1-7 The Levite in a general assembly declared his wrong 8-11 The decree of the assembly 12-17 The Benjamites, being cited, make head against the Israelites 18-25 The Israelites in two battles lose forty thousand 26-48 They destroy by a stratagem all the Benjamites, except six hundred.

Then all Jud 20:2,8,11 21:5 De 13:12 Jos 22:12

as one man 1Sa 11:7,8 2Sa 19:14 Ezr 3:1 Ne 8:1

from Dan Jud 18:29 1Sa 3:20 2Sa 3:10 24:2 1Ch 21:2 2Ch 30:5

with the Nu 32:1,40 Jos 17:1 2Sa 2:9

unto the Jud 20:18,26 11:11

in Mizpeh Jud 10:17 11:11 Jos 15:38 18:26 1Sa 7:5,6 10:17 2Ki 25:23

It does not appear that the Israelites on this occasion, were summoned by the authority of any one common head, but they came together by the consent and agreement, as it were, of one common heart, fired with a holy zeal for the honour of God and Israel. The place of their meeting was Mizpeh; they gathered together unto the Lord there; for Mizpeh was so very near to Shiloh. Shiloh was a small town, and therefore, when there was a general meeting of the people to present themselves before God, they chose Mizpeh for their head quarters, which was the next adjoining city of note; perhaps, because they were not willing to give that trouble to Shiloh, which so great an assembly would occasion; it being the residence of the priest that attended the tabernacles.

2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

drew sword Jud 20:15,17 8:10 2Sa 24:9 2Ki 3:26

3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?

the children of Benjamin Pr 22:3 Mt 5:25 Lu 12:58,59 14:31,32

how was Jud 19:22-27

4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

the Levite [heb] the man the Levite
I came Jud 19:15-28

5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.

And the men Jud 19:22

beset Ge 19:4-8

and my concubine Jud 19:25,26

forced [heb] humbled De 22:24 Eze 22:10,11

6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.

cut her Jud 19:29

folly in Israel 10 19:23 Ge 34:7 Jos 7:15 2Sa 13:12,13

7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.

ye are all Ex 19:5,6 De 4:6 14:1,2 1Co 5:1,6,10-12

give here Jud 19:30 Jos 9:14 Pr 20:18 24:6 Jas 1:5

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.

as one man Jud 20:1,11

We will not Jud 21:1,5 Pr 21:3 Ec 9:10

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

by lot against it Jos 14:2 1Sa 14:41,42 1Ch 24:5 Ne 11:1 Pr 16:33 Jon 1:7 Ac 1:26

10 And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual 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.

no ref

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

knot together as one man [heb] fellows

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

sent men De 13:14 20:10 Jos 22:13-16 Mt 18:15-18 Ro 12:18

13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which 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.

deliver 2Sa 20:21,22

children of Belial Jud 19:22 De 13:13 1Sa 30:22 2Sa 20:1 23:6 1Ki 21:13 2Ch 13:7

put away De 17:7,12 19:19 21:21 22:21,24 24:7 Ec 11:10

would not 1Sa 2:25 2Ch 25:16,20 Pr 29:1 Ho 9:9 10:9 Ro 1:32 Re 18:4,5

The conduct of the Israelites was very equitable in this demand; but perhaps the rulers or elders of Gibeah ought previously to have been applied to, to deliver up the criminals to justice. However, the refusal of the Benjamites, and their protection of those who had committed this horrible wickedness, because they were of their own tribe, prove them to have been deeply corrupted, and (all their advantages considered) as ripe for divine vengeance as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah had been. Confiding in their own valour and military skill, they seen to have {first} prepared for battle in this unequal contest with such superior numbers.

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.

Nu 20:20 21:23 2Ch 13:13 Job 15:25,26

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

twenty Jud 20:25,35,46,47 Nu 26:41

16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.

left-handed `obstructed in his right hand;' so the Chaldee Targum, {gemid beedaih deyammeena;} `contracted or impeded in his right hand.' Le Clerc observes, that the 700 men left-handed seem therefore to have been made slingers, because they could not use the right hand, which is employed in managing heavier arms; and they could discharge the stones from the sling in a direction against which their opponents were not upon their guard, and thus do the greater execution. Jud 3:15 1Ch 12:2

sling stones
The sling was a very ancient warlike instrument; and, in the hands of those who were skilled in the use of it, produced astonishing effects. The inhabitants of the islands of Baleares, now Majorca and Minorca, were the most celebrated slingers of antiquity. They did not permit their children to break their fast, till they had struck down the bread they had to eat from the top of a pole, on some distant eminence. Vegetius tells us, that slingers could in general hit the mark at 600 feet distances. 1Sa 17:40,49,50 25:29 2Ch 26:14

17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.

four hundred Jud 20:2 Nu 1:46 26:51 1Sa 11:8 15:4 1Ch 21:5 2Ch 17:14-18

18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

house of Jud 18:31 19:18 Jos 18:1 Joe 1:14

asked Jud 20:7,23,26,27 1:1 Nu 27:5,21 Jos 9:14

Judah Jud 1:1,2 Ge 49:8-10

19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.

rose up Jos 3:1 6:12 7:16

20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.

21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.

the children Ge 49:27 Ho 10:9

destroyed De 23:9 2Ch 28:10 Ps 33:16 73:18,19 77:19 Ec 9:1-3 Jer 12:1

22 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.

encouraged Jud 20:15,17 1Sa 30:6 2Sa 11:25 Ps 64:5

23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)

wept Jud 20:26,27 Ps 78:34-36 Ho 5:15

And the It seems most evident that the Israelites did not seek the protection of God. When they `went to the house of God,' ver 18 it was not to enquire concerning the {expediency} of the war, nor of its {success}, but which of the tribes should begin the attack: and the question is, `Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?' Having so much {right} on their side, they had no doubt of the {justice} of their cause, and the {propriety} of their conduct; and having such a {superiority} of numbers, they had no doubt of {success}. But God humbled them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies; and shewed them that the race was not to the swift, not the battle to the strong.

