JUDGES 20 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
The Israelites Punish the Benjamites
1 Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from
the land of Gilead came together as one and
assembled before the Lord in Mizpah.
As one man meaning that they were in complete agreement. The disgracefull
murder of one woman led to a civil war that almost wiped out one of the tribes of
Israel and led to the death of well over 60,000 people. Most of them innocent of the
crime, and we do not even know if the men who did the murder were ever caught
or killed.
BE SO , "20:1. All the children of Israel went out — amely, the principal
persons out of their respective cities, who were appointed to represent the rest. As
one man — That is, with one consent. Dan, &c. — Dan was the northern border of
the land, near Lebanon; and Beer-sheba the southern border. Gilead — Beyond
Jordan, where Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh were. To the Lord — As to the
Lord’s tribunal; for God was not only present in the place where the ark and
tabernacle were, but also in the assemblies of the gods, or judges, (Psalms 82:1,)
and in all places where God’s name is recorded, (Exodus 20:24,) and where two or
three are met together in his name. Mizpeh — A place on the borders of Judah
and Benjamin. This they chose, as a place they used to meet in upon solemn
occasions, for its convenient situation for all the tribes within and without Jordan;
and as being near the place where the fact was done, that it might be more
thoroughly examined; and not far from Shiloh, where the tabernacle was, whither
they might go or send.
U K OW AUTHOR, ‘From Dan to Beersheba’, a rough description of the land
possessed west of Jordan, a description regularly used in the Old Testament. Dan
was the furthest north of the towns of Israel, and Beersheba the furthest south.
‘Along with the land of Gilead’. Those east of Jordan were also included in the call

up, ‘Gilead’ being used in its widest sense as representing the whole. All Israel
were involved. The Levite had achieved his purpose. He had shocked them into
action and united the tribes.
‘The congregation.’ A technical term for the people of God seen as one before
God, regularly found in the Pentateuch.
‘As one man.’ The tribal confederation were gathered in unity, which was not
always true of them, and all were agreed that the matter should be dealt with.
‘To Yahweh.’ This was a recognition that they had gathered to see to the
implementing of the covenant of Yahweh, which He had made with them and to
which He demanded obedience as their Overlord. It was seen as matter for the
whole confederation. They were gathered before God.
‘At Mizpah.’ Meaning ‘a place of watching’. It was a town of Benjamin, eleven
kilometres (seven miles) north of Jerusalem, to the left of the main road, and in the
neighbourhood of Gibeah and Ramah (1 Kings 15.22). It was a regular gathering
place for Israel under Samuel (1 Samuel 7.5, 16; 10.17), presumably because of its
suitability. It was one of the three places where he sat to judge the people (1
Samuel 7.16).
GILL with the land of Gilead; which lay on the other side Jordan, inhabited by the
two tribes of Reuben and Dan, and the half tribe of Manasseh, who also came on this
occasion:
unto the Lord in Mizpeh; a city which lay upon the borders of Judah and Benjamin,
and is therefore assigned to them both, Jos_15:38 for this was not Mizpeh in the land of
Gilead, but a city near to Shiloh; and, according to Fuller (b), eight miles from Gibeah,
and so was a convenient place to meet at: it is not to be thought the tribes met here, by a
secret impulse upon their minds, but by a summons of some principal persons in one of
the tribes, very probably in the tribe of Ephraim, where the Levite dwelt, and in which
was the tabernacle of the Lord, and of which the last supreme magistrate was, namely,
Joshua; and all having notice of the occasion of it, met very readily; and because they
assembled in the name and fear of God, and it was in the cause of God, and as a solemn
assembly, a judicial one, in which God was usually present, they are said to be gathered
unto him, and the rather, as they sought for direction and counsel from him in the affair
before them.
BAR ES, "The “congregation” is the technical term for the whole community of the
Israelite people. Its occurrence here is an indication of the early date of these
transactions.
From Dan to Beer-sheba - We cannot safely infer from this expression that the
settlement of Dan, recorded in Judg. 18 had taken place at this time. It only proves that
in the writer’s time, from Dan to Beer-sheba was a proverbial expression for all Israel
(compare the marginal reference).
With the land of Gilead - Meaning all the trans-Jordanic tribes; mentioned
particularly, both to show that the whole congregation of the children of Israel, in its
widest meaning, took part in the council, and also because of Jabesh-Gilead Jdg_21:8,

Jdg_21:10.
Unto the Lord in Mizpeh - The phrase “unto the Lord”, implies the presence of the
tabernacle (Jdg_11:11 note). Mizpeh in Benjamin Jos_18:26, from its connection with
Bethel and Ramah, is probably meant here. It is the same as that which appears as a
place of national assembly in 1Sa_7:5; 1Sa_10:17; 2Ki_25:23-25. It must have been near
Shiloh and Gibeah, and in the north of Benjamin. The Benjamites were duly summoned
with the other tribes; so that their absence was contumacious Jdg_20:3.
CLARKE, "Unto the Lord in Mizpeh - This city was situated on the confines of
Judah and Benjamin, and is sometimes attributed to the one, sometimes to the other. It
seems that there was a place here in which the Lord was consulted, as well as at Shiloh;
in 1 Maccabees 3:46, we read, In Maspha was the place where they prayed aforetime in
Israel. These two passages cast light on each other. Some think that Shiloh is meant,
because the ark was there; but the phrase before the Lord may signify no more than
meeting in the name of God to consult him, and make prayer and supplication.
Wherever God’s people are, there is God himself; and it ever was true, that wherever two
or three were assembled in his name, he was in the midst of them.
HE RY, "Here is, I. A general meeting of all the congregation of Israel to examine
the matter concerning the Levite's concubine, and to consider what was to be done upon
it, Jdg_20:1, Jdg_20:2. It does not appear that they 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. 1. The
place of their meeting was Mizpeh; they gathered together unto the Lord there, for
Mizpeh was so very near to Shiloh that their encampment might very well be supposed
to reach from Mizpeh to Shiloh. Shiloh was a small town, and therefore, when there was
a general meeting of the people to represent 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 resident of the priests that attended the tabernacle. 2. The persons
that met were all Israel, from Dan (the city very lately so called, Jdg_18:29) in the north
to Beersheba in the south, with the land of Gilead (that is, the tribes on the other side
Jordan), all as one man, so unanimous were they in their concern for the public good.
Here was an assembly of the people of God, not a convocation of the Levites and priests,
though a Levite was the person principally concerned in the cause, but an assembly of
the people, to whom the Levite referred himself with an Appello populum - I appeal to
the people. The people of God were 400,000 footmen that drew the sword, that is, were
armed and disciplined, and fit for service, and some of them perhaps such as had known
the wars of Canaan, Jdg_3:1. In this assembly of all Israel, the chief (or corners) of the
people (for rulers are the corner-stones of the people, that keep all together) presented
themselves as the representatives of the rest. They rendered themselves at their
respective posts, at the head of the thousands and hundreds, the fifties and tens, over
which they presided; for so much order and government, we may suppose, at least, they
had among them, though they had no general or commander-in-chief. So that here was,
(1.) A general congress of the states for counsel. The chief of the people presented
themselves, to lead and direct in this affair. (2.) A general rendezvous of the militia for
action, all that drew sword and were men of war (Jdg_20:17), not hirelings nor pressed

men, but the best freeholders, that went at their own charge. Israel were above 600,000
when they came into Canaan, and we have reason to think they were at this time much
increased, rather than diminished; but then all between twenty and sixty were military
men, now we may suppose more than the one half exempted from bearing arms to
cultivate the land; so that these were as the trained bands. The militia of the two tribes
and a half were 40,000 (Jos_4:13), but the tribes were many more.
JAMISO , "Jdg_20:1-7. The Levite, in a general assembly, declares his wrong.
all ... the congregation was gathered as one man — In consequence of the
immense sensation the horrid tragedy of Gibeah had produced, a national assembly was
convened, at which “the chief of all the people” from all parts of the land, including the
eastern tribes, appeared as delegates.
Mizpeh — the place of convention (for there were other Mizpehs), was in a town
situated on the confines of Judah and Benjamin (Jos_15:38; Jos_18:26). Assemblies
were frequently held there afterwards (1Sa_7:11; 1Sa_10:17); and it was but a short
distance from Shiloh. The phrase, “unto the Lord,” may be taken in its usual sense, as
denoting consultation of the oracle. This circumstance, together with the convention
being called “the assembly of the people of God,” seems to indicate, that amid the excited
passions of the nation, those present felt the profound gravity of the occasion and
adopted the best means of maintaining a becoming deportment.
K&D, "War with Benjamin on the Part of All the Other Tribes. - The expectation of
the Levite was fulfilled. The congregation of Israel assembled at Mizpeh to pass sentence
upon Gibeah, and formed the resolution that they would not rest till the crime was
punished as it deserved (Jdg_20:1-10). But when the Benjaminites refused to deliver up
the offenders in Gibeah, and prepared to offer resistance, the other tribes began to make
war upon Gibeah and Benjamin (Jdg_20:11-19), but were twice defeated by the
Benjaminites with very great loss (Jdg_20:20-28). At length, however, they succeeded
by an act of stratagem in taking Gibeah and burning it to the ground, and completely
routing the Benjaminites, and also in putting to death all the men and cattle that they
found in the other towns of this tribe, and laying the towns in ashes, whereby the whole
of the tribe of Benjamin was annihilated, with the exception of a very small remnant (vv.
29-48).
Jdg_20:1-2
Decree of the Congregation concerning Gibeah. - Jdg_20:1, Jdg_20:2. All the
Israelites went out (rose up from their dwelling-places) to assemble together as a
congregation like one man; all the tribes from Dan, the northern boundary of the land
(i.e., Dan-laish, Jdg_18:29), to Beersheba, the most southerly town of Canaan (see at
Gen_21:31), and the land of Gilead, i.e., the inhabitants of the land to the east of the
Jordan, “to Jehovah at Mizpeh” in Benjamin, i.e., the present Nebi-samwil, in the
neighbourhood of Kirjath-jearim, on the western border of the tribe of Benjamin (see at
Jos_18:26). It by no means follows with certainty from the expression “to Jehovah,” that
there was a sanctuary at Mizpeh, or that the ark of the covenant was taken thither, but
simply that the meeting took place in the sight of Jehovah, or that the congregation
assembled together to hold a judicial court, which they held in the name of Jehovah,
analogous to the expression el-Elohim in Exo_21:6; Exo_22:7. It was not essential to a
judicial proceeding that the ark should be present. At this assembly the pinnoth (the
corner-pillars) of the whole nation presented themselves, i.e., the heads and fathers as
the supports of the congregation or of the sate organism (vid., 1Sa_14:38; Isa_19:13),

