Judges 20

THEN all the children of Israel i. e. A great number, and especially the Rulers of all the Tribes, except Benjamin, v. 3, 12. went out From their several habitations., and the congregation was gathered together as one man i. e. With one consent., from Dan even to Beersheba Dan was the Northern border of the Land, near Lebanon; and Beersheba the Southern border, Gen. 21. 33. Compare 1 King. 4. 25., with the land of Gilead Beyond Iordan, where Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh were., unto the LORD As to the Lords Tribunal: for God was not only present in the place where the Ark and Tabernacle was, but also in the Assemblies of the Gods, or Judges, Psal. 82. 1. and in all the places where Gods name is recorded, Exod. 20. 24. and where two or three are met together in his name, Matth. 18. 20. for his service, and to seek for Counsel and mercy from him: compare Iudg. 11. 11. in Mizpeh A place in the borders of Iudah and Benjamin, and therefore ascribed to both of them, Ios. 15. 38. and 18. 26. This they chose, as a place most fit and proper in many respects: First, as a place they used to meet in upon Solemn occasions, See Iudg. 10. 17. and 11. 11. 1 Sam. 7. 5, 16. and 10. 17. Secondly, For its convenient Scituation for all the... ribes within and without Iordan. Thirdly, As being near the place where the Fact was done, that it might be more throughly examined: and not far from Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was, whither they might go or send, if need were.

And the chief Heb. the corners, i. e. the Nobles and Rulers, which are oft so called, because like corner-stones, they both unite, and support, and adorn the whole Building. Or, and four hundred thousand; It is an Ellipsis of the Particle, and of which Examples have been given before: for the chief of the People were not so many; but the common Soldiers, and these were all Foot-men; whereas many of the Rulers rid upon Horses, or Asses, Iudg. 5. 10. and 10. 4. and 12. 14. The number is here set down, to show both their zeal and forwardness in punishing such a Villany; and the strange blindness of the Benjamites that durst oppose so great and united a Body; and that the success of Battel... depends not upon great numbers, seeing this great Host was twice defeated by the Benjamites, but wholly upon Gods blessing. of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand i foot-men For horse-men they had few or none in their Armies., that drew sword.

(Now the children of Benjamin heard Like Persons unconcerned and resolved, they neither went nor sent thither: partly from their own pride, and stubbornness, and self-confidence: partly because as they were loath to give up any of their Brethren to Justice, so they presumed the other Tribes would never proceed to a War against them: and partly, from a Divine infatuation hardening that wicked Tribe to their own Destruction. that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us The Verb is of the Plural Number, because they speak to the Levite, and his Servant, and his Host, who doubtless were present upon this occasion., how was this wickedness?

And the Levite To whose Relation the other two gave their consent., the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

And the men of Gibeah rose up against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me Except I would either submit to their unnatural Lust, which I was resolved to withstand even unto death: or deliver up my concubine to them, which I was forced to do.: and my concubine have they forced that 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 i. e. A lewd folly, most ignominious and impudent Wickedness. in Israel.

Behold, ye are all children of Israel The Sons of that Holy man, who for one filthy action left an Eternal brand upon one of his own Sons: a People in Covenant with the holy God, whose Honour you are obliged to vindicate, and who has expresly commanded you to punish all such notorious Enormities., give here your advice and counsel.

¶ And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent i. e. His habitation, to wit, until we have revenged this Injury., neither will we any of us turn into his house:

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

And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to... etch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, accord ing to all the folly that they have wrought That we may punish them as such a wickedness deserves. in Israel This is added as an aggravation, that they should do that in Israel, or among Gods peculiar People, which was esteemed abominable even among the Heathen..

