Judges 20 Study Notes

20:1-3 The message conveyed by the carved-up body of the Levite’s concubine achieved a remarkable unity among the tribes of Israel. All of the Israelites from the northern border town of Dan to the southern border town of Beer-sheba came out as one—an achievement that surpassed anything accomplished by the judges raised up by the Lord. Mention of the land of Gilead shows that even the Transjordanian tribes responded. A total of four hundred thousand armed foot soldiers assembled, a vast army by the standards of the book of Judges. The meeting took place at Mizpah, on the border between Benjamin and Ephraim, just north of Jerusalem and only a few miles away from Gibeah. The Benjaminites, however, did not take part in this assembly.

20:4-7 The Levite presented his own version of the facts to the assembly, carefully leaving out anything that might show him in a bad light. He failed to mention taking his concubine outside, giving her to the men, and then going to bed. Instead, he simply said, they raped my concubine, and she died. He termed this act a wicked outrage in Israel—a gross sin that demanded a response. All the people therefore determined to take united action against Gibeah.

20:8-10 Rather than seeking God’s will as in chap. 1, they decide to choose by lot who will lead.

20:11-17 Before engaging in military action, the Israelites sent messengers among the Benjaminites, appealing to them to hand over the guilty men. The tribe of Benjamin was more concerned about tribal solidarity than national solidarity or justice, and so the appeal to put these men to death fell on deaf ears. As a result, instead of Israel against Gibeah, the conflict became Israel against Benjamin. The Benjaminites mobilized their forces for war—twenty-six thousand armed men, including seven hundred from Gibeah. This was a significant army, even if outnumbered by the Israelite’s four hundred thousand . . . experienced warriors. There was also a special contingent of seven hundred men who, like the Benjaminite judge Ehud, were left-handed, and who were remarkable marksmen, able to hit the smallest of targets with their slings.

20:18-21 The Israelites assembled for war at Bethel, northwest of Mizpah, where God had revealed himself to Jacob (Gn 28). There the Israelites inquired of God not about whether they should fight their brothers, but about who should go first against the Benjaminites, and the Lord answered Judah. The language is virtually identical to 1:1-2, except here they call on ’Elohim, the generic Hebrew name of God, rather than Yahweh, the personal, covenant name. The connection to 1:1-2 highlights the fact that the Benjaminites had taken the place of the Canaanites as Israel’s enemy. Having shared in the sin of the Canaanites, now they must share in their punishment. Yet when the Israelites went out against the Benjaminites, the Israelites were immediately defeated. The twenty-six thousand Benjaminites slaughtered twenty-two thousand Israelites.

20:22-25 In spite of this initial setback, Israel persisted in the conflict. They sought the Lord again and wept before him, as they had in 2:4-5. They asked for confirmation of their course: Should we again attack our brothers the Benjaminites? The answer was affirmative, but once again they were defeated by the Benjaminites.

20:26-28 A third time, they went to the Lord. This time, in addition to weeping, they fasted and made offerings in recognition that their covenant relationship with God was broken and needed to be restored. They had also apparently brought the ark of the Lord from Shiloh, where the tabernacle was at this time, to Bethel, perhaps as a good-luck charm (cp. 1Sm 4). The high priest at this time was Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, a detail suggesting that the events described in this chapter took place at an early stage of the period of the judges. The Lord once again responded to their request for guidance, telling Israel that on the next day he would hand Benjamin over to them.

20:29-35 This time, Israel’s strategy was more complex, including a frontal assault combined with an ambush, a tactic borrowed from the attack on Ai in Jos 8. The main battle proceeded as before, with the Benjaminites coming out of the city to attack the Israelites and succeeding in inflicting casualties upon them. The Benjaminites believed that another victory lay in front of them. Like Samson, they assumed that nothing had changed, not knowing that the Lord was about to hand them over to their fate. However, the Israelite strategy was to absorb these losses and retreat before the Benjaminites, drawing them away from the city. Once they had successfully lured them away, they took up battle positions at Baal-tamar, an otherwise unknown location. Meanwhile, the Israelites who were hidden in ambush emerged, and ten thousand of them assaulted Gibeah. The Benjaminites continued to fight, but they were defeated; this time the casualties were virtually all on the Benjaminite side.

20:36-41 The ambush at Gibeah was a complete success, and the whole city was put to the sword. A great cloud of smoke signaled the Israelites’ success and announced the doom of the Benjaminites. Finally, when it was too late, the Benjaminites realized that disaster had struck them.

20:42-48 The defeated Benjaminites fled east, toward the wilderness, but there was no escape. Caught between the Israelite army and the troops emerging from Gibeah, Benjamin’s army suffered a total of twenty-five thousand casualties (vv. 44-45). A tiny remnant of six hundred men escaped and hid at Rimmon Rock, where there were many caves in which to hide. Meanwhile, the Israelite army returned to Benjamin and carried out a war of total destruction against its remaining occupants, human and animal, like those waged against the Canaanite population of the land. The tribe of Benjamin was almost completely destroyed.