even of all the tribes of Israel four hundred thousand men on foot, drawing the sword,
i.e., armed foot soldiers ready for battle.
TRAPP, "20:1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was
gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead,
unto the LORD in Mizpeh.
Ver. 1. Unto the Lord in Mizpeh.] Where was, they say, an oratory or synagogue; { 1Ma
3:46} and that here was the first beginning of synagogues, which were as chapels of ease
to the tabernacle or temple. That meet at Mizpeh, [1 Samuel 7:5] is very famous. Hither
they resorted, as being in the heart of the country, when any great business concerning
the public was to be transacted. See 1 Samuel 10:17, Jeremiah 40:7-8.
COKE, "The eleven tribes demand from the Benjamites, that the authors of the cruelty
against the Levite's concubine be delivered up: they are conquered in two battles, but in
a third overcome the Benjamites, of whom five and twenty thousand fall that day: six
hundred of them fly to the rock Rimmon, and abide there four months.
Before Christ 1426.
Judges 20:1. In Mizpeh— Mizpeh was very conveniently situated for a meeting of all the
people, as it stood on the confines of Judah and Benjamin, and was very near to Shiloh;
so that they could easily consult the Divine Oracle on any occasion. Hence Josephus tells
us, that this congregation met at Shiloh. The phrase, unto the Lord, does not imply that
the ark was there, God being present in an especial manner where all his people
assembled. See 2 Samuel 5:3. The word rendered chief in the next verse, signifies
corners, alluding to the corner-stone, which is the strength and support of a building.
Hence Christ is called in Scripture the chief corner-stone. See Lowman on Civ. Gov. of
the Hebrews, chap. 9: Judges 10:14 :
PETT, "Introduction
Chapter 20. The Response.
In this chapter the Levite’s appeal to the tribal confederacy of Israel is answered.
The case is heard and the children of Benjamin are commanded to deliver the
wrongdoers for punishment in accordance with the law and the covenant. Their
refusal to do so is a breach of covenant which the others see as bringing God’s
wrath on themselves unless they do something about it. Thus they seek to put
pressure on them to do so.
When this also is rejected they go in to do it themselves. In order, in their view, to
avoid the wrath of God, the tribal confederacy seek to enforce their decree. This
results in a tribal war which is evidence of a serious breach of covenant on behalf of
‘Benjamin’, and eventually, after two setbacks, they defeat the children of Benjamin
with God’s backing, and exact the vengeance which tradition required, the near
extermination of Benjamin.

Verse 1
Chapter 20. The Response.
In this chapter the Levite’s appeal to the tribal confederacy of Israel is answered.
The case is heard and the children of Benjamin are commanded to deliver the
wrongdoers for punishment in accordance with the law and the covenant. Their
refusal to do so is a breach of covenant which the others see as bringing God’s
wrath on themselves unless they do something about it. Thus they seek to put
pressure on them to do so.
When this also is rejected they go in to do it themselves. In order, in their view, to
avoid the wrath of God, the tribal confederacy seek to enforce their decree. This
results in a tribal war which is evidence of a serious breach of covenant on behalf of
‘Benjamin’, and eventually, after two setbacks, they defeat the children of Benjamin
with God’s backing, and exact the vengeance which tradition required, the near
extermination of Benjamin.
Judges 20:1
‘Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one
man, from Dan even to Beersheba, along with the land of Gilead, to Yahweh at
Mizpah.’
After messengers had been sent between the tribes the whole of Israel gathered at
Mizpah. This may have resulted from a call from the central sanctuary at Bethel, or
possibly on the initiative of the leaders of the tribe of Ephraim where the Levite
lived.
“All.” This probably means that all the tribes were represented, apart from
Benjamin, rather than that literally all the people came. This view is confirmed in
Judges 20:3.
“From Dan to Beersheba”, a rough description of the land possessed west of Jordan,
a description regularly used in the Old Testament. Dan was the furthest north of the
towns of Israel, and Beersheba the furthest south. ‘Along with the land of Gilead’.
Those east of Jordan were also included in the call up, ‘Gilead’ being used in its
widest sense as representing the whole. All Israel were involved. The Levite had
achieved his purpose. He had shocked them into action and united the tribes.
“The congregation.” A technical term for the people of God seen as one before God,
regularly found in the Pentateuch.
“As one man.” The tribal confederation were gathered in unity, which was not
always true of them, and all were agreed that the matter should be dealt with.
“To Yahweh.” This was a recognition that they had gathered to see to the
implementing of the covenant of Yahweh, which He had made with them and to
which He demanded obedience as their Overlord. It was seen as matter for the

whole confederation. They were gathered before God.
“At Mizpah.” Meaning ‘a place of watching’. It was a town of Benjamin, eleven
kilometres (seven miles) north of Jerusalem, to the left of the main road, and in the
neighbourhood of Gibeah and Ramah (1 Kings 15:22). It would be a regular
gathering place for Israel under Samuel (1 Samuel 7:5; 1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel
10:17), presumably because of its suitability. It was one of the three places where he
sat to judge the people (1 Samuel 7:16).
COFFMA , "Verse 1
THE CIVIL WAR; THE DESTRUCTIO OF GIBEAH A D THE EAR-
EXTERMI ATIO OF THE E TIRE TRIBE OF BE JAMI ;
THE GRA D ASSEMBLY OF ALL ISRAEL (Judges 20:1-3)
"Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as
one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at
Mizpah. And the chiefs 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. ow the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel
were gone up to Mizpah. And the children of Israel said, Tell us, how was this
wickedness brought to pass?"
This paragraph confounds and frustrates the critics, who declare that such unity in
Israel is utterly unlike the disunity exhibited in the other episodes of Judges. "This
unity of Israel and the greatly exaggerated figures indicate later expansion."[1]
"The word `congregation' is a post-exilic term."[2] Such remarks are irresponsible.
The word congregation was frequently used throughout the Pentateuch and in the
Book of Joshua. What such critics fail to see is that the events of this chapter are
closely related to the times of Joshua, perhaps within twenty years of his death.
"`Congregation' here is a technical term for the whole community of Israel and is an
indication of the early date of these transactions."[3] Myers even branded the
expression, "from Dan to Beersheba" as evidence of "late date."[4] Although it is
true that the expression "from Dan to Beersheba" resulted from the migration of
the Danites after the events of this chapter, the expression was certainly well known
in the days of Samuel whom we have received as the author of Judges. Armerding
observed that the events of Judges 20-21 are included here at the end of Judges,
"For theological reasons; but there is good reason to believe that the events took
place much closer to the beginning of Judges."[5] As these chapters stand, they
provide a summary explanation of "How Israel developed into the disunited
apostate people of the entire era of the Judges." Terrible as the events of these
chapters most certainly are, "There is a glimmer of hope for Israel, because they
knew that the Law of God had been violated, and that judgment must be
rendered."[6] evertheless, the bitterness of this disastrous war was directly
responsible for the gross disunity, and Israel's subsequent attitude, "everybody on

his own," and "doing what was right in his own eyes," which conditions made the
institution of the monarchy imperative if Israel as a united people was to survive.
"Assembled ... unto Jehovah at Mizpah" (Judges 20:1,3). The reason for the
assembly here was that, "It was in three miles of Gibeah,"[7] in the heart of
Benjamite territory.
BI 1-48, "The men of Israel turned again upon the children of BenJamin.
From justice to wild revenge
It may be asked how, while polygamy was practised among the Israelites, the sin of
Gibeah could rouse such indignation and awaken the signal vengeance of the united
tribes. The answer is to be found partly in the singular and dreadful device which the
indignant husband used in making the deed known. Womanhood must have been stirred
to the fiercest indignation, and manhood was bound to follow. Further, there is the fact
that the woman so foully murdered, though a concubine, was the concubine of a Levite.
The measure of sacredness with which the Levites were invested gave to this crime,
frightful enough in any view, the colour of sacrilege. There could be no blessing on the
tribes if they allowed the doers or condoners of this thing to go unpunished. It is
therefore not incredible, but appears simply in accordance with the instincts and
customs proper to the Hebrew people, that the sin of Gibeah should provoke
overwhelming indignation. There is no pretence of purity, no hypocritical anger. The
feeling is sound and real. Perhaps in no other matter of a moral kind would there have
been such intense and unanimous exasperation. A point of justice or of belief would not
have so moved the tribes. The better self of Israel appears asserting its claim and power.
And the miscreants of Gibeah representing the lower self, verily an unclean spirit, are
detested and denounced on every hand. Now the people of Gibeah were not all vile. The
wretches whose crime called for judgment were but the rabble of the town. And we can
see that the tribes, when they gathered in indignation, were made serious by the thought
that the righteous might be punished with the wicked. Not without the suffering of the
entire community is a great evil to be purged from a land. It is easy to execute a
murderer, to imprison a felon. But the spirit of the murderer, of the felon, is widely
diffused, and that has to be cast out. In the great moral struggle the better have not only
the openly vile, but all who are tainted, all who are weak in soul, loose in habit, secretly
sympathetie with the vile, arrayed against them. When an assault is made on some vile
custom the sardonic laugh is heard of those who find their profit and their pleasure in it.
They feel their power. They know the wide sympathy with them spread secretly through
the land. Once and again the feeble attempt of the good is repelled. The tide turned, and
there came another danger, that which waits on ebullitions of popular feeling. A crowd
roused to anger is hard to control, and the tribes having once tasted vengeance, did not
cease till Benjamin was almost exterminated. Justice overshot its mark, and for one evil
made another. Those who had most fiercely used the sword viewed the result with
horror and amazement, for a tribe was lacking in Israel. Nor was this the end of
slaughter. Next, for the sake of Benjamin the sword was drawn, and the men of Jabesh-
gilead were butchered. The warning conveyed here is intensely keen. It is that men,
made doubtful by the issue of their actions whether they have done wisely, may fly to the
resolution to justify themselves, and may do so even at the expense of justice; that a
nation may pass from the right way to the wrong, and then, having sunk to extraordinary
baseness and malignity, may turn, writhing and self-condemned, to add cruelty to
cruelty in the attempt to still the upbraidings of conscience. It is that men in the heat of