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

¶ And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe Heb. tribes: Either the Plural Number for the Singular: or rather tribe is put for family, as was noted before, as families are elsewhere put for tribes. They take a wise and a just course, in sending to all the parts and families of the tribe, to separate the Innocent from the Guilty, and to give them a fair opportunity of preventing their ruin, by doing nothing but what their Duty, Honour, and Interest obliged them to; even by delivering up those vile Malefactors, whom they could not keep without horrid guilt and shame; and bringing the Curse of God upon themselves. of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?

Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil Both the Guilt and the Punishment, wherein all Israel will be Involved, if they do not Punish it. from Israel: but the children of Benjamin would not hearken Partly from the Pride of their Hearts, which made them scorn to submit to their Brethren, or to suffer them to meddle in their Territory; partly from a conceit of their own Valour and Military skill; and partly from Gods just judgment. to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel.

But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities, unto Gibeah, to go out to battel against the children of Israel.

And the children of Benjamin were numbred at that time out of the city, twenty and six thousand men that drew sword; beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbred seven hundred chosen men Object. This agrees not with the following numbers: for all that were slain of Benjamin were 25100 men, v. 35. and there were only 600 that survived, v. 47. which make only 25700. Ans. The other thousand men were either left in some of their cities, where they were slain, v. 48. or were cut off in the two first Battels, wherein it is unreasonable to think they had an unbloody Victory: and as for these 25100 men, they were all slain in that day, i. e. the day of the third Battel, as is affirmed v. 35..

Among all this people, there were seven hundred chosen men left handed Heb. shut up on their right hand, i. e. using their left hand instead of their right., every one could sling stones at an hairs breadth, and not miss An Hyperbolical expression, signifying, that they could do this with great exactness. There are many Parallel Instances in Historians of Persons that could throw Stones, or shoot Arrows with great certainty, so as seldom or never to miss. Of which see my Latin Synopsis. And this was very considerable, and one ground of the Benjamites confidence, because in those times they had no Guns..

And the men of Israel To wit, such as were here present, v. 2. for otherwise it is most probable they had a far greater number of men, being 600000 before their entrance into Canaan, Num. 1. 2., beside Benjamin, were numbred four hundred thousand men that drew sword, all these were men of war.

¶ And the children of Israel i. e. Some sent in the name of all. arose, and went up to the house of God To wit, to Shiloh, which was not far from Mizpeh, where they were., and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battel This they ask to prevent Emulations and Contentions: but they do not ask whether they should go against them, o... no, for that they knew they ought to do by the will of God already revealed: nor yet do they seek to God for his help by Prayer, and Fasting,, in all reason they ought to have done; but were confident of Success, because of their great Numbers, and Righteous Cause. against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

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

And the men of Israel went out to battel against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in aray to fight against them at Gibeah.

And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day, twenty and two thousand men Quest. Why would God suffer them to have so great a loss in so Good a Cause? Ans. Because they had many and great Sins reigning amongst themselves, and they should not have come to so great a Work of God as this, with polluted hands, but should have pulled the Beam out of their own Eye, before they attempted to take that out of their Brother Benjamin's Eye: which because they did not, God does it for them, making them by this loss more clearly to see their own Sins, and their need of Gods help, without which their great Numbers were insignificant; and bringing them through the Fire, that they might be purged from their Dross; it being probable that the great God who governs every stroke in Battels, did so order things, that their worst and rotten Members should be cut off, which was a great Blessing to the whole Common-wealth..

And the people, the men of Israel incouraged themselves Heb. strengthned themselves, partly by supporting themselves with the Conscience of the Justice of their Cause, and the hopes of success: and partly, by putting themselves in better order for defending themselves, and annoying their Enemies., and set their battel again in aray, in the place where they put themselves in aray the first day Hereby showing their freedom from that Heathenish Superstition, whereby they might have been apt to have rejected that as an unlucky place. Compare 1 King. 20. 23, 28..

