Judges 20:7-17

7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel. Give here your advice and counsel."

8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, "We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.

9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up by lot against it;

10 and we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel."

11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.

12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that is done among you?

13 Now therefore, deliver us the men, the children of Belial, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel." But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel;

14 but the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah to go out to battle against the children of Israel.

15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men, lefthanded. Every one could sling stones at a hairbreadth and not miss.

17 And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of war.

Judges 20:7-17 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.