passion which began with resentment against evil may strike at those who have not
joined in their errors as well as those who truly deserve reprobation. We stand, nations
and individuals, in constant danger of dreadful extremes, a kind of insanity hurrying us
on when the blood is heated by strong emotion. Blindly attempting to do right, we do
evil; and again, having done the evil, we blindly strive to remedy it by doing more. In
times of moral darkness and chaotic social conditions, when men are guided by a few
rude principles, things are done that afterwards appal themselves, and yet may become
an example for future outbreaks. During the fury of their Revolution, the French people,
with some watchwords of the true ring, as liberty, fraternity, turned hither and thither,
now in terror, now panting after dimly-seen justice or hope, and it was always from
blood to blood. We understand the juncture in ancient Israel, and realise the excitement
and the rage of a self-jealous people when we read the modern tales of surging ferocity in
which men appear now hounding the shouting crowd to vengeance, then shuddering on
the scaffold. In private life the story has an application against wild and violent methods
of self-vindication. Passing to the final expedient adopted by the chiefs of Israel to rectify
their error—the rape of the women at Shiloh—we see only to how pitiful a pass moral
blundering brings those who fall into it. (R. A. Watson, M. A.).
CONSTABLE, "Verses 1-11
Preparations to besiege Gibeah20:1-11
The phrase "from Dan to Beersheba" ( Judges 20:1) became a common expression
during Israel"s united monarchy and indicated the whole of Israel. Gilead refers to the
part of Israel east of the Jordan River. The Mizpah referred to here ( Judges 20:1) was
the one in Benjamin just five miles north of Gibeah, not Mizpah of Gilead. Three times in
this pericope the writer used the phrase "as one man" ( Judges 20:1; Judges 20:8;
Judges 20:11). This is one of the rare instances of Israelite solidarity during the Judges
Period. Here they unanimously chose a plan that lacked divine initiative. At other times
they did not cooperate to fulfill the revealed will of God (cf. Judges 5:15-17; Judges 8:1-3;
Judges 12:1-6; Judges 15:11).
By casting lots to see how they should proceed against Benjamin ( Judges 20:9), the
tribes were dealing with Benjamin as they had dealt with the Canaanite towns they had
attacked. God did not tell them to deal with their fellow Israelites this way (cf.
Deuteronomy 13:12-18). They were now battling their brethren as they had engaged
their enemies ( Judges 20:18; cf. Leviticus 19:18).
"Some comment must be made regarding the large numbers in this chapter. The
discussion centers around the translation of the Hebrew word eleph. This word often is
translated thousand but can also mean a family, clan, or military unit of fighting men
(such as a squad of ten to twenty soldiers). The twenty-six, twenty-two, eighteen, ten,
should not be thought of as so many thousand men but as so many units of men, each
unit consisting of somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to twenty fighting men each. (A
unit of ten is mentioned specifically in Judges 20:10.) This interpretation does not
detract from the authority of the Scriptures in any way. It simply attempts to understand
what the Bible actually says. Certainly it places the other numbers in the chapter in a
reasonable context." [Note: Monson, p119. See also The New Bible Dictionary, 1962ed,

s.v. "Number," by R. A. H. Gunner.]
I see no reason to reject the traditional translation of eleph as "thousand" in this context
(cf. Numbers 26:41). [Note: So also Wolf, p494; et al.]
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMENTARY, "FROM JUSTICE TO WILD REVENGE
THESE last chapters describe a general and vehement outburst of moral indignation
throughout Israel, recorded for various reasons. A vile thing is done in one of the towns
of Benjamin and the fact is published in all the tribes. The doers of it are defended by
their clan and fearful punishment is wrought upon them, not without suffering to the
entire people. Like the incidents narrated in the chapters immediately preceding, these
must have occurred at an early stage in the period of the judges, and they afford another
illustration of the peril of imperfect government, the need for a vigorous administration
of justice over the land. The crime and the volcanic vengeance belong to a time when
there was "no king in Israel" and, despite occasional appeals to the oracle, "every man
did that which was right in his own eyes." In this we have one clue to the purpose of the
history.
The crime of Gibeah brought under our notice here connects itself with that of Sodom
and represents a phase of immorality which, indigenous to Canaan, mixed its putrid
current with Hebrew life. There are traces of the same horrible impurity in the Judah of
Rehoboam and Asa; and in the story of Josiah’s reign we are horrified to read of "houses
of Sodomites that were in the house of the Lord, where the women, wove hangings for
the Asherah." With such lurid historical light on the subject we can easily understand the
revival of this warning lesson from the past of Israel and the fulness of detail with which
the incidents are recorded. A crime originally that of the off-scourings of Gibeah became
practically the sin of a whole tribe, and the war that ensued sets in a clear light the zeal
for domestic purity which was a feature in every religious revival and, at length, in the
life of the Hebrew people.
It may be asked how, while polygamy was practised among the Israelites, the sin of
Gibeah could rouse such indignation and awaken the signal vengeance of the united
tribes. The answer is to be found partly in the singular and dreadful device which the
indignant husband used in making the deed known. The ghastly symbols of outrage told
the tale in a way that was fitted to stir the blood of the whole country. Everywhere the
hideous thing was made vivid and a sense of utmost atrocity was kindled as the
dissevered members were borne from town to town. It is easy to see that womanhood
must have been stirred to the fieriest indignation, and manhood was bound to follow.
What woman could be safe in Gibeah where such things were done? And was Gibeah to
go unpunished? If so, every Hebrew city might become the haunt of miscreants. Further
there is the fact that the woman so foully murdered, though a concubine, was the
concubine of a Levite. The measure of sacredness with which the Levites were invested
gave to this crime, frightful enough in any view, the colour of sacrilege. How degenerate
were the people of Gibeah when a servant of the altar could be treated with such foul
indignity and driven to so extraordinary an appeal for justice? There could be no
blessing on the tribes if they allowed the doers or condoners of this thing to go
unpunished. Every Levite throughout the land must have taken up the cry. From Bethel
and other sanctuaries the call for vengeance would spread and echo till the nation was
roused. Thus, in part at least, we can explain the vehemence of feeling which drew

together the whole fighting force of the tribes.
The doubt will yet remain whether there could have been so much purity of life or
respect for purity as to sustain the public indignation. Some may say, Is there not here a
sufficient reason for questioning the veracity of the narrative? First, however, let it be
remembered that often where morals are far from reaching the level of pure monogamic
life distinctions between right and wrong are sharply drawn. Acquaintance with phases
of modern life that are most painful to the mind sensitively pure reveals a fixed code
which none may infringe without bringing upon themselves reprobation, perhaps more
vehement than in a higher social grade visits the breach of a higher law. It is the fact that
concubinage has its unwritten acknowledgment and protecting customs. There is
marriage that is only a name; there is concubinage that gives the woman more rights
than one who is married. Against the immorality and the gross evils of cohabitation is to
be set this unwritten law. And arguing from popular feeling in our great cities we reach
the conclusion that in ancient Israel where concubinage prevailed there was a wide and
keen feeling as to the rights of concubines and the necessity of upholding them. Many
women must have been in this relation, below those who could count themselves legally
married, and all the more that the concubine occupied a place inferior to that of the
lawful wife would popular opinion take up her cause and demand the punishment of
those who did her wrong.
And here we are led to a point which demands clear statement and recognition. It has
been too readily supposed that polygamy is always a result of moral decline and
indicates a low state of domestic purity. It may, in truth, be a rude step of progress. Has
it been sufficiently noted that in those countries in which the name of the mother, not of
the father, descended to the children the reason may be found in universal or almost
universal unchastity? In Egypt at one time the law gave to women, especially to mothers,
peculiar rights; but to praise Egyptian civilisation for this reason and hold up its
treatment of women as an example to the nineteenth century is an extraordinary
venture. The Israelites, however lax, were doubtless in advance of the society of Thebes.
Among the Canaanites the moral degradation of women, whatever freedom may have
gone with it, was so terrible that the Hebrew with his two or three wives and concubines
but with a morality otherwise severe, must have represented a new and holier social
order as well as a new and holier religion. It is therefore not incredible, but appears
simply in accordance with the instincts and customs proper to the Hebrew people, that
the sin of Gibeah should provoke overwhelming indignation. There is no pretence of
purity, no hypocritical anger. The feeling is sound and real. Perhaps in no other matter
of a moral kind would there have been such intense and unanimous exasperation. A
point of justice or of belief would not have so moved the tribes. The better self of Israel
appears, asserting its claim and power. And the miscreants of Gibeah representing the
lower self, verily an unclean spirit, are detested and denounced on every hand.
The time was that of fresh feeling, unwarped by those customs which in the guise of
civilisation and refinement afterwards corrupted the nation. And we may see the
prophetic or hortatory use of the narrative for an after age in which doings as vile as
those at Gibeah were sanctioned by the court and protected even by religious leaders. It
would be hoped by the sacred historian that this tale of the fierce indignation of the
tribes might rouse afresh the same moral feeling. He would fain stir a careless people
and their priests by the exhibition of this tumultuous vengeance. Nor can we say that the
necessity for the impressive lesson has ceased. In the heart of our large cities vices as vile
as those of Gibeah are heard muttering in the nightfall, life as abandoned lurks and
festers, creating a social gangrene.