24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

destroyed Jud 20:21 Ge 18:25 Job 9:12,13 Ps 97:2 Ro 2:5 3:5 11:33

26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

all the children Jud 20:18,23

sept 1Sa 7:6 2Ch 20:3 Ezr 8:21 9:4,5 Joe 1:14 2:12-18 Jon 3:5-10

27 And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

enquired Jud 20:18,23 Nu 27:21

the ark Jos 18:1 1Sa 4:3,4 Ps 78:60,61 Jer 7:12

The loss of two battles at length brought this stiff-necked people to enquire of the Lord; for all the company at this time met at Shiloh, and kept a day of fasting and prayer with great earnestness and solemnity. `Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.' Isa 59:1

28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.

Phinehas It is evident, from this mention of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, that these transactions must have taken place not long after the death of Joshua. Nu 25:7-13 Jos 22:13,30-32 24:33

stood De 10:8 18:5

Shall I yet Jos 7:7 1Sa 14:37 23:4-12 30:8 2Sa 5:19-24 6:3,7-12 Pr 3:5,6 Jer 10:23

Go up Jud 1:2 7:9 2Ch 20:17

29 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.

Israel Though God had promised them success, they knew they could expect it only by the use of proper means. Hence they used all prudent precaution, and employed, all their military skill.

liers Jud 20:34 Jos 8:4 2Sa 5:23

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

31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

drawn Jos 8:14-16

smite of the people, and kill, as at [heb] smite of the people wounded as at, etc.

the house of God. or, Beth-el.
Gibeah Jud 19:13,14 Isa 10:29

thirty Jos 7:5

32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.

Let us flee This was done, not only because they had placed an ambuscade behind Gibeah, which was to enter and burn the city as soon as the Benjamites left it; but it would seem, that the slingers, by being within the city and its fortifications, had great advantage over the Israelite by their slings, when they could not come among them with their swords, unless they got them in the plain of the country. Jos 8:15,16

33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.

rose up Jos 8:18-22

put themselves There appear to have been three divisions of the Israelitish army: one at Baal-tamar, (which was situated, says Eusebius, near Gibeah;) a second behind the city in ambush; and a third, who skirmished with the Benjamites before Gibeah.

34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.

ten thousand Jud 20:29

knew not Jos 8:14 Job 21:13 Pr 4:19 29:6 Ec 8:11,12 9:12 Isa 3:10,11 47:11 Mt 24:44 Lu 21:34 21:34 1Th 5:3

35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword.

twenty Jud 20:15,44-46 Job 20:5

though the numbers of the Israelites were immensely superior to those of Benjamin, though the stratagem was well laid and ingeniously executed, and the battle bravely fought, yet the inspired historian ascribes the victory to the hand of the Lord, as entirely as if he had smitten the Benjamites by a miracle.

36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.

for the man Jos 8:15

37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.

the liers in wait hasted. Jos 8:19

drew themselves along. or, made a long sound with the trumpets Ex 19:13 Jos 6:5

38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.

Now there From this verse to the end of the chapter, we have the details of the same operations which are mentioned, in a general way, in the preceding verses of this chapter.

sign. or, time.
and [heb] with
flame [heb] elevation

39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.

And when Jud 20:31

smite and kill [heb] smite the wounded

40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.

a pillar Ge 19:28 So 3:6 Joe 2:30 Re 19:3

jos 8:20
flame [heb] whole consumption

41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.

were amazed Ex 15:9,10 Isa 3:8,9 33:14 Lu 17:27,28 21:26 1Th 5:3 2Pe 2:12 Re 6:15-17 18:8-10

was come upon them [heb] touched them

42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.

the battle La 1:3 Ho 9:9 10:9

43 Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.

inclosed
jos 8:20-22
with ease. or, from Menuchah, etc.
over against [heb] unto over against

44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor.

45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.

Rimmon Jos 15:32 1Ch 6:77 Zec 14:10

46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valor.

twenty Jud 20:15,35

47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.

six hundred Jud 21:13 Ps 103:9,10 Isa 1:9 Jer 14:7 La 3:32 Hab 3:2

rock of Rimmon The rock Rimmon was doubtless a strong place; but it is uncertain where situated. it is probable however, that it was near, and took its name from, the village of Remmon, mentioned by Eusebius, fifteen miles north from Jerusalem. It appears that rocks are still resorted to in the East, as places of security; and some of them are even capable of sustaining a siege. De La Roque says, that `The Grand Seignior, wishing to seize the person of the emir (Fakr-eddin, prince of the Druses,) gave orders to the pacha to take him prisoner: he accordingly came in search of him, with a new army, in the district of Chouf, which is part of mount Lebanon, wherein is the village of Gesin, and close to it, the rock which served for a retreat to the emir. It is name in Arabic, Magara Gesin, ie.e, the cavern of Gessin, by which name it is famous. The pacha pressed the emir so closely, that this unfortunate prince was obliged to shut himself up in the cleft of a great rock, with a small number of his officers. The pacha besieged him there several months; and was going to blow up the rock with a mine, when the emir capitulated.

48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

smote them De 13:15-17 2Ch 25:13 28:6-9 Pr 18:19

came to hand [heb] was found
they came to [heb] were found