Judges 20:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead.

NIV: 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.

NASB: But the citizens of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night, threatening me. They intended to kill me; instead, they raped my concubine so that she died.

CSB: Citizens of Gibeah came to attack me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, but they raped my concubine, and she died.

NLT: That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died.

The husband of a murdered and dismembered concubine is providing his official statement (Judges 20:1–3). This is being heard by assembled leaders of eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus far, the man noted that he and his concubine had come to Gibeah to spend the night. They were travelers (Judges 20:4).

Here, he describes the crime. This phrasing says it was "the leaders" of Gibeah who violently attacked (Judges 19:22). The earlier statement called them "the men of the city." That phrase can sometimes imply the leaders or elders of a community. The Levite might emphasize that the men were important to Gibeah to motivate the people of Israel to hold the entire town responsible for what happened.

He continues to tell of how these men wanted to kill him, that they raped his concubine, and that she is now dead. It's possible he said more than is explicitly recorded here. However, this account leaves out aspects of the incident which don't reflect well on his own character. He does not seem to mention that he physically pushed his concubine out the door to save himself (Judges 19:23–28).

Regardless of what details are withheld or included, the fact of the heinous crime remains. A brutal mob of rapists tried to kill the Levite without any provocation and then raped and beat his concubine, who later died. It is indeed an abomination and an outrage, as the Levite states in the following verse (Judges 20:6).

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).