Recognise, then, in these chapters a truth for all time boldly drawn out-the great truth as
to moral reform and national purity. Law will not cure moral evils; a statute book the
purest and noblest will not save. Those who by the impulse of the Spirit gathered the
various traditions of Israel’s life knew well that on a living conscience in men everything
depended, and they at least indicate the further truth which many of ourselves have not
grasped, that the early and rude workings of conscience, producing stormy and terrible
results, are a necessary stage of development. As there must be energy before there can
be noble energy, so there must be moral vigour, it may be rude, violent, ignorant, a
stream rushing out of barbarian hills, sweeping with most appalling vehemence, before
there can be spiritual life patient, calm, and holy. Law is a product, not a cause; it is not
the code we make that will perserve us but the God-given conscience that informs the
code and ever goes before it a pillar of fire, at times flashing vivid lightning. Even
Christian law cannot save a people if it be merely a series of injunctions. Nothing will do
but the mind of Christ in every man and woman continually inspiring and directing life.
The reformer who thinks that a statute or regulation will end some sin or evil custom is
in sad error. Say the decree he contends for is enacted; but have the consciences of those
against whom it is made been quickened? If not, the law merely expresses a popular
mood, and the life of the whole community will not be permanently raised in tone.
The church finds here a perpetual mission of influence. Her doctrine is but half her
message. From the doctrine as from an eternal fount must go life-giving moral heat in
every range, and the Spirit is ever with her to make the world like a fire. Her duty is wide
as righteousness, great as man’s destiny; it is never ended, for each generation comes in
a new hour with new needs. The church, say some, is finishing its work; it is doomed to
be one of the broken moulds of life. But the church that is the instructor of conscience
and kindles the flame of righteousness has a mission to the ages. We are far yet from that
day of the Lord when all the people shall be prophets; and until then how can the world
live without the church? It would be a body without a soul.
Conscience the oracle of life, conscience working badly rather than held in chains of
mere rule without spontaneity and inspiration, moral energy widespread, personal, and
keen, however rude-here is one of the notes of the sacred writer; and another note, no
less distinct, is the assertion of moral intolerance. It has not occurred to this prophetic
annalist that endurance of evil has any curative power. He is a Hebrew, full of
indignation against the vile and false, and he demands a heat of moral force in his
people. Foul things are done at the court and even in the temple; there is a depraving
indifference to purity, a loose notion (very similar to the idea of our day), that all the
sides of life should have free play and that the heathen had much to teach Israel. The
whole of the narrative before us is infused with a righteous protest against evil, a holy
plea for intolerance of sin. Will men refuse instruction and persist in making themselves
one with bestiality and outrage? Then judgment must deal with them on the ground they
have chosen to occupy, and until they repent the conscience of the race must repudiate
them together with their sin. Along with a keenly burning conscience there goes this
necessity of moral intolerance. Charity is good, but not always in place; and brotherhood
itself demands at times strong uncompromising judgment of the evildoer. How else
among men of weak wills and wavering hearts can righteousness vindicate and enforce
itself as the eternal reality of life? Compassion is strong only when it is linked to
unfaltering declarations; mercy is divine only when it turns a front of mail to wickedness
and flashes lightning at proud wrong, Any other kind of charity is but a new offence-the
sinner pardoning sin.
Now the people of Gibeah were not all vile. The wretches whose crime called for
judgment were but the rabble of the town. And we can see that the tribes when they

gathered in indignation were made serious by the thought that the righteous might be
punished with the wicked. We are told that they went up to the sanctuary and asked
counsel of the Lord whether they should attack the convicted city. There was a full
muster of the fighting men, their blood at fever heat, yet they would not advance without
an oracle. It was an appeal to heavenly justice and demands notice as a striking feature
of the whole terrible series of events. For an hour there is silence in the camp till a higher
voice shall speak.
But what is the issue? The oracle decrees an immediate attack on Gibeah in the face of all
Benjamin, which has shown the temper of heathenism by refusing to give up the
criminals. Once and again there is trial of battle which ends in defeat of the allied tribes.
The wrong triumphs; the people have to return humbled and weeping to the Sacred
Presence and sit fasting and disconsolate before the Lord.
Not without the suffering of the entire community is a great evil to be purged from a
land. It is easy to execute a murderer, to imprison a felon. But the spirit of the murderer,
of the felon, is widely diffused, and that has to be cast out. In the great moral struggle
year after year the better have not only the openly vile but all who are tainted, all who are
weak in soul, loose in habit, secretly sympathetic with the vile, arrayed against them.
There is a sacrifice of the good before the evil are overcome. In vicarious suffering many
must pay the penalty of crimes not their own ere the wide-reaching wickedness can be
seen in its demonic power and struck down as the cruel enemy of the people.
When an assault is made on some vile custom the sardonic laugh is heard of those who
find their profit and their pleasure in it. They feel their power. They know the wide
sympathy with them spread secretly through the land. Once and again the feeble attempt
of the good is repelled. With sad hearts, with impoverished means, those who led the
crusade retire baffled and weary. Has their method been unintelligent? There very
possibly lies the cause of its failure. Or, perhaps, it has been, though nominally inspired
by an oracle, all too human, weak through human pride. Not till they gain with new and
deeper devotion to the glory of God, with more humility and faith, a clearer view of the
battleground and a better ordering of the war shall defeat be changed into victory. And
may it not be that the assault on moral evils of our day, in which multitudes are
professedly engaged, in which also many have spent substance and life, shall fail till
there is a true humiliation of the armies of God before Him, a new consecration to higher
and more spiritual ends? Human virtue has ever to be jealous of itself, the reformer may
so easily become a Pharisee.
The tide turned and there came another danger, that which waits on ebullitions of
popular feeling. A crowd roused to anger is hard to control, and the tribes having once
tasted vengeance did not cease till Benjamin was almost exterminated. The slaughter
extended not only to the fighting men, but to women and children. The six hundred who
fled to the rock fort of Rimmon appear as the only survivors of the clan. Justice overshot
its mark and for one evil made another. Those who had most fiercely used the sword
viewed the result with horror and amazement, for a tribe was lacking in Israel. Nor was
this the end of slaughter. Next for the sake of Benjamin the sword was drawn and the
men of Jabesh-gilead were butchered. It has to be noticed that the oracle is not made
responsible for this horrible process of evil. The people came of their own accord to the
decision which annihilated Jabesh-gilead. But they gave it a pious colour; religion and
cruelty went together, sacrifices to Jehovah and this frightful outbreak of demonism. It
is one of the dark chapters of human history. For the sake of an oath and an idea death
was dealt remorselessly. No voice suggested that the people of Jabesh may have been
more cautious than the rest, not less faithful to the law of God. The others were resolved

to appear to themselves to have been right in almost annihilating Benjamin; and the
town which had not joined in the work of destruction must be punished.
The warning conveyed here is intensely keen. It is that men, made doubtful by the issue
of their actions whether they have done wisely, may fly to the resolution to justify
themselves and may do so even at the expense of justice; that a nation may pass from the
right way to the wrong and then, having sunk to extraordinary baseness and malignity,
may turn writhing and self-condemned to add cruelty to cruelty in the attempt to still the
upbraidings of conscience. It is that men in the heat of passion which began with
resentment against evil may strike at those who have not joined in their errors as well as
those who truly deserve reprobation. We stand, nations and individuals, in constant
danger of dreadful extremes, a kind of insanity hurrying us on when the blood is heated
by strong emotion. Blindly attempting to do right we do evil, and again having done the
evil, we blindly strive to remedy it by doing more. In times of moral darkness and chaotic
social conditions, when men are guided by a few rude principles, things are done that
afterwards appal themselves, and yet may become an example for future outbreaks.
During the fury of their Revolution the French people, with some watchwords of the true
ring as liberty, fraternity, turned hither and thither, now in terror, now panting after
dimly seen justice or hope, and it was always from blood to blood. We understand the
juncture in ancient Israel and realise the excitement and the rage of a self-jealous people,
when we read the modern tales of surging ferocity in which men appear now hounding
the shouting crowd to vengeance, then shuddering on the scaffold.
In private life the story has an application against wild and violent methods of self-
vindication. Many a man, hurried on by a just anger against one who has done him
wrong, sees to his horror after a sharp blow is struck that he has broken a life and
thrown a brother bleeding to the dust. One wrong thing has been done perhaps more in
haste than vileness of purpose, and retribution, hasty, ill-considered, leaves the moral
question tenfold more confused. When all is reckoned we find it impossible to say where
the right is, where the wrong.
Passing to the final expedient adopted by the chiefs of Israel to rectify their error-the
rape of the women at Shiloh-we see only to how pitiful a pass moral blundering brings
those who fall into it: other moral teaching there is none. We might at first be disposed
to say that there was extraordinary want of reverence for religious order and
engagements when the men of Benjamin were invited to make a sacred festival the
occasion of taking what the other tribes had solemnly vowed not to give. But the festival
at Shiloh must have been far more of a merry making than of a sacred assembly. It needs
to be recognised that many gatherings even in honour of Jehovah were mainly, like those
of Canaanite worship, for hilarity and feasting. There was probably no great incongruity
between the occasion and the plot.
But the scenes certainly change in the course of this narrative with extraordinary
swiftness. Fierce indignation is followed by pity, weeping for defeat by tears for too
complete a victory. Horrible bloodshed wastes the cities and in a month there is dancing
in the plain of Shiloh not ten miles from the field of battle. Chaotic indeed are the
morality and the history; but it is the disorder of social life in its early stages, with the
vehemence and tenderness, the ferocity and laughter of a nation’s youth. And, all along,
the Book of Judges bears the stamp of veracity as a series of records because these very
features are to be seen-this tumult, this undisciplined vehemence in feeling and act.
Were we told here of decorous solemn progress at slow march, every army going forth
with some stereotyped invocation of the Lord of Hosts, every leader a man of
conventional piety supported by a blameless priesthood and orderly sacrifices, we

