Judges 20:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

NIV: So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.

NASB: So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.

CSB: So all the men of Israel gathered united against the city.

NLT: So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.

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

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

In most military campaigns described in Judges, a few tribes of Israel joined forces to go to war against an oppressive enemy. The tribes settled into their territories in other parts of the country are often not even mentioned. The sense of the book is that Israel has not stood together as a unified people for quite some time. They lack a king, literally speaking (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25), but also lack cohesion as a people.

Now, though, nearly all the people of God's nation have united in extraordinary agreement (Judges 20:1–10). Unfortunately, the occasion bringing them together is an instance of nearly unbelievable cruelty and depravity (Judges 19:22–30). The desire to purge such evil from God's chosen nation is good, but it will come at a cost. The tribe which owns the guilty city, Gibeah (Judges 19:14) will refuse to cooperate (Judges 20:13. The situation will quickly spiral into a bloody civil war.

Judges 20:1–17 depicts Israel's response to an atrocity in Gibeah, a town of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 19:22, 25). The people agree to punish Gibeah, saying their intent is to purge evil from Israel. When the Benjaminites refuse to hand over the guilty men, the other eleven tribes prepare a large army to invade. Benjamin rallies their own troops and prepares to defend the city of Gibeah.

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).

Accessed 5/18/2024 9:08:33 PM