Judges 20:1-10

1 So all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, joined together before the Lord in the city of Mizpah.

2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel took their places in the meeting of the people of God. There were 400,000 soldiers with swords.

3 (The people of Benjamin heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said to the Levite, "Tell us how this evil thing happened."

4 So the husband of the murdered woman answered, "My slave woman and I came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house and wanted to kill me. They forced my slave woman to have sexual relations and she died.

6 I took her and cut her into parts and sent one part to each area of Israel because the people of Benjamin did this wicked and terrible thing in Israel.

7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up. What is your decision?"

8 Then all the people stood up at the same time, saying, "None of us will go home. Not one of us will go back to his house!

9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah. We will throw lots.

10 That way we will choose ten men from every hundred men from all the tribes of Israel, and we will choose a hundred men from every thousand, and a thousand men from every ten thousand. These will find supplies for the army. Then the army will go to the city of Gibeah of Benjamin to repay them for the terrible thing they have done in Israel."

Judges 20:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 20

This chapter relates, how that there was an assembly of the children of Israel at Mizpeh, upon what had happened to the concubine of the Levite, where he appeared and related the whole affair to them, Jud 20:1-7 upon which they unanimously agreed to chastise the inhabitants of Gibeah for what they had done, Jud 20:8-11, and in order to do that sent to the tribe of Benjamin to deliver the guilty, but instead of that they took to their arms, and prepared for battle in defence of them, Jud 20:12-17 and two battles ensued on this, in which the Israelites, who were on the right side of the question, were worsted, Jud 20:18-25 but upon their seeking the Lord again, and their humiliation before him, they engaged a third time in battle, and got an entire victory over the Benjaminites, and destroyed them all excepting six hundred men, Jud 20:26-48.