should have had no evidence of truth. The traditions preserved here, whoever collected
them, are singularly free from that idyllic colour which an imaginative writer would have
endeavoured to give.
At the last, accordingly, the book we have been reading stands a real piece of history,
proving itself over every kind of suspicion a true record of a people chosen and guided to
a destiny greater than any other race of man has known. A people understanding its call
and responding with eagerness at every point? Nay. The worm is in the heart of Israel as
of every other nation, The carnal attracts, and malignant cries overbear the divine still
voice; the air of Canaan breathes in every page, and we need to recollect that we are
viewing the turbulent upper waters of the nation and the faith. But the working of God is
plain; the divine thoughts we believed Israel to have in trust for the world are truly with
it from the first, though darkened by altars of Baal and of Ashtoreth. The Word and
Covenant of Jehovah are vital facts of the supernatural which surrounds that poor
struggling erring Hebrew flock. Theocracy is a divine fact in a larger sense than has ever
been attached to the word. Inspiration too is no dream, for the history is charged with
intimations of the spiritual order. The light of the unrealised end flashes on spear and
altar, and in the frequent roll of the storm the voice of the Eternal is heard declaring
righteousness and truth. No story this to praise a dynasty or magnify a conquering
nation or support a priesthood. Nothing so faithful, so true to heaven and to human
nature could be done from that motive. We have here an imperishable chapter in the
Book of God.
2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of
Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s
people, four hundred thousand men armed with
swords.
BAR ES, "The chief - literally, “the corner stones.” (Compare 1Sa_14:38.)
CLARKE, "The chief of all the people - The corners ‫פנות‬ pinnoth; for as the
corner-stones are the strength of the walls, so are the chiefs the strength of the people.
Hence Christ is called the chief corner-stone.
In the assembly of the people of God - The Septuagint translate, And all the
tribes of Israel stood up before the face of the Lord, εν εκκλησιᇮ του λαου του Θεου, in the
Church of the people of God. Here was a Church, though there was no priest; for, as
Tertullian says, Ubi tres, ecclesia est, licet laici; “Wheresoever three are gathered

together in the name of the Lord, there is a Church, although there be none but the
laity.”
GILL, "And the chief of all the people,.... The princes of the tribes and heads of
families, rulers of thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens; or the "corners" (c),
who were like the corner stones in a building, which are not only the most valuable and
ornamental, but the strength of the building, which cement it, and support it, and hold it
together; though Abarbinel thinks this intends the division and separation of each tribe,
which encamped in a separate corner and side by itself: but the former sense seems best,
and the meaning is, that the principal men of them:
even of all the tribes of Israel; excepting the tribe of Benjamin:
presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God; now gathered
together: which assembly consisted, besides the heads of them, of
four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword; or were armed men; there
were 600,000 or more in Israel able to bear arms; but as now the wars in Canaan were
pretty much at an end, the militia of the nation was not so regularly kept up, and many
were employed in tilling the ground, and dressing the vines, and the like; and besides, as
there were none of the tribe of Benjamin present, it need not be wondered at there
should be no more, but rather that so many should be gathered together on such an
occasion.
PETT, "Verse 2
‘And the chiefs (literally ‘corner-tower’) of all the people, even of all the tribes of
Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God. Four hundred
eleph of footmen that drew sword.’
The leading men (those who were the ‘corner-tower’, the strong point) of all the
tribes of Israel now gathered together to consider what had happened. This may be
a smaller group than Judges 20:1, a gathering of the most important men to hear the
case. ‘The assembly’ is a word regularly used of Israel in Deuteronomy.
“Four hundred eleph of footmen that drew sword.” The word eleph came to mean a
thousand, but prior to that was probably a smaller number representing a clan, a
sub-tribe, a family, a fighting unit, or in some cases a captain. This probably
represents the number gathered as a whole (those in Judges 20:1) rather than the
number of chiefs. There were four hundred units of fighting men, which may
suggest roughly four hundred chiefs, ‘leaders of thousands’ (Exodus 18:21; Exodus
18:25), each with his supporting unit.
Comparison with Judges 20:17 demonstrates that they excluded Benjaminites. They
had not responded to the call. It would seem then that the leaders had gathered
together, with supporting fighting men, from all the tribes of Israel, excluding
Benjamin. Possibly they were excluded because the trial involved some of their
people, and therefore them, but more likely it was because they refused to come.
When considering such numbers in the Old Testament we must always remember,

1). That the meaning of ‘number words’ changed over the centuries. 2). That they
were not numerically minded and what they wanted to do was convey impressions
rather than being concerned with numerical accuracy. 3). That it would be
extremely unlikely that anyone would count gatherings even if they could. There
were not many specialists in numbering among the tribes. Any assessment would be
a very rough approximation, rather aimed at giving an impression than intending to
be accurate. On the other hand counting the number of family or military units was
a lot easier. 4). That the numbers probably had a significance other than the
numerical one. To them numbers conveyed information rather than quantity.
U K OW AUTHOR, "The leading men (those who were the ‘corner-tower’,
the strong point) of all the tribes of Israel now gathered together to consider what
had happened. This may be a smaller group than verse 1, a gathering of the most
important men to hear the case. ‘The assembly’ is a word regularly used of Israel
in Deuteronomy.
‘Four hundred eleph of footmen that drew sword.’ The word eleph came to mean
a thousand, but prior to that was probably a smaller number representing a clan,
a sub-tribe, a family, a fighting unit, or in some cases a captain. This probably
represents the number gathered as a whole (those in verse 1) rather than the
number of chiefs. There were four hundred units of fighting men, which may
suggest roughly four hundred chiefs, ‘leaders of thousands’ (Exodus 18.21, 25),
each with his supporting unit.
Comparison with 20.17 demonstrates that they excluded Benjaminites. They had
not responded to the call. It would seem then that the leaders had gathered
together, with supporting fighting men, from all the tribes of Israel, excluding
Benjamin. Possibly they were excluded because the trial involved some of their
people, and therefore them, but more likely it was because they refused to come.
When considering such numbers in the Old Testament we must always remember,
1). That the meaning of ‘number words’ changed over the centuries. 2). That they
were not numerically minded and what they wanted to do was convey impressions
rather than being concerned with numerical accuracy. 3). That it would be
extremely unlikely that anyone would count gatherings even if they could. There
were not many specialists in numbering among the tribes. Any assessment would
be a very rough approximation, rather aimed at giving an impression than
intending to be accurate. On the other hand counting the number of family or
military units was a lot easier. 4). That the numbers probably had a significance
other than the numerical one. To them numbers conveyed information rather than
quantity.

3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had
gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell
us how this awful thing happened.”
CLARKE, "Tell us, how was this wickedness? - They had heard before, by the
messengers he sent with the fragments of his wife’s body; but they wish to hear it, in full
council, from himself.
GILL, "Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were
gone up to Mizpeh,.... Having no doubt the same notice the rest of the tribes had; but
the thing complained of being done in their tribe, and by some of it, they might be
willing to screen the delinquents, or were careless about and indifferent to the case, and
secure and easy, as imagining their brethren would never go to war with them about it;
or were proud and haughty, and would pay no regard to the summons given them:
then said the children of Israel, tell us, how was this wickedness?
proclamation was made in the assembly, that if any person there knew anything of this
shocking affair, and horrid iniquity, which was the occasion of their meeting together,
that they would rise up and declare what was the cause of it, how it came about, and by
whom it was done; or they addressed themselves particularly to the Levite, and his host,
and his servant, who might all be upon the spot to bear witness in this case, as it is
certain the former of them was, who upon this stood up, and spoke as follows.
HE RY, " Notice given to the tribe of Benjamin of this meeting (Jdg_20:3): They
heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpeh. Probably they had a legal
summons sent them to appear with their brethren, that the cause might be fairly
debated, before any resolutions were taken up upon it, and so the mischiefs that
followed would have been happily prevented; but the notice they had of this meeting
rather hardened and exasperated them than awakened them to think of the things that
belonged to their peace and honour.
JAMISO , "Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of
Israel were gone up to Mizpeh — Some suppose that Benjamin had been passed
over, the crime having been perpetrated within the territory of that tribe [Jdg_19:16];
and that, as the concubine’s corpse had been divided into twelve pieces [Jdg_19:29] -
two had been sent to Manasseh, one respectively to the western and eastern divisions. It
is more probable that Benjamin had received a formal summons like the other tribes,
but chose to treat it with indifference, or haughty disdain.

