and Vulgate) is preferable here. of Benjamin, saying, “How could such a wicked thing take place?#tn Heb “What is this wicked thing which happened among you?” 13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings#tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.” in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.”#tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.” But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers. 14 The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah#tn Heb “assembled from the cities at Gibeah.” to make war against the Israelites. 15 That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah.#tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.” 16 Among this army#tn Heb “And from all this people.” were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers.#tn Heb “seven hundred choice men, bound/restricted in the right hand.” On the significance of the idiom, “bound/restricted in the right hand,” see the translator’s note on 3:15. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target.#tn “at a single hair and not miss.” 17 The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior.#tn Heb “a man of war.”
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel#map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. and asked God,#tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.” “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?”#tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?” The Lord said, “Judah should lead.” 19 The Israelites got up the next morning and moved#tn Heb “encamped.” against Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they#tn Heb “the men of Israel.” The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons. arranged their battle lines against Gibeah. 21 The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day.#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.”
22 The Israelite army#tn Heb “The people, the men of Israel.” took heart#tn Or “encouraged one another.” and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we#tn Heb “I” (collective singular). again march out to fight#tn Heb “approach for battle.” the Benjaminites, our brothers?”#tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular). The Lord said, “Attack them!”#tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular). 24 So the Israelites marched toward#tn Heb “drew near to.” the Benjaminites the next day. 25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers.#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.”
26 So all the Israelites, the whole army,#tn Heb “and all the people.” went up to#tn Heb “went up and came [to].” Bethel.#map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything#tn Traditionally, “fasted.” that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace#tn Or “peace offerings.” to the Lord. 27 The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days; 28 Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord#tn Heb “standing before him.” in those days), “Should we#tn Heb “I” (collective singular). once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers,#tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular). or should we#tn Heb “I” (collective singular). quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them#tn Heb “him” (collective singular). over to you.”
29 So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah. 30 The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day;#tn Heb “the third day.” they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before. 31 The Benjaminites attacked#tn Heb “went out to meet.” the army, leaving the city unguarded.#tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.” They began to strike down their enemy#tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.” just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel,#map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down#tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification. about thirty Israelites. 32 Then the Benjaminites said, “They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s retreat#tn Or “run away.” and lure them#tn Heb “him” (collective singular). away from the city into the main roads.” 33#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. 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. 34 Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah – the battle was fierce.#tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.” But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep.#tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.” 35 The Lord annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites.#tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.” 36 Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated.
The Israelites retreated before#tn Heb “gave place to.” Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah. 37 The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash#tn Heb “hurried and put off [their hiding place].” to Gibeah. They#tn Heb “the men hiding in ambush.” attacked#tn Or “deployed.” The verb normally means “to lead” or “to draw.” and put the sword to the entire city. 38 The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush#tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men hiding in ambush) has been specified in the translation for clarity. sent up a smoke signal from the city, 39 the Israelites counterattacked.#tn Heb “turned in the battle.” Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites;#tn Heb “And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel.” they struck down#tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification. about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.” 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.#tn Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.” 41 When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked#tn Or “were terrified.” because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep.#tn Heb “disaster touched against them.” 42 They retreated before the Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook#tn Heb “clung to”; or “stuck close.” them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down.#tn Heb “and those from the cities were striking them down in their midst.” 43 They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah,#tc The translation assumes the reading מִנּוֹחָה (minnokhah, “from Nohah”; cf. 1 Chr 8:2) rather than the MT’s מְנוּחָה (mÿnukhah, “resting place”). and annihilated#tn Heb “tread down, walk on.” them all the way to a spot east of Geba.#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.” 44 Eighteen thousand Benjaminites, all of them capable warriors, fell dead. 45 The rest#tn Heb “they”; the referent (the rest [of the Benjaminites]) has been specified in the translation for clarity. turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites#tn Heb “and they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. caught#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. five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels#tn Heb “stuck close after them.” all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more. 46 That day twenty-five thousand#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. sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors.#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. 47 Six hundred survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They stayed there four months. 48 The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns#tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.” and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities,#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). the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path.#tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”
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Judges 20: NET
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1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
Judges 20
20
1 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 the LORD 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 footmen who drew sword. 3(Now 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?”
4 The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5The men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house by night. They intended to kill me and they raped 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 here your advice and counsel.”
8 All the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, neither will 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 one hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to get food for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that the men of Gibeah have done in Israel.” 11So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.
12 The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What wickedness is this that has happened among you? 13Now therefore deliver up the men, the wicked 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 themselves together out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. 15The children of Benjamin were counted on that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, in addition to the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were counted seven hundred chosen men. 16Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17The men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were counted four hundred thousand men who drew sword. All these were men of war.
18 The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God. They asked, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”
The LORD said, “Judah first.”
19 The 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 set the battle in array against them at Gibeah. 21The children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day destroyed twenty-two thousand of the Israelite men down to the ground. 22The people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. 23The children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening; and they asked of the LORD, saying, “Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?”
The LORD said, “Go up against him.”
24 The 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 destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men. All these drew the sword.
26 Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27The children of Israel asked the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God 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?”
The LORD said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.”
29 Israel set ambushes all around Gibeah. 30The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array 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 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.
32 The children of Benjamin said, “They are struck down before us, as at the first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let’s flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.”
33 All the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal Tamar. Then the ambushers of Israel broke out of their place, even out of Maareh Geba. 34Ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel came over against Gibeah, and the battle was severe; but they didn’t know that disaster was close to them. 35The LORD struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men. All these drew the sword. 36So the children of Benjamin saw that they were struck, for the men of Israel yielded to Benjamin because they trusted the ambushers whom they had set against Gibeah. 37The ambushers hurried, and rushed on Gibeah; then the ambushers spread out, and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambushers 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 of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, “Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle.” 40But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites 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 disaster had come on them. 42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle followed hard after them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the middle of it. 43They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and trod them down at their resting place, as far as near Gibeah toward the sunrise. 44Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. 45They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. They gleaned five thousand men of them in the highways, and followed hard after them to Gidom, and struck two thousand men of them. 46So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of valor. 47But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and stayed in the rock of Rimmon four months. 48The men of Israel turned again on the children of Benjamin, and struck them with the edge of the sword—including the entire city, the livestock, and all that they found. Moreover they set all the cities which they found on fire.
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