(And the children of Israel went up and wept Not so much for their Sins, as for their Defeat and Loss, as appears by the Sequel. before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to battel against the children of Benjamin my brother They impute their ill Success, not to their own Sins, as they had great reason to do, but to their taking up Arms against their Brethren, the Lawfulness whereof they now begin to doubt of. But still they persist in their former neglect of seeking Gods assistance in the way which he had appointed, as they themselves acknowledge presently, by doing those very things which now they Sinfully neglected, v. 26. and therefore are again justly punished. God answers to their question; but as they did not desire his assistance and success, so he does not promise it.? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)

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

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

¶ Then all the children of Israel, and all the people went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted Being now sensible of their former slightness, and not being truly humbled for their Sins, which now they discover to be the true Cause of their ill success. that day until even, and offered burnt-offerings To make atonement to God for their own Sins., and peace-offerings Partly to bless God for sparing so many of them, whereas he might justly have cut off all of them when their Brethren were slain: and partly to Implore his assistance for the future, and to give him Thanks for the Victory, which now they were confident he would give them. before the LORD.

And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD To wit, by Urim and Thummim, Numb. 27. 21., (for the ark of the covenant of God was there In Shiloh where they were now assembled. in those days.

And Phineas the son of Eleazar This is added to give us some light about the time of this History, and to show it was not done in the order in which it is here placed, after Sampson's Death, but long before. the son of Aaron stood i. e. Ministred, as the word stand oft signifies, as Deut. 10. 8. and 18. 7. Prov. 22. 29. Ier. 52. 12. compare with 2 King. 25. 8. because standing is the usual posture of Servants. before it i. e. Before the Ark: or, before his, i. e. the Lord's face, or presence: which shows that he was the highpriest, for none else might appear there in those days) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battel against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease Which, if thou requirest, we are willing to do, notwithstanding the provocation they have given us, and our own Inclination to revenge.? And the LORD said, Go up, for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand Now when they had sought God after the due order, and truly humbled themselves for their Sins, he gives them a full and satisfactory Answer to their Desires..

And Israel set liers in wait Though they were assured of the Success, by a particular and absolute promise, yet they do not neglect the use of means; as well knowing that the certainty of Gods purposes or promises does not excuse, but rather require Mans diligent use of all fit means for the accomplishment of them. round about Gibeah i. e. On several sides of it, as may be gathered from the following Verses..

And the children of Israel i. e. A considerable part of them, who were ordered to give the first onset, and then to counterfeit flight, to draw the Benjamites forth of their strong hold. See v. 32. went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day To wit, after the second Battel; for the first day after it, they spent in perplexing thoughts, and going up to the House of the Lord: the second, in Fasting and Prayer there: and this third, in the Fight. Or, this is so called with respect unto the two several foregoing days of Battel, and so this was the third day of Battel., and put themselves in aray against Gibeah, as at other times.

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city By the dissembled Flight of the Israelites., and they began to smite of the people, and kill as at other times With the same kind, though not the same degree of Success., in the high-ways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field So called, to difference it from this Gibeah, which was upon an Hill; wherefore they are constantly said, to ascend or go up against it, as v. 23, 30. See Ios. 18. 24, 28., about thirty men of Israel.

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

And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place Where they had disposed themselves, that they might fall upon the Benjamites, when they were drawn forth to a sufficient distance from their City, and when they were pursuing that Party mentioned, v. 30., and put themselves in aray at Baal-Tamar: and the lyers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places To execute what was agreed upon, even to take Gibeah, and burn it, as they actually did, v. 37., even out of the meadows of Gibeah.

And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel Selected out of the main Body, which was at Baal-Tamar; and these were to march directly to Gibeah on the one side, whilst the liers in wait stormed it on the other side, and whilst the great Body of the Army laboured to intercept these Benjamites, who having pursued the Israelites that pretended to flee, now endeavoured to retreat to Gibeah., and the battel was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them They were so puffed up with their former Successes, that they were insensible of their danger.

And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel, and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand, and an hundred men This is the Total Sum, whereof the particulars are related v. 44, 45. and for the odd hundred not there mentioned, they were killed in other places not their expressed.: all these drew the sword.