K&D, "Jdg_20:3
“The Benjaminites heard that the children of Israel (the rest of the Israelites, the
eleven tribes) had come up to Mizpeh;” but they themselves were not found there. This
follows from the fact that nothing is said about the Benjaminites coming, and still more
clearly from Jdg_20:13, where it is stated that the assembled tribes sent men to the
Benjaminites, after holding their deliberations and forming their resolutions, to call
them to account for the crime that had been committed in the midst of them.
Consequently the question with which the whole affair was opened, “Say, how did this
wicked deed take place?” is not to be regarded as addressed to the two parties, the
inhabitants of Gibeah of the Benjaminites and the Levite (Bertheau), but as a summons
to all who were assembled to relate what any one knew respecting the occurrence.
PETT, "Verse 3
Judges 20:3 a
‘ ow the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to
Mizpah.’
This is a parenthesis. It would hardly seem surprising as they met on Benjaminite
territory. But the statement ‘had heard’ probably means that they had received the
call and had refused it. It was in fact a grave mistake not to have made more effort
to ensure the Benjaminite leaders were there, for had they been there and agreed
the verdict the problems that resulted may not have occurred. Trying to force an
opinion on people without their participation is a recipe for disaster. Of course if the
call to the assembly went with the parts of the concubine’s body that may explain
why they did not come. They were offended.
Judges 20:3 b
‘And the children of Israel, said, ‘Tell us, how did this wickedness happen?’
The leaders who had gathered together now commenced the case, and asked for
details of what had occurred. There would presumably be present as witnesses the
Levite, his servant and the old man from Gibeah.
4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered
woman, said, “I and my concubine came to
Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

GILL, "And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered,
and said,.... He rose up, and, in answer to their request, declared the whole affair as
follows: and none so proper as he, who was upon the spot when it was done, and so near
a relation of the deceased, and had a right to demand justice to be done; for from hence
it appears that she was his lawful wife, though called a concubine:
I came into Gibeah, that belongeth to Benjamin; which he so particularly
describes, to distinguish it from another of the same name in the tribe of Judah, lest any
mistake should be made, and an innocent people should suffer in their reputation, or
otherwise; and which also would account for the tribe of Benjamin not being present at
this convention:
I and my concubine, to lodge; thither they came, not with an intention to stay, to
sojourn there, and much less to do them any injury, or to infringe any of their rights and
privileges; nor in the least to be burdensome to them, having brought all necessary
provisions with them for themselves, servants, and cattle, only to get a night's lodging
with them.
HE RY 4-7, "A solemn examination of the crime charged upon the men of Gibeah. A
very horrid representation of it had been made by the report of the messengers that were
sent to call them together, but it was fit it should be more closely enquired into, because
such things are often made worse than really they were; a committee therefore was
appointed to examine the witnesses (upon oath, no doubt) and to report the matter. It is
only the testimony of the Levite himself that is here recorded, but it is probable his
servant, and the old man, were examined, and gave in their testimony, for that more
than one were examined appears by the original (Jdg_20:3), which is, Tell you us; and
the law was that none should be put to death, much less so many, upon the testimony of
one witness only. The Levite gives a particular account of the matter: that he came into
Gibeah only as a traveller to lodge there, not giving the least shadow of suspicion that he
designed them any ill turn (Jdg_20:4), and that the men of Gibeah, even those that were
of substance among them, that should have been a protection to the stranger within
their gates, riotously set upon the house where he lodged, and thought to slay him; he
could not, for shame relate the demand which they, without shame, made, Jdg_19:22.
They declared their sin as Sodom, even the sin of Sodom, but his modesty would not
suffer him to repeat it; it was sufficient to say they would have slain him, for he would
rather have been slain than have submitted to their villany; and, if they had got him into
their hands, they would have abused him to death, witness what they had done to his
concubine: They have forced her that she is dead, Jdg_20:5. And, to excite in his
countrymen an indignation at this wickedness, he had sent pieces of the mangled body
to all the tribes, which had fetched them together to bear their testimony against the
lewdness and folly committed in Israel, Jdg_20:6. All lewdness is folly, but especially
lewdness in Israel. For those to defile their own bodies who have the honourable seal of
the covenant in their flesh, for those to defy the divine vengeance to whom it is so clearly
revealed from heaven - Nabal is their name, and folly is with them. He concludes his
declaration with an appeal to the judgment of the court (Jdg_20:7): You are all children
of Israel, and therefore you know law and judgment, Est_1:13. “You are a holy people to
God, and have a dread of every thing which will dishonour God and defile the land; you
are of the same community, members of the same body, and therefore likely to feel from
the distempers of it; you are children of Israel, that ought to take particular care of the
Levites, God's tribe, among you, and therefore give your advice and counsel what is to be

done.”
JAMISO 4-7, "the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain,
answered and said — The injured husband gave a brief and unvarnished recital of the
tragic outrage, from which it appears that force was used, which he could not resist. His
testimony was doubtless corroborated by those of his servant and the old Ephraimite.
There was no need of strong or highly colored description to work upon the feelings of
the audience. The facts spoke for themselves and produced one common sentiment of
detestation and vengeance.
K&D, "Jdg_20:4-7
Then the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, described the whole affair. ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ב‬ִ ַ‫ה‬
‫י‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֲ‫ע‬ ַ , the owners or citizens of Gibeah (see at Jdg_9:2). “Me they intended to kill:” the
Levite draws this conclusion from what had happened to his wife; the men of Gibeah
had not expressed any such intention in Jdg_19:22. “All the country (lit. field) of the
inheritance of Israel,” i.e., all the land of the Israelites. ‫ה‬ ָ ִ‫ז‬ is applied to the vice of
lewdness, as in Lev_18:17, which was to be punished with death. ‫וגו‬ ‫ם‬ ֶ‫כ‬ ָ‫ל‬ ‫בוּ‬ ָ‫,ה‬ “give
yourselves (‫ם‬ ֶ‫כ‬ ָ‫ל‬ as dat. comm.) word and counsel here,” i.e., make up your minds and
pass sentence (vid., 2Sa_16:20). ‫ּם‬‫ל‬ ֲ‫,ה‬ here, where you are all assembled together.
COFFMA , "Verse 4
THE LEVITE'S HALF-TRUE REPORT (Judges 20:4-7)
"And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said,
I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, And the men of Gibeah rose against
me, and beset the house round about me by night; me they thought to have slain,
and my concubine they forced, and she is dead. 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. Behold, ye children of Israel,
all of you, give your advice and counsel."
Some have referred to this report as a fair account of what happened, but this
writer does not see it that way. Seven times the Levite used the pronouns, "I," "me"
and "my" along with very slight mention of the concubine. Furthermore, he failed
to report that it was his own shameful cowardice that handed the concubine over to
her abusers. Also, the text does OT say that the men of Gibeah attempted to kill
him; they wanted to abuse him homosexually. We agree with Boling that the
Levite's report aroused all Israel to a state of frenzied wrath, "Persuaded by one
man telling half the truth."[8]
PETT, "Verse 4
Judges 20:4 a

‘And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said.’
He stood up before the judges in order to testify to the hearing the facts of the case.
Judges 20:4-5 (4b-5)
“I came into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine to lodge. And
the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about against me by
night. Me they thought to have slain, and my concubine they forced, and she is
dead.”
The testimony was clear and straightforward, although protecting his honour. The
main motive of the men is not mentioned, possibly because he did not want to be
associated with such an idea, or possibly as being something he was ashamed to
mention in public, but he had had no doubt as to what would have been the end
result, especially when he resisted. All present would understand what he meant by
the humbling or forcing of his concubine, multiple rape. And it had been so vicious
that she had died as a result.
5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after
me and surrounded the house, intending to kill
me. They raped my concubine, and she died.
GILL, "And the men of Gibeah rose against me,.... Not all of them, but some that
dwelt in that city; he forbears giving them the character they justly deserved, sons of
Belial. These came in a tumultuous and violent manner:
and beset the house round about upon me by night; that he might not make his
escape, resolving if possible to get him into their hands, and do with him according to
their will:
and thought to have slain me; their first intention was to commit the unnatural sin
on him, and, if he resisted, to slay him; but this he modestly conceals, as being a sin not
to be named in an assembly of saints; and besides he might say this, because he himself
chose rather to be slain than to submit to their lust, which he knew must be the case
upon his refusal and resistance; and even if he had yielded, being overpowered, this
would have been the consequence, that he should have been abused even unto death, as
his wife was:

and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead; or "afflicted", or
"humbled" (d) her; which is a modest expression for carnal knowledge of her, and which
they had to such excess that she died through it.
TRAPP, "20:5 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.
Ver. 5. And the men of Gibeah.] Some certain varlets there; not all the city, as once at
Sodom. [Genesis 19:4-5] But because these were not punished, but countenanced, all
became guilty.
And thought to have slain me.] As they have done my concubine: (a) and perhaps they
threatened to kill him, if he would not come forth, and be abused by them.
And my concubine have they forced.] The monks in Bohemia ravished a sister of that
noble warrior, Zisca; in revenge whereof he took arms, overthrew three hundred
monasteries, and did many more great exploits against the Papists there, and in other
parts of Germany.
6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and
sent one piece to each region of Israel’s
inheritance, because they committed this lewd and
outrageous act in Israel.
GILL, "And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces,.... Lest it should be
thought that these barbarous creatures, after they had used her in such a manner that
occasioned her death, that they had committed this fact also; the Levite takes it to
himself, and owns that he did that:
and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; to alarm
them, and excite their attention to what had passed, and to raise their indignation
against it:

for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel; being guilty of adultery
and murder, and would have committed the unnatural crime, if they could have had an
opportunity of doing it.
PETT, "Verse 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.”
He then explained his unusual action in cutting up her body and sending it round to
the tribes. But what he had done emphasises that he was asking for the death
penalty. That was the significance of the cutting up and sending round of the dead
body.
“Of the inheritance of Israel.” This was his description of the country that Israel
had inherited from God. This reminded them that the country was God’s, and that
they were responsible to Him for maintaining justice in His name. They had
inherited it from the God of the covenant, and therefore must fulfil the covenant
requirements. In this case the land was stained with blood.
“Lewdness and folly in Israel.” ‘Folly in Israel’ was a technical term for the most
obscene of behaviour (Genesis 34:7; Deuteronomy 22:21; Joshua 7:15). It signified
that the culprit had broken the covenant in a way that deserved the ultimate
penalty. ‘Lewdness’ defined the particular type of folly that had been committed.
They were guilty of attempted sodomy, multiple rape, lack of hospitality to a
stranger, intended desecration of a Levite, and murder. Details of this may well have
been privately passed to the main judges. It could not be mentioned in public.
U K OW AUTHOR, "He then explained his unusual action in cutting up her
body and sending it round to the tribes. But what he had done emphasises that he
was asking for the death penalty. That was the significance of the cutting up and
sending round of the dead body.
‘Of the inheritance of Israel.’ This was his description of the country that Israel
had inherited from God. This reminded them that the country was God’s, and that
they were responsible to Him for maintaining justice in His name. They had
inherited it from the God of the covenant, and therefore must fulfil the covenant
requirements. The land was stained with blood.
‘Lewdness and folly in Israel.’ ‘Folly in Israel’ was a technical term for the most
obscene of behaviour (Genesis 34.7; Deuteronomy 22.21; Joshua 7.15). It signified
that the culprit had broken the covenant in a way that deserved the ultimate
penalty. ‘Lewdness’ defined the particular type of folly that had been committed.
They were guilty of attempted sodomy, multiple rape, lack of hospitality to a
stranger, intended desecration of a Levite, and murder. Details of this may well
have been privately passed to the main judges. It could not be mentioned in public.

