The Decisive Battle: All the People of Israel Go to War with the Tribe of Benjamin | Chapter 20 in the Book of Judges

Chapter Summary

Chapter 20 describes the unrest and war that erupted between the tribes of Israel and the Benjaminites following a horrific act of murder and sin in Gibeah. All the tribes of Israel unite under the leadership of Hashem to punish the Benjaminites for their crimes. The battle lasts three days, and on the first two days, the Benjaminites manage to defeat many Israelites. Later on, the Israelites cleverly trap their enemies, destroy the city of Gibeah and the Benjaminites, while grappling with moral questions about the extent of the punishment to be inflicted. Ultimately, nearly all the Benjaminites are slaughtered, leading the Israelites to contemplate how to mend the situation after the severe outcomes of the war.

Full Chapter

(1) 'And all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered as one man, from Dan to Beer Sheba and the land of Gilead, unto Hashem at Mizpah.'

(2) 'And the leaders of all the people from all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the congregation of the people of Hashem, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.'

(3) And the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. And the children of Israel said, "Speak, how did this evil happen?"

(4) The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, "I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge."

(5) "And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, intending to kill me, and they abused my concubine so that she died."

(6) "So 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."

(7) "See ye, all the children of Israel, give here your advice and counsel."

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

(9) "But now this is the thing which we will do unto 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, to ensure that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do to them according to all the vileness that they have wrought in Israel."

(11) Thus 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, 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.

(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-six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

(16) Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; each one could sling stones at a hair and not miss.

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

(18) And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of Hashem, and said, "Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin?" And Hashem said, "Judah shall go up first."

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

(20) And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah.

(21) And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men.

(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.

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

(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.

(26) Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept and sat there before Hashem, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Hashem.

(27) And the children of Israel asked of Hashem (for the ark of the covenant of Hashem was there in those days,

(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 Hashem said, "Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand."

(29) And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.

(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 on the highways, of which one goeth up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

(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."

(33) And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar; and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the plains of Jabesh.

(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.

(35) And Hashem smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed in Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand and one hundred men: all these drew the sword.

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

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

(38) Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait was, that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.

(39) And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and 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."

(40) But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to heaven.

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

(43) They inclosed the Benjaminites round about, and chased them, and trod them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.

(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 smote two thousand men of them.

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

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

(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.

Explanation of Difficult Words in the Chapter

And the leaders of all the people: The chiefs of the tribes of Israel stood by.

All the tribes of Israel: The chiefs who assembled were from all the tribes; every tribe sent its leaders to the assembly at Mizpah.

In the congregation of the people of Hashem, four hundred thousand men that drew sword: In the assembly of the people of Israel that gathered in Mizpah, there were four hundred thousand soldiers on foot with swords drawn in their hands.

They rose by lot: Cast lots to see who would go out to fight them and who would perform the other roles required during the war.

To do to Gibeah of Benjamin: We will take people to assist the warriors to repay the inhabitants of Gibeah of Benjamin as they deserve, to punish the inhabitants of Gibeah of Benjamin.

Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial: Which are in Gibeah, and let us put them to death now, after it was clarified that the inhabitants of Gibeah of Benjamin did an abomination, deliver to us the wicked men from Gibeah of Benjamin, and we shall kill them.

'Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand': Go to war against the Benjaminites, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hands.

But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them from the city": But the truth was that the Israelites devised in advance to flee and said to each other they had to escape initially from the soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin to lure them (the soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin) out of Gibeah of Benjamin.

And Hashem smote Benjamin before Israel: Hashem struck down the soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin with a plague before the soldiers of Israel; the soldiers of Israel killed the soldiers of Benjamin.

But the wait pressed quickly and arrayed against Gibeah: While the soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin pursued the soldiers of Israel, the soldiers who were in ambush hastened and spread out in their battle positions against Gibeah of Benjamin.

Encircled Benjamin: The soldiers of Israel surrounded the soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin from all directions.

From men to beast: In every city, the soldiers of Israel killed all the inhabitants of the cities of the tribe of Benjamin: from the people to the animals - they killed them all.

Interesting Explanations from Commentators

Radak: Contemplates whether the divine presence at Mizpah was due to the gathering of many people of Israel, which brings about divine presence, or if it was because the people of Israel had won a salvation at Mizpah when Joshua conquered the land.

Malbim: The prophet emphasizes that the Israelites walked on foot to Mizpah and did not ride horses, and they invested so much effort to arrive because they were zealous for the honor of Hashem.

Malbim: The Israelites' intention was not to kill all the inhabitants of Gibeah, but to kill the sinners and thereby help the people of Gibeah by removing the sinners.

Interesting Midrashim from Yalkut Shimoni

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the priest in those days. Taught our Rabbis: How does one inquire of the Urim and Tumim? The one who inquires faces the one being inquired from, and the one being inquired from faces the divine presence. The one who inquires says: "Shall I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them?" and the one being inquired from says: "So says Hashem, go up and succeed."

Rabbi Judah says: There is no need to tell him: "So says Hashem," but "Go up and succeed." One does not inquire aloud, as it says: "And inquire of him, and he does not ponder it in his heart," as it says: "Before Hashem," but as Hannah said in her prayer, as it says: "And Hannah spoke upon her heart."

Why are they called Urim? Urim because they enlighten the eyes in the law for all their words. Tumim because they consummate their words.

Know the power of the ban: See from the tribes who were zealous over the licentiousness of the tribe of Benjamin. Hashem said to them: You were zealous over the licentiousness but not over the idol of Micah, and because you were not zealous over the idol of Micah, therefore Benjamin killed you first, second, and third, until you fell before the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem, and sought repentance and Hashem accepted them, and they banned that all of Israel would follow them from the least to the greatest, as it says: For the great oath was.

Did all of Israel swear an oath?! "But to let you know that the ban is the oath," they did not go up to Hashem in Mizpah to say death shall be punished.

For Previous Chapters

Chapter 6 in the Book of Judges: Gideon, Son of Joash

Chapter 7 in the Book of Judges: Miraculous and Decisive Victory in the War of Israel against Midian

Chapter 8 in the Book of Judges: Gideon Defeats the Midianite Kings Zebah and Zalmunna

Chapter 9 in the Book of Judges: Jotham's Parable

Chapter 10 in the Book of Judges: The Israelites Sin and Are Delivered into the Hand of Ammon

Chapter 11 in the Book of Judges: Jephthah the Gileadite and His Great Tragedy

Chapter 12 in the Book of Judges: Explanation, Interpretations, and Midrashim

Chapter 13 in the Book of Judges: Birth of Samson

Chapter 14 in the Book of Judges: Samson's Heroism

Chapter 15 in the Book of Judges: Samson Sets Fire to the Philistines' Fields

Chapter 16 in the Book of Judges: The Heroic Death of Samson

Chapter 17 in the Book of Judges: The Idol of Micah

Chapter 18 in the Book of Judges: The Tribe of Dan Seeks an Inheritance

Chapter 19 in the Book of Judges: The Concubine at Gibeah