Judges 20:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot,

NIV: But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots.

NASB: But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot.

CSB: Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will attack it. By lot

NLT: Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah; we will draw lots to decide who will attack it.

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

NKJV: but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot.

Tribal leaders and fighting men of eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel are in unanimous agreement (Judges 20:11). They are committed to hold the Benjaminite town of Gibeah (Judges 19:14) accountable for depraved crimes committed there (Judges 20:1–8). Here, the focus moves to practical matters, such as strategy. The roles of the various divisions need to be sorted out, beginning with who will man the supply lines for the rest of the army.

To make this process more objective, the decision will be made by casting lots. The closest modern equivalent would be rolling dice. Small objects were rolled or drawn from a bag to generate a supposedly random outcome. This was often used in Israel to reveal the genuine will of God. In fact, God often commanded Israel to settle issues in this way (Numbers 26:55; Joshua 14:2). Proverbs 16:33 describes it this way: "The lost is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." The goal is to remove human preference from the decision, leaving the result to God's providence.

Questions about who will attack first will eventually be brought directly to the Lord (Judges 20:18).

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).