7 ow, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me
what you have decided to do.”
GILL, "Behold, ye are all children of Israel,.... The descendants of one man that
feared the Lord; were of one nation, and of one religion, men professing godliness, and
therefore ought to bear testimony against sin and wickedness of every sort, and
especially such crying abominations as these:
give your advice and counsel: in this place, being assembled together on this
occasion; consult what is best to be done, and let every man speak his mind freely what
step he thinks should be taken for the glory of God, and honour of religion, and to bring
such persons to justice who had committed so foul a fact.
PETT, "Verse 7
‘Behold, you children of Israel, all of you, give here your advice and counsel.’
This was probably an official way of ending testimony. He requested the court to
consider the facts and give their verdict on behalf of the whole confederation, in the
light of the covenant of God made with Israel through Moses.
8 All the men rose up together as one, saying,
“ one of us will go home. o, not one of us will
return to his house.
BAR ES, "They bound themselves not to break up and disperse until they had
punished the wickedness of Gibeah.

CLARKE, "We will not any of us go to his tent - We will have satisfaction for
this wickedness before we return home.
GILL, "And all the people arose as one man,.... Either the heads of the people
assembled in council, all agreed unanimously in one vote or resolution, or all the
400,000 men were of the same mind, when the case was reported to them:
saying, we will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into
his house; that is, they would not return home, to take one nights rest in their houses,
or attend to the business of their callings or to any affair of life, however urgent, till
satisfaction was made for the evil committed.
HE RY 8-11, "The resolution they came to hereupon, which was that, being now
together, they would not disperse till they had seen vengeance taken upon this wicked
city, which was the reproach and scandal of their nation. Observe, 1. Their zeal against
the lewdness that was committed. They would not return to their houses, how much
soever their families and their affairs at home wanted them, till they had vindicated the
honour of God and Israel, and recovered with their swords, if it could not be had
otherwise, that satisfaction for the crime which the justice of the nation called for, Jdg_
20:8. By this they showed themselves children of Israel indeed, that they preferred the
public interest before their private concerns. 2. Their prudence in sending out a
considerable body of their forces to fetch provisions for the rest, Jdg_20:9, Jdg_20:10.
One of ten, and he chosen by lot, 40,000 in all, must go to their respective countries,
whence they came, to fetch bread and other necessaries for the subsistence of this great
army; for when they came from home they took with them provisions only for a journey
to Mizpeh, not for an encampment (which might prove long) before Gibeah. This was to
prevent their scattering to forage for themselves, for, if they had done this, it would have
been hard to get them all together again, especially all in so good a mind. Note, When
there appears in people a pious zeal for any good work it is best to strike while the iron is
hot, for such zeal is apt to cool quickly if the prosecution of the work be delayed. Let it
never be said that we left that good work to be done tomorrow which we could as well
have done today. 3. Their unanimity in these counsels, and the execution of them. The
resolution was voted, Nemine contradicente - Without a dissenting voice (Jdg_20:8); it
was one and all; and, when it was put in execution, they were knit together as one man,
Jdg_20:11. This was their glory and strength, that the several tribes had no separate
interests when the common good was concerned.
JAMISO , "Jdg_20:8-17. Their decree.
all the people arose as one man — The extraordinary unanimity that prevailed
shows, that notwithstanding great disorders had broken out in many parts, the people
were sound at the core; and remembering their national covenant with God, they now
felt the necessity of wiping out so foul a stain on their character as a people. It was
resolved that the inhabitants of Gibeah should be subjected to condign punishment. But
the resolutions were conditional. For as the common law of nature and nations requires
that an inquiry should be made and satisfaction demanded, before committing an act of

hostility or vengeance, messengers were dispatched through the whole territory of
Benjamin, demanding the immediate surrender or execution of the delinquents. The
request was just and reasonable; and by refusing it the Benjamites virtually made
themselves a party in the quarrel. It must not be supposed that the people of this tribe
were insensible or indifferent to the atrocious character of the crime that had been
committed on their soil. But their patriotism or their pride was offended by the hostile
demonstration of the other tribes. The passions were inflamed on both sides; but
certainly the Benjamites incurred an awful responsibility by the attitude of resistance
they assumed.
K&D, "Jdg_20:8-10
Then all the people rose up as one man, saying, “We will not any of us go into his tent,
neither will we any of us return to his house,” sc., till this crime is punished. The
sentence follows in Jdg_20:9 : “This is the thing that we will do,” i.e., this is the way in
which we will treat Gibeah: “against it by lot” (sc., we will act). The Syriac gives the
sense correctly - We will cast lots upon it; but the lxx quite erroneously supply
ᅊναβησόµεθα (we will go up); and in accordance with this, many expositors connect the
words with Jdg_20:10 in the following sense: “We will choose one man out of every ten
by lot, to supply the army with the necessary provision during the expedition.” This is
quite a mistake, because in this way a subordinate point, which only comes into
consideration in connection with the execution of the sentence, would be made the chief
point, and the sentence itself would not be given at all. The words “against it by lot”
contain the resolution that was formed concerning the sinful town, and have all the
enigmatical brevity of judicial sentences, and are to be explained from the course laid
down in the Mosaic law with regard to the Canaanites, who were to be exterminated, and
their land divided by lot among the Israelites. Consequently the meaning is simply this:
“Let us proceed with the lot against Gibeah,” i.e., let us deal with it as with the towns of
the Canaanites, conquer it, lay it in ashes, and distribute its territory by lot. In Jdg_
20:10 a subordinate circumstance is mentioned, which was necessary to enable them to
carry out the resolution that had been made. As the assembled congregation had
determined to keep together for the purpose of carrying on war (Jdg_20:8), it was
absolutely necessary that resources should be provided for those who were actively
engaged in the war. For this purpose they chose one man in every ten “to fetch provision
for the people,” ‫ם‬ፎ‫ּו‬‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫ּות‬‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ ַ‫,ל‬ “that they might do on their coming to Gibeah of Benjamin
according to all the folly which had been done in Israel,” i.e., might punish the
wickedness in Gibeah as it deserved.
COFFMA , "Verse 8
THE U A IMOUS DECISIO TO AVE GE THE LEVITE
"And all the people came as one man, saying; We will not any of us go to his tent,
neither will any of us turn unto his house. But now this is the thing which we will do
to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot; and we will take ten men of a hundred
throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred 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 which they have wrought in Israel.
So all the men of Israel were gathered together against the city, knit together as one

man."
"This is the thing which we will do to Gibeah" (Judges 20:9). The unanimous
decision was to put to death the guilty men of Gibeah. This intention to put to death
the guilty men of Gibeah was fully in accordance with God's will. The law of Moses
designated such a crime as the rape of the concubine a capital offense and
commanded the execution of the death penalty upon the perpetrators (Deuteronomy
22:22). It is to the credit of Israel, however, that they moved first toward a simple
resolution of the matter through negotiations.
"We will go up against it by lot" (Judges 20:9). This mention of "by lot" evidently
applied to the whole mobilization for war. The army was assembled by taking "by
lot" one man of every ten, and of those chosen, one of ten out of them were evidently
allotted to handle the duties of the quartermaster.
"A thousand out of ten thousand to fetch victuals" (Judges 20:10). As we have
punctuated this, it indicates that the quartermaster corps was also selected "by lot."
And again, in deciding "who should go up to fight first," the same "by lot" system
was again used (Judges 20:18).
PETT, "Verse 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.” ’
The verdict was unanimous. All were agreed, as indeed they had no option but to be
in the light of the evidence, no doubt backed up by that of the servant and the old
man. This refers, of course, to the leaders assembled together.
“Saying, 'We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his
house.' ” The verdict having been reached justice would immediately be done, and
they would not return to normal life or rest until this had been put into action.
U K OW AUTHOR, " Deuteronomy 13:12-18 instructs Israel how to deal with
such abominations in their midst; it tells them to inquire, then if the charges are
true, to utterly destroy those who committed such an abomination
The verdict was unanimous. All were agreed, as indeed they had no option but to
do in the light of the evidence, no doubt backed up by that of the servant and the
old man. This refers, of course, to the leaders assembled together.
‘Saying, “We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into
his house.” The verdict having been reached justice would immediately be done,
and they would not return to normal life or rest until this had been put into action.
CRISWELL
And in the 18th Chapter of the book of Leviticus, in the 24th and following verses,
God said, "You defile not ye yourself in any of these things for in all of these the
nations are defiled which I cast out before you. And the land is defiled.

