Judges 20:23-33

23 ¹And the people of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until the evening. And they inquired of the Lord, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin? ” And the Lord said, “Go up against them. ”

24 So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day.

25 And Benjamin ²went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who ³drew the sword.

26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to ⁴Bethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

27 And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord ⁵(for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

28 and ⁶Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ⁷ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease? ” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand. ”

29 ⁸So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah.

30 And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.

31 And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, ⁹one of which goes up to ¹⁰Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel.

32 And the people of Benjamin said, ¹¹“They are routed before us, as at the first. ” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways. ”

33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba. ^[a]

Judges 20:23-33 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.

Cross References

• 1. 20:23 ver. 26-28
• 2. 20:25 ver. 21
• 3. 20:25 ver. 2
• 4. 20:26 ver. 18, 31
• 5. 20:27 [Josh. 18:1; 1 Sam. 4:3, 4]
• 6. 20:28 Num. 25:7; 31:6; Josh. 24:33
• 7. 20:28 Deut. 10:8; 18:5, 7
• 8. 20:29 [Josh. 8:4]
• 9. 20:31 ch. 21:19
• 10. 20:31 ver. 18, 26
• 11. 20:32 [Josh. 8:5, 6]

Footnotes

• [a] 20:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts 'place west of Geba'