Judgeschapter 20

A.All Israel gathers as one man at Mizpahvv. 1-17

1 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords. 3 (Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?” 4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5 And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died. 6 Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. 7 Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.” 8 Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house. 9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go against it as the lot dictates. 10 We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel gathered as one man, united against the city. 12 And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.” But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites. 14 And from their cities they came together at Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites. 15 On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah. 16 Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing. 17 The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.

B.Two defeats, and weeping before the arkvv. 18-28

18 The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied. 19 The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took up their battle positions at Gibeah. 21 And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day. 22 But the Israelite army took courage and again took their battle positions in the same place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day. 23 They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?” And the LORD answered, “Go up against them.” 24 On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites. 25 That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords. 26 Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. 27 And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

C.Ambush at Gibeah; Benjamin nearly erasedvv. 29-48

29 So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah. 30 On the third day the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32 “We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites. But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.” 33 So all the men of Israel got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush charged from their positions west of Gibeah. 34 Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated. Now the men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set against Gibeah. 37 The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword. 38 The men of Israel had arranged a signal with the men in ambush: When they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39 the men of Israel would turn in the battle. When the Benjamites had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They are defeated before us as in the first battle.” 40 But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, the Benjamites looked behind them and saw the whole city going up in smoke. 41 Then the men of Israel turned back on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them. 42 So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44 And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor. 45 Then the Benjamites turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel cut down 5,000 men on the roads. And they overtook them at Gidom and struck down 2,000 more. 46 That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor. 47 But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the other Benjamites and put to the sword all the cities, including the animals and everything else they found. And they burned down all the cities in their path.

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Chapter summary

Israel assembles as one man from Dan to Beer-sheba at Mizpah, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword, and hears the Levite's account.

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Israel assembles as one man from Dan to Beer-sheba at Mizpah, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword, and hears the Levite's account. Their demand that Benjamin surrender the base fellows of Gibeah is refused, and the tribe musters twenty-six thousand plus seven hundred chosen left-handed men who could sling stones at a hair-breadth and not miss. Israel inquires at Bethel (Phinehas the son of Eleazar standing before the ark in those days) and is beaten twice, losing twenty-two thousand and eighteen thousand, before the third day's ambush burns Gibeah and the smoke rises as a signal. Twenty-five thousand Benjamites fall; six hundred escape to the rock of Rimmon.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Samuel — Judges overview

A. 1–17 All Israel gathers as one man at Mizpah
B. 18–28 Two defeats, and weeping before the ark
C. 29–48 Ambush at Gibeah; Benjamin nearly erased

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Judges 2014 verses
- Judges 20:1Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
- Judges 20:2The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords.
- Judges 20:15On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah.
- Judges 20:17The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.
- Judges 20:18The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.
- Judges 20:21And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
- Read Judges 20: 8 more there →
Joshua 87 verses
- Joshua 8:4with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.
- Joshua 8:14When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
- Joshua 8:15Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
- Joshua 8:18Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out your battle lance toward Ai, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai,
- Joshua 8:19and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
- Joshua 8:20When the men of Ai turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.
- Read Joshua 8: 1 more there →
Judges 196 verses
- Judges 19:15They stopped to go in and lodge in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one would take them into his home for the night.
- Judges 19:22While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”
- Judges 19:23The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.
- Judges 19:25But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
- Judges 19:29When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.
- Judges 19:30And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has been seen or done from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day. Think it over, take counsel, and speak up!”
- Read Judges 19 →
Joshua 73 verses
- Joshua 7:5And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
- Joshua 7:15The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage in Israel.’”
- Joshua 7:16So Joshua arose early the next morning and had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.
- Read Joshua 7 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Deuteronomy 133 verses
- Deuteronomy 13:13that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),
- Deuteronomy 13:14then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,
- Deuteronomy 13:15you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.
- Read Deuteronomy 13 →
Judges 212 verses
- Judges 21:5The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death.
- Judges 21:13Then the whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon.
- Read Judges 21 →
Joshua 62 verses
- Joshua 6:5And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.”
- Joshua 6:12Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests took the ark of the LORD.
- Read Joshua 6 →
Joel 22 verses
- Joel 2:12“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
- Joel 2:30I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
- Read Joel 2 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.