051 The National
Crisis (21:1-24)
This final chapter of the Book of Judges is perhaps the most
perplexing of all the chapters we have studied in Judges. In our last session
we saw that the tribe of Benjamin had been all but obliterated. There was only
a remnant of six hundred men left hiding near the Rimmon Rock. This chapter is
the account of the steps that the other tribes, the Nation of Israel, took to
find a solution to restoring and rebuilding the tribe of Benjamin that they had
just destroyed. What takes place is difficult to categorize, it can be
understood as comic or grotesque or almost anything in between. At the least,
it is a very strange chapter in Bible history. 
Recognizing the Crisis: 21.1-4
Verse 1 provides us with a flashback to the earlier meeting at Mizpah and reveals some new information. The writer informs us that not only did the forces of Israel agree to punish the men of Gibeah “they had all also pledged on oath that none of them would ever give his daughter to a Benjamite man in marriage.” It is ironic that they pledge not to intermarry with one of their own tribes but as we have seen throughout Judges, Israel had little trouble with intermarrying with the Canaanites. Daniel Block suggests that: “The men of Israel do not realize the significance of their action, but in the mind of the narrator this grotesque application of Yahweh’s prohibition on intermarriage with Canaanites (Deut 7:1-5) to their own kinfolks serves as a final acknowledgment of the Canaanization of Israel.”
Once the battle lust has dissipated and the victory secured, Israel comes to the realization that they have almost extinguished the tribe of Benjamin. They recognize that the remnant of Benjamin is all that is left. All of the women of Benjamin have been slaughtered and since the other tribes have sworn not to let the Benjaminites intermarry with their daughters, Benjamin will soon become extinct unless they intermarry with the Canaanites, but then Benjamin will also cease to exist. Either way Benjamin will soon become non-existent. Block points out the ironic fact that in a very bizarre way this is realization of Jacob’s fear for his youngest son Benjamin. “Their father Jacob said to them, ‘You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!!’ (Ge 42.36)”
Verses 2-3 describe the response to this realization by the Israelites. They first assembled again at Bethel where they sat before Yahweh weeping asking “why has this happened to Israel?” Is this weeping a tearful result of their sin against God or is the wailing of mourning over the near loss of a tribe of Israel? Indications would seem to point to the latter case as there is little evidence of repentance or sense of concern for their spiritual well-being. The writer’s use of the generic term for God indicates that he believes that there is little sincerity in their mourning.
Israel’s question is certainly up for interpretation. At its best it is asking for Yahweh to provide them with His perspective for this current state of affairs. Yet a more spiritual people should have been able to understand for themselves what happened. Would Israel have listened if Yahweh gave them the answer to the question “How did this come to pass?” “How did we get to this point?” Yahweh’s answer would likely have been that the reason that one tribe of Israel was almost blotted out, was that Israel, as a people of Yahweh, was no longer. Gibeah was not an isolated incident. What happened in Gibeah was characteristic of the moral rot within all of Israel and if something is not changed quickly all of Israel will be erased from existence just like Benjamin.
Some may understand this questioning as an honest desire to know what Israel should do now, where do they go from here. Israel, then, is seen to be asking the question of “What is Yahweh’s solution to the dilemma in which they find themselves?” At its worst this question could be understood as the opening of the “blame game.” Here Israel is seen as saying that Yahweh has failed them, Yahweh has forgotten that is His job to protect His people from harm. Evading their own responsibility Israel is quick to hold God accountable for their problems.
Whatever you may understand about Israel’s question or their motives, it is God’s response that is paramount, and here God’s silence is deafening. His silence says much and it seems to say “This is your mess, you got yourself into it. Do not blame me.”
Greatly disturbed by Yahweh’s silence, the people rose early in the morning to build an altar and present both burnt and fellowship offerings to Yahweh in the hopes that they can provoke Him to respond to their question. Block makes a point that we should pay particular attention to:
“They construct an altar, and then they offer their whole burnt and peace offerings (as in 20:26) as if nothing has changed since Exodus 24 and as if God is obligated to those who perform perfunctory religious and cultic service. But God does not answer, and the people are thrown back on their resources. The results would be comical if they were not so tragic.”
How many times have you and I followed a similar script in our own lives only to achieve the same results – no answer from God. Like the Israelites, the problem lies not with God but with our motivation.
Responses to the
Crisis (21:5-24)
The remainder of this final chapter raises many questions but the overriding question is: “What is Yahweh’s intention for the tribe of Benjamin?” Does Yahweh want Benjamin preserved or destroyed? Israel responds to the near decimation of Benjamin by trying to find a way that they can provide wives for the remnant of Benjamin without violating their oaths not to give wives to the Benjaminites. They come up with two solutions which are reported in verses 5-14 and 15-24.
The First Solution: 21:5-14
The Israelites, frustrated by Yahweh’s lack of response to tell them what to do, decide to take things into their own hands. Their motivation is that they have almost lost an entire tribe and they are grieving over this loss. Verse 6 gives graphic evidence of Israel’s sense of loss: “Today one tribe is cutoff from Israel.”
