Chapter Twenty

1–2. The assembly of the people of Israel at Mizpah. 3–7. The interrogation of the wronged Levite. 8–17. The decision of the assembly to punish the Benjaminites, who refused to hand over the guilty Gibeahites. 18–48. The civil war between the eleven tribes against Benjamin and the defeat of the Benjaminites.

Judges 20:1. Then all the Israelites came out, and the congregation assembled as one from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the land of Gilead, before the Lord at Mizpah. Judges 20:2. The leaders of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot-soldiers bearing arms. Appalled by the heinous crime of the Benjaminites, the Israelites from all the other tribes, from the far north of Palestine (Dan) to the far south (Beer-sheba), and including the trans-Jordan region (the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh), assembled at Mizpah (cf. Josh 18:26, now Tell Nasbe), from which it was convenient to exert some influence over the inhabitants of Gibeah, which lay in the same tribe of Benjamin. The Benjaminites also heard of this assembly.

Judges 20:3. Now the Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. And the Israelites said: Tell us, how did this wickedness come about? Judges 20:4. The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered: I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. Judges 20:5. The lords of Gibeah rose up against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine [and she died]; Judges 20:6. so I took my concubine and cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the entire territory of Israel’s possession, for they committed a crime and a disgraceful act in Israel; Judges 20:7. so now, you Israelites, all of you, give your advice and counsel here. The representatives of the assembly questioned the wronged Levite about the crime of the Gibeahites. He recounted to them both the crime and his own sending of parts of his concubine’s corpse throughout the tribes, after which he asked them to pronounce a judgment and decision in the matter.

Judges 20:8. All the people rose as one, saying: We will not any of us go to our tents, nor will any of us return to our houses. Judges 20:9. But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: [we will go] against it by lot; Judges 20:10. we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the troops, who are to go to punish Gibeah of Benjamin, for the crime that it has committed in Israel. Judges 20:11. So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one. Judges 20:12. The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying: What crime is this that has been committed among you? Judges 20:13. Now then, hand over those scoundrels in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death, and purge the evil from Israel. But the Benjaminites would not listen to their kinsmen, the Israelites. Judges 20:14. Instead, the Benjaminites mustered from their towns to fight against the Israelites. Judges 20:15. On that day the Benjaminites mustered from their towns twenty-six thousand men armed with swords, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered seven hundred picked men. Judges 20:16. Of all this force, there were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss. Judges 20:17. And the Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand men in arms, all of them warriors. After hearing the Levite, the assembly of Israelites unanimously decided to punish the Gibeahites. But when they approached the representatives of the tribe of Benjamin with such a request, they refused to carry out such punishment.

Judges 20:18. The Israelites proceeded to Bethel, and inquired of God, saying: Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites? And the Lord answered: Judah shall go up first. Judges 20:19. So the Israelites rose in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah. Judges 20:20. The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. Judges 20:21. The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. Judges 20:22. The Israelites took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. Judges 20:23. The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until the evening; and they inquired of the Lord: Shall we again draw near to battle against our kinsmen the Benjaminites? And the Lord said: Go up against them. Judges 20:24. So the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites on the second day. Judges 20:25. Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and struck down eighteen thousand of the Israelites, all of them armed with swords. Discouraged by two defeats, the Benjaminites were fewer in numbers than the Israelites, but they surpassed them in the art of shooting, so that in the first two battles they won victories.

Judges 20:26. Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the Lord; they fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. Judges 20:27. And the Israelites inquired of the Lord [in those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, Judges 20:28. and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it]: Shall we again go out to battle against our kinsmen the Benjaminites, or shall I refrain? The Lord answered: Go; for tomorrow I will give them into your hand. Distressed by the two defeats, the Israelites gathered at Bethel, where the Ark of the Covenant had been brought for that time, observed a day-long fast, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and through the high priest Phinehas (this event dates to the beginning of the Book of Judges) inquired of the Lord whether they should continue the war against the Benjaminites. The Lord, through the Urim and Thummim, told them to go out against the Benjaminites and promised to deliver them into the hands of the Israelites.

Judges 20:29. So Israel stationed men in ambush around Gibeah. Judges 20:30. The Israelites went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as before. Judges 20:31. The Benjaminites went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. As before, they began to inflict casualties on the Israelites, killing about thirty men on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, in the open country. Judges 20:32. The Benjaminites said: They are being routed before us, as previously. But the Israelites said: Let us flee, and draw them away from the city onto the highways. [And they did so.] Judges 20:33. Then all the men of Israel rose from their place and formed their battle line at Baal-tamar; and the ambush of Israel rushed out of their place west of Gibeah. Judges 20:34. There came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard; but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. Judges 20:35. And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the Israelites destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men, all armed. Judges 20:36. When the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated, the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted in the ambuscade that they had set against Gibeah. Judges 20:37. The men in ambush rushed quickly upon Gibeah. Then they put the whole city to the sword. Judges 20:38. The agreed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that when they saw the smoke of the city rising to the sky, then the men of Israel should turn in battle. Judges 20:39. Now when the men of Israel turned in the battle, Benjamin began to strike and kill some of the men of Israel, killing about thirty of them; for they said: Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle. Judges 20:40. But when the cloud, a pillar of smoke, began to rise out of the city, the Benjaminites looked behind them; and there was the whole city going up in smoke toward the sky. Judges 20:41. Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. Judges 20:42. They fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities were destroying them in the midst of them. Judges 20:43. Cutting off Benjamin, they pursued them and trod them down as far as Menuhah, and struck them down until they reached the east side of Gibeah. Judges 20:44. Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. Judges 20:45. [The rest] turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; five thousand men were cut down on the highways. And they were pursued relentlessly to Gidom, and two thousand of them were slain there. Judges 20:46. So all of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand men bearing arms; all of them were men of valor. Judges 20:47. But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months. Judges 20:48. The men of Israel turned back against the Benjaminites, and put them to the sword—the entire city, the cattle, and all that they found. And they set on fire all the towns they came across. By setting up an ambush, the Israelites defeated the Benjaminites on this occasion, destroying all the male population capable of waging war, except for six hundred men who escaped to the wilderness at the rock of Rimmon, located near Gibeah (still called Rimmon today). The city of Gibeah itself, with its inhabitants and livestock, was burned. The place called Baal-tamar mentioned in the account of the military operations of the Israelites can be identified with Betamar, mentioned by Eusebius (Onomast. 238, 75) as being located near Gibeah and rich in palm trees.