Judges 20:31 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel.

NIV: The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

NASB: When the sons of Benjamin went out against the people, they were lured away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the roads (one of which goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah), and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

CSB: Then the Benjaminites came out against the troops and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the troops as before, killing about thirty men of Israel on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah through the open country.

NLT: When the men of Benjamin came out to attack, they were drawn away from the town. And as they had done before, they began to kill the Israelites. About thirty Israelites died in the open fields and along the roads, one leading to Bethel and the other leading back to Gibeah.

KJV: And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

NKJV: So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

Despite outnumbering defenders by fifteen-to-one, eleven of the tribes of Israel have been thoroughly thwarted in two attempts to take the city of Gibeah from the twelfth tribe, Benjamin. The city's natural defenses likely made it especially difficult to attack. The much smaller Benjaminite forces held their ground and devastated those who came near: about one out of every eleven attackers from the original Israeli army has been killed. What might have been a brute-force strategy of attacking the town head on has failed miserably (Judges 20:19–25).

This third attempt will be different. Israel will execute a new strategy, further bolstered by God's promise that they will win in this third attack (Judges 20:26–28).

Israel has set men along the same battle lines used in prior attacks. This time, though, they have hidden another part of their army around the city. Those hidden men are ready to spring an ambush when the time is right. Israel initiates the attack in the same manner as the first two attempts. Benjamin's forces come out to engage them, as they did before. Israel's soldiers begin to fall back, as if they are losing ground. They move back along the roadways, including one from Gibeah to Bethel.

The fierce fighters of Benjamin see this as an opportunity, but don't realize it's a trap. They are drawn away from the safety of the city. They succeed in killing about thirty Israelite soldiers along the road and in the open fields as they chase their attackers down. They don't know that Israel has used these men as bait to draw Benjamin's forces further away from town.

Judges 20:18–34 describes three battles between eleven tribes of Israel and the twelfth, Benjamin. Benjamin's forces are outnumbered about fifteen-to-one as they defend the city of Gibeah (Judges 19:14, 22; 20:13). The first two attacks fail, with almost a tenth of the Israelite fighters killed. After a day of fasting and sacrifices, God promises Israel victory. Israel's army uses a new strategy and succeeds. The following section begins with a summary of their eventual victory (Judges 20:35).

A massive army collected from eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel gather near the town of Gibeah. Their goal is to purge evil from the land (Judges 19:22–28). The tribe of Benjamin refuses to cooperate. Instead, they assemble an army about one-fifteenth the size of Israel's army. After two failed attempts and a promise of victory from the Lord, Israel uses a false retreat and ambush strategy to destroy Gibeah. This results in the loss of Benjamin's entire army. Israel's wrath spills over onto the territory, itself. All the people, animals, and towns in the tribe's territory are attacked, and it appears that only 600 Benjaminite men survive.

In the prior chapter, Benjaminite men of the town of Gibeah committed an act of heinous sin (Judges 19:22–25). In response, the murdered woman's husband rallies Israel with a gruesome message (Judges 19:29–30). Chapter 20 depicts how the tribe of Benjamin refuses to hand over the guilty men. Civil war ensues, resulting in near-total annihilation of their tribe. This creates a new crisis in Israel, as described in chapter 21; Israel doesn't want Benjamin to become extinct.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).