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

And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah, and the liers in wait drew themselves along Or, extended themselves; i. e. whereas before they lay close and contracted into a narrow compass, now they spread themselves, and Marched in Rank and File, as Armies do. Or, marched, or went: Heb. drew their Feet. So this Verb is oft used, as Gen. 37. 28. Exod. 12. 21. Iudg. 4. 6. Iob 21. 33., and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.

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

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

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

And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed Because of their great disappointment, and the present danger wherewith they were surrounded on every side.; for they saw that evil was come upon them.

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel, unto the way of the wilderness, but the battel overtook i. e. The Men of Battel or War. The abstract for the concrete, as Poverty, 2 King. 24. 14. Pride, Psal. 36. 11. Deceit, Prov. 12. 25. Dreams, Ier. 25. 9. Election, Rom. 11. 7. are put for Persons that are Poor, Proud, Deceitful, Dreamers, Elect. them: and them which came out of the cities, they destroyed in the midst of them So the sense may seem to be this, That the Israelites did not only kill the Inhabitants of Gibeah, and all the Benjamites that came into the Field against them, 600 excepted; but in the midst of them, or together with them, they killed also the rest of the Benjamites, who, when they saw their Army was wholly Destroyed, made haste to flee out of their several Cities or Towns, that so they might escape the Sword, which was coming towards them. But the words may be rendred thus: And them who were of the other cities, to wit, of Benjamin, i. e. who abode in their own Cities, and did not go up to Gibeah, they Destroyed in the midst of them, i. e. in their several Cities, or, in the midst of it, i. e. of every City: for so it is said v. 48. where it is said, That they smote the men of every City. But this I submit to the Learned..

Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease Without great difficulty. Now that God gave them his presence and assistance, they easily did that which before they found too hard for them. Or, unto Menuchah, or, as far as Ma... uchah, a place so called. See 1 Chron. 2. 52. Ier. 51. 59., over against Gibeah towards the sun-rising.

And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men To wit, in the Field, or Battel.; all these were men of valour.

And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon and they gleaned i. e. They cut off the remainders in the pursuit, and spared none. A Metaphor from those who gather Grapes or Corn so clearly and fully, that they leave no relicks for those who come after them. of them in the high-ways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and flew two thousand men of them.

So that all which fell that day of Benjamin, were twenty and five thousand Besides the odd hundred expressed ver. 35. but here only the great number is expressed, the less being omitted, as inconsiderable; which way of numbring is frequent in Scripture, as Iudg. 11. 26. 2 Sam. 5. 5. and in other Authors, and in vulgar use; as when they are called, the 70 Interpreters, who in truth and exactness were 72. Here are also a thousand more omitted, because here he speaks only of them who fell in that third day of Battel. See on v. 15. men that drew the sword: all these were men of valour.

But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness, unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock In a Cave within that Rock, where they Fortified themselves, and fetched in Provision as they had opportunity; which they could easily do, when the heat of the Battel was over, and the Israelites were not solicitous to pursue them further. Rimmon four months.

And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin Having destroyed those that came to Gibeah, and into the field, now they follow them home to their several habitations., and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men Comprehensively taken, so as to include women and children. If this seem harsh and bloody, either it may be ascribed to Military Fury; or rather, it may be justified; partly, from that high guilt brought upon the whole Tribe, in which it is no wonder if their Infants suffered, which was not unusual in such cases, as Numb. 31. 17. 1 Sam. 15. 3. I... s. 7. 15. partly, from that Command of God in a Parallel case, Deut. 13. 15. and partly from that Solemn Oath by which they had Anathematised or devoted to Death all that came not up to Mizpeh, Iudg. 21. 5. which none of the Benjamites did; for which cause also they destroyed all the Men, Women, and Children of Iabesh-Gilead, Judg. 21. 10. of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.