Judges 20
English Standard Version
Israel's War with the Tribe of Benjamin
20 Then (A)all the people of Israel came out, (B)from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at (C)Mizpah. 2 And the (D)chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot (E)that drew the sword. 3 (Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen?” 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, (F)“I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 (G)And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. 6 (H)So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and (I)outrage in Israel. 7 Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, (J)give your advice and counsel here.”
8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house. 9 But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot, 10 and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.
12 (K)And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? 13 Now therefore give up the men, (L)the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death (M)and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. 14 Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel. 15 And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day (N)26,000 men (O)who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. 16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were (P)left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered (Q)400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.
18 The people of Israel arose and went up to (R)Bethel and inquired of God, (S)“Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, (T)“Judah shall go up first.”
19 Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. 21 (U)The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites. 22 But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. 23 (V)And 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 (W)went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who (X)drew the sword. 26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to (Y)Bethel 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 (Z)(for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and (AA)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, (AB)ministered 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 (AC)So 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, (AD)one of which goes up to (AE)Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the people of Benjamin said, (AF)“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] 34 And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, (AG)but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. 35 And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who (AH)drew the sword. 36 So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated.
The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 (AI)Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city 39 the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, (AJ)“Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, (AK)the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. 41 Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, (AL)for they saw that disaster was close upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in (AM)the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst. 43 Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah[b] as far as opposite Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. 45 And they turned (AN)and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of (AO)Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down. 46 So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor. 47 But 600 men turned and (AP)fled toward the wilderness to the rock of (AQ)Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire.
Footnotes
- Judges 20:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts place west of Geba
- Judges 20:43 Septuagint; Hebrew [at their] resting place
Judges 20
Holman Christian Standard Bible
War against Benjamin
20 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba(A) and from the land of Gilead came out, and the community assembled as one body before the Lord at Mizpah.(B) 2 The leaders(C) of all the people and of all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 armed foot soldiers. 3 The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.
The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this outrage occur?”
4 The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night. 5 Citizens of Gibeah ganged up on me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, but they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 Then I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout Israel’s territory, because they committed a horrible shame(D) in Israel. 7 Look, all of you are Israelites. Give your judgment and verdict here and now.”
8 Then all the people stood united and said, “None of us will go to his tent or return to his house. 9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go against it by lot. 10 We will take 10 men out of every 100 from all the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of every 1,000, and 1,000 out of every 10,000 to get provisions for the people when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for all the horror they did in Israel.”
11 So all the men of Israel gathered united against the city. 12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this outrage that has occurred among you? 13 Hand over the perverted men in Gibeah so we can put them to death and eradicate evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not obey their fellow Israelites. 14 Instead, the Benjaminites gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites. 15 On that day the Benjaminites rallied 26,000 armed men(E) from their cities, besides 700 choice men rallied by the inhabitants of Gibeah. 16 There were 700 choice men who were left-handed among all these people; all could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, rallied 400,000 armed men, every one an experienced warrior. 18 They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God.(F) The Israelites asked, “Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites?”
And the Lord answered, “Judah will be first.”
19 In the morning, the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah. 21 The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered 22,000 men of Israel on the field that day. 22 But the Israelite army rallied and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned themselves on the first day. 23 They went up, wept(G) before the Lord until evening, and inquired of Him: “Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites?”
And the Lord answered: “Fight against them.”
24 On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites. 25 That same day the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah to meet them and slaughtered an additional 18,000 Israelites on the field; all were armed men.
26 The whole Israelite army went to Bethel where they wept and sat before the Lord.(H) They fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. 27 Then the Israelites inquired of the Lord. In those days, the ark of the covenant(I) of God was there, 28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving before it. The Israelites asked: “Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites or should we stop?”
The Lord answered: “Fight, because I will hand them over to you tomorrow.”(J) 29 So Israel set up an ambush(K) around Gibeah. 30 On the third day the Israelites fought against the Benjaminites and took their battle positions against Gibeah as before. 31 Then the Benjaminites came out against the people and were drawn away from the city.(L) They began to attack the people as before, killing about 30 men of Israel on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah through the open country. 32 The Benjaminites said, “We are defeating them as before.”
But the Israelites said, “Let’s flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 So all the men of Israel got up from their places and took their battle positions at Baal-tamar, while the Israelites in ambush charged out of their places west of[a] Geba.(M) 34 Then 10,000 choice men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was about to strike them. 35 The Lord defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men of Benjamin; all were armed men. 36 Then the Benjaminites realized they had been defeated.
The men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin, because they were confident in the ambush they had set against Gibeah. 37 The men in ambush had rushed quickly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword. 38 The men of Israel had a prearranged signal with the men in ambush: when they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39 the men of Israel would return to the battle. When Benjamin had begun to strike them down, killing about 30 men of Israel, they said, “They’re defeated before us, just as they were in the first battle.”(N) 40 But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was going up in smoke.[b] 41 Then the men of Israel returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck them. 42 They retreated before the men of Israel toward the wilderness,(O) but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities[c] slaughtered those between them. 43 They surrounded the Benjaminites, pursued them, and easily overtook them near Gibeah toward the east. 44 There were 18,000 men who died from Benjamin; all were warriors. 45 Then Benjamin turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon,(P) and Israel killed 5,000 men on the highways. They overtook them at Gidom and struck 2,000 more dead.
46 All the Benjaminites who died that day were 25,000 armed men; all were warriors. 47 But 600 men escaped into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed there four months. 48 The men of Israel turned back against the other Benjaminites and killed them with their swords—the entire city, the animals, and everything that remained. They also burned down all the cities that remained.
Footnotes
- Judges 20:33 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads places in the plain of, or places in the cave of
- Judges 20:40 Lit up to the sky
- Judges 20:42 LXX, Vg read city
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