Judges 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. 2The 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.
400,000 sword-wielding foot soldiers. 3The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!” 4The 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. 5The 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. 6I took 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. 7All 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! 9Now 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, naʿaleh) has probably been accidentally omitted before “against her” (עָלֶיהָ, ʿaleha).
▼ 10We 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 that 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.”
11So 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?”
13Now, 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. 14The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah ▼▼tn Heb “assembled from the cities at Gibeah.”
to make war against the Israelites. 15That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities 26,000 sword-wielding soldiers, besides 700 well-trained soldiers from Gibeah. ▼▼tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered 700 choice men.”
16Among this army ▼▼tn Heb “And from all this people.”
were 700 specially trained left-handed soldiers. ▼ Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target. ▼▼tn “at a single hair and not miss.”
17The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered 400,000 sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior. ▼▼tn Heb “a man of war.”
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel 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.” 19The Israelites got up the next morning and moved ▼▼tn Heb “encamped.”
against Gibeah. 20The 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. 21The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down 22,000 Israelites that day. ▼▼tn Heb “The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day 22,000 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. 23The 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).
24So the Israelites marched toward ▼▼tn Heb “drew near to.”
the Benjaminites the next day. 25The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down 18,000 sword-wielding Israelite soldiers. ▼▼tn Heb “And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they again struck down among the sons of Israel 18,000 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. 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. 27The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days; 28Phinehas 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. 30The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; ▼▼tn Heb “the third day.”
they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before. 31The 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, 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 30 Israelites. 32Then 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 ▼ 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. 34Then 10,000 men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, 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.”
35The 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.”
36Then 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 hidden in ambush outside Gibeah. 37The 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. 38The 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, 39the 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 30 men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.” 40But 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.”
41When 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.”
42They 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.”
43They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, ▼ and annihilated ▼▼tn Heb “tread down, walk on.”
them all the way to a spot east of Geba. ▼ 44So 18,000 Benjaminites, all of them capable warriors, fell dead. 45The 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.
5,000 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 2,000 more. 46That day 25,000 ▼▼sn The number given here (25,000 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 25,000 men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.
47But 600 survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They stayed there four months. 48The 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 (meʿir metim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (meʿir metom, “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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