Therefore, I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it and the land itself vomit out her
inhabitants."
There is an awful judgment of God upon lewdness and sodomy and gross
immorality; an awful judgment of God: “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and
my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abomination. either any of
your own nation nor even a stranger that sojourneth among you. For all these
abominations have the man of the land done which bear before you and the land is
defiled.”
And then in the 13th Chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, God gave the
final pronouncement interdiction: If thou shall hear say in one of thy cities which
the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell therein saying certain men, the children
of Belial out from among you -- you see, these men in Gibeah were called children
of Belial. If it's just heard say -- that there is gone out certain children of Belial
and they fall into those gross orgies and follies, then thou shall inquire and make
certain as diligently and if it be true and the thing certain and the abomination is
wrought among you, thou shall smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of
the sword, destroying it utterly and all that is therein, and all the cattle thereof
with the edge of the sword, every living thing. Thou shall gather all the spoil of it
into the midst of the streets thereof and shall burn with fire all the city and all the
spoil thereof before the Lord. It shall be a heap forever. It shall never even be
built again. And there shall cleave not to the cursed thing to thine hand that the
Lord thy God shall turn away from the fierceness of His wrath.
Do you think that belongs to a day and a time when God was different from
what God is now? Do you suppose that any nation today can live in lewdness and
sodomy and gross folly and iniquity? God used those awful and bitter Assyrians
as the rod of correction against the 10 tribes of northern Israel and God plowed
up their capitol cities into heaps and destroyed Samaria forever.
TRAPP, "20:8 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.
Ver. 8. And all the people arose as one man, saying.] For the punishment of foul
offences serio et sedulo ineumbendnm est, men must do their utmost; and not as
Popish councils, which make a show only of reformation. Luther truly and trimly
compared them to a company of foxes, which sweeping a foul room with their
tails, raise a great dust, but remove none.

9 But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll
go up against it in the order decided by casting
lots.
BAR ES, "By lot - To determine who should go up first Jdg_20:18. The shape of
the ground probably made it impossible for the whole force to operate at once; and the
question of spoil would have something to do with the arrangement. (Compare 1Sa_
30:22-25.)
GILL, "But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah,.... Where
the fact was done; what follows was proposed by some, and unanimously agreed to by
all:
we will go up by lot against it; cast lots who shall go up to it and demand satisfaction
for the offence committed; and if denied, to act in an hostile manner against it.
PETT, "Verse 9-10
“But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah. We will go up against it by
lot. And we will take ten men of a hundred, throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a
hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch provisions for
the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, what they
deserve, for all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.”
They now described what in their discussions they had unanimously decided on.
“We will go up against it by lot. And we will take ten men of a hundred, throughout
all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten
thousand, to fetch provisions for the people, that they may do, when they come to
Gibeah of Benjamin, what they deserve, for all the folly that they have wrought in
Israel.” One tenth of the men of Israel would be conscripted for the task, chosen by
lot. They would arm and provision themselves on behalf of the people with the aim
of punishing the men of Gibeah as they deserved. This would certainly be the death
penalty in view of their crimes.
Many, however, see this as meaning that the tenth would provision the whole army.
But that would be difficult as there was no central store of weapons. Each would
expect to provide his own. or does it explain “go up against it by lot”, which surely
refers to the selection of the tenth. It is questionable whether this phrase is to be
equated with ‘asking counsel of God’ in Judges 20:18. They would then rather have

said, ‘we will go up after enquiring of Yahweh’. Thus it suggests that they were only
going to use one tenth of their forces, chosen by lot.
TRAPP, "20:9 But now this [shall be] the thing which we will do to Gibeah; [we will
go up] by lot against it;
Ver. 9. We will go up by lot against it.] They do not shake off the plaintiff, or send
him to Gibeah for satisfaction, or defer the further hearing and determining of the
cause, as the Areopagites dealt by the dame of Smyrna, whom they appointed to
appear some hundred years after; but, We will presently go up, say they, and that
by lot, that none may think himself wronged.
BE SO , "Verse 9-10
20:9-10. We will go up by lot against it — They probably cast lots who should go,
and who should stay at home to provide the necessary supplies. According to all the
folly that they have wrought — That we may punish them as such wickedness
deserves. In Israel — This is added as an aggravation, that they should do that in
Israel, or among God’s peculiar people, which was esteemed abominable even
among the heathen. “The abhorrence of the crime” of the Gibeathites “here
expressed, and the determination of the Israelites to punish the criminals, were very
proper, but they seem to have acted with too much precipitation and resentment.
There were with them also sins against the Lord: the abomination of Gibeah was
both an evidence and effect of national degeneracy; and it called for deep
humiliation and lamentation, that such wickedness had been wrought in Israel, as
well as for indignation against the criminals. They ought to have begun with
personal and national repentance and reformation; with solemn sacrifices and
earnest supplications. This was required in other wars, (Deuteronomy 23:9,) much
more in such a war as this.” — Scott.
COKE, "Judges 20:9. To Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it— Houbigant
renders this more properly, we will draw lots against Gibea.
REFLECTIO S.—Fired with holy zeal against such a crying enormity, the whole
congregation assembles in Mizpeh, near Shiloh; that they may not only deliberate,
but consult God's mind and will in the matter. Four hundred thousand men, under
their captains of hundreds and thousands, furnished with weapons of war, are
ready to put in force the sentence which shall be resolved upon. The children of
Benjamin alone, though acquainted with the assembling of Israel, and the cause of
it, refuse to come up, and determine to protect the delinquents, becoming thereby
parties in the crime, ex post facto, by their vindication of it.
1. A solemn examination and deposition is taken from the Levite, and probably the
old man and his servant, who were present, Judges 20:3. The circumstances of the
story are related and confirmed. Such lewdness and cruelty, especially in Israel,
deserved, no doubt, a most severe scourge: he refers himself for this to their wise

and vigorous resolutions; as children of Israel, who would wipe off such a defiling
stain from among them. ote; (1.) Lewdness in Israel is doubly criminal. (2.) Before
we proceed to judgment, the evidence should be clear and distinct. (3.) They who are
God's people will at least, by their conduct, testify their abhorrence of the iniquity
which may be found among them, and cut off from their communion the wicked
person.
2. The fact being indubitable, their resolution is unanimous. They swear never to
separate till they have obtained satisfaction; and in order that the army may be
supplied in their encampment before Gibeah, forty thousand men are deputed to
provide forage and provisions. ote; It is good to be zealously affected in the cause
of God, and without delay carry our purposes into action.
10 We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from
all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a
thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to
get provisions for the army. Then, when the army
arrives at Gibeah[a] in Benjamin, it can give them
what they deserve for this outrageous act done in
Israel.”
BAR ES, "In order to make it possible for the force of Israel to keep the field, and do
to the men of Gibeah what their wickedness deserved, every tenth man (40,000 in all)
was appointed to find provisions for the whole army.
CLARKE, "Ten men of a hundred - Expecting that they might have a long
contest, they provide suttlers for the camp; and it is probable that they chose these
tenths by lot.
GILL, "And we will take ten men of an hundred, throughout all the tribes of
Israel,.... Excepting that of Benjamin which was not with them, not any of them:

and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand; in all
40,000, out of the 400,000:
to fetch victual for the people; ten men were to provide food for ninety, and one
hundred men for nine hundred, and 1000 men for 9000, in all 40,000, for 360,000;
these were either to go to their own tribes and habitations, or to the towns and cities
adjacent, to procure food for this large army; for they came from their homes without
any provision, not knowing that the affair would keep them long; but perceiving that it
would require time before it could be determined, they judged it the wisest method for
some to be appointed to take care of provision for the army, that it might not be
scattered about on that account, but pursue the war with vigour till satisfaction was
obtained:
that they might do, when they came to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all
the folly that they have wrought in Israel; punish with death the delinquents, and
chastise the inhabitants, and especially the magistrates, for their connivance at such
wicked persons among them, and negligence of doing their duty.
HE RY, "Their prudence in sending out a considerable body of their forces to fetch
provisions for the rest, Jdg_20:9, Jdg_20:10. One of ten, and he chosen by lot, 40,000
in all, must go to their respective countries, whence they came, to fetch bread and other
necessaries for the subsistence of this great army; for when they came from home they
took with them provisions only for a journey to Mizpeh, not for an encampment (which
might prove long) before Gibeah. This was to prevent their scattering to forage for
themselves, for, if they had done this, it would have been hard to get them all together
again, especially all in so good a mind. Note, When there appears in people a pious zeal
for any good work it is best to strike while the iron is hot, for such zeal is apt to cool
quickly if the prosecution of the work be delayed. Let it never be said that we left that
good work to be done tomorrow which we could as well have done today. 3. Their
unanimity in these counsels, and the execution of them. The resolution was voted,
Nemine contradicente - Without a dissenting voice (Jdg_20:8); it was one and all; and,
when it was put in execution, they were knit together as one man, Jdg_20:11. This was
their glory and strength, that the several tribes had no separate interests when the
common good was concerned.
11 So all the Israelites got together and united as
one against the city.

GILL, "So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city,.... Of Gibeah,
even 360,000 men:
knit together as one man; went heart and hand together, united in their sentiments
and resolutions, determining to have justice done, or lose their lives in this cause:
according to the Jews (e), this was on the twenty third of Shebet, which answers to part
of January and part of February, on which day a fast was kept on this account.
K&D, "Jdg_20:11
Thus the men of Israel assembled together against Gibeah, united as one man. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ב‬ ֲ‫,ח‬
lit. as comrades, simply serves to strengthen the expression “as one man.” With this
remark, which indicates briefly the carrying out of the resolution that was adopted, the
account of the meeting of the congregation is brought to a close; but the actual progress
of the affair is really anticipated, inasmuch as what is related in Jdg_20:12-21 preceded
the expedition in order of time.
PETT, "Verse 11
‘So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.’
“All the men of Israel.” That is all who had gathered. The army was gathered as
agreed, and they were all one in their aims. This was probably most unusual for the
tribal confederation, and this incident and its result may well have acted to give the
confederation a unity that it had previously lacked.
12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers
throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What
about this awful crime that was committed among
you?
Before the battle started the tribes of Israel sent their ambassadors to the tribe of
Benjamin, and asked them how they could allow this wicked thing to happen in
their tribe. You have allow these "sons of Belial", these worthless scoundrels, sons
of the devil to do such wicked deeds. So now all the sons of Benjamin are aware of
the filth that is going on in Gibeah, and it is up to them to clean house within their
own tribe.