The Israelites start to find a solution to this crisis of losing the tribe of Benjamin by recognizing the fact that if they could provide wives for the Benjaminites holed up at Rimmon Rock then perhaps the tribe could be rebuilt. The problem was how to provide Israelite women to these men without violating the vows they took before the battle not to allow their women to marry Benjaminites.
Earlier when the tribes had gathered at Mizpah to decide what to do about Benjamin, we learn that they had agreed to a “solemn oath” that should be imposed upon anyone who had failed to appear before Yahweh at this assembly. This solemn oath was a death sentence on any who failed to gather with them before the Lord. So the question was asked of the Israelites “Did any of the tribes or clans fail to attend the gathering at Mizpah?” Upon review it was found that none of the people from Jabesh-Gilead were present at Mizpah. By not being present at Mizpah, they would not be bound by the oath not to give their daughters to the Benjamites. This could provide a source of Israelite women for the remnant of Benjamin to take as wives.
We are not given a reason why the men of Jabesh-Gilead did not appear in Mizpah but the decision is made to kill all the members of the city except the virgins who had not slept with a man. There is no indication that these people had any opportunity to offer a defense or reason for their absence from Mizpah (v12-13).
How Israel arrived at this solution we will never know. We can only guess that their thinking may have been that because the fathers of the women of Jabesh-Gilead were slain they could not be said to have given their daughters to the Benjaminites. This would mean that Israel did not violate their oath taken at Mizpah. The question remains, how did Israel justify not killing all the residents of Jabesh-Gilead? How did they justify allowing the 400 virgins to live? Unless they understood Nu 31.13-20 as a precedent, they simply resorted to man’s normal method of decision; they did what was arbitrary, opportunistic and practical. The writer gives us no reason why there was an exception made from the requirements of “holy war” for the 400 virgins yet it was a “clever” way of exploiting one oath to circumvent another by the selective application of the law of holy war.” Unfortunately, like many of Israel’s decisions, this action, while perhaps having the appearance of obedience to the law, clearly violates the spirit of the law and is morally questionable.
Israel took the virgins to the camp at Shiloh. Shiloh was the location of the tabernacle and was the religious center of the nation. It would likely have been seen as safe haven by the men of Benjamin and Israel may have felt that the priests could bless their actions taken to prevent a tribe of Israel from disappearing. .
The writer’s description of Shiloh as being “at Shiloh in Canaan” is curious. This is the only time in the Bible that there is a reference to an Israelite city being in Canaan after the “conquest” of the Promised Land. The writer has suggested that the men of Gibeah were like the Sodomites and the Canaanites in the narrative of the Levite and his concubine. The Benjaminites by protecting the Gibeahites are seen in the same light. Now the writer is suggesting that religious center of Israel has become Canaanite. This is indicating that everything that transpires in this chapter is to be understood through a Canaanite “worldview.” The writer is emphasizing that everything that is done at Shiloh in this chapter is “of Canaan.” Block tells us that: “They reflect the same Canaanized disposition as the other actions and attitudes that caused Yahweh to refuse to answer the Israelites’ overtures earlier in this chapter.”‘
After taking the virgins to Shiloh, the Israelites send an offer of peace to the Benjaminites at Rimmon Rock. The Benjaminites, having little choice, accept the peace offered by Israel, return with the Israelite delegation and are given the women to take as wives. In verse 14 we are told what we already knew, there are not enough women to go around. This provides the transition to the second half of the chapter as now Israel needs to come up with an additional solution to the problem of repopulating Benjamin.
The Additional Solution: 21:15-24
. Verses 15-18 remind us of verses 6-7 as the writer again reports how sorry Israel is about what has happened to the tribe of Benjamin. Verse 17 tells us that Israel is still worried about how Benjamin will continue to exist as a tribe if only four hundred of the survivors have wives. They are faced with the problem of finding an additional two hundred wives for these men
Verse 18 repeats the fact the daughters of Israel cannot be given to the men of Benjamin because of the curse Israel put on themselves. Where are they going to find an additional two hundred women? In verses 19-22 we are told the solution that Israel decided on. The solution to the problem is for the two hundred men of Benjamin to kidnap two hundred Israelite women and take them for their wives. If the women are kidnapped then Israel has satisfied the curse in that they did not “give” their daughters to the Benjaminites, the Benjaminites took them. This solves the problem. Israel avoids the consequences of the curse, and Benjamin gets the needed two hundred wives, and will not be blotted out, the twelve tribes of Israel still exist. The bottom line is that to solve their problem they conveniently overlook the legal and moral violations of these actions.
We do not know the particular festival in question. All we know is what the writer tells us. This may be done to continue the idea of the Canaanization of Israel. The Benjaminites were told to hide in the vineyards, and when the girls came out to dance, each of them was grab one of the women and drag them back to Benjamin. The idea of the men hiding in the vineyards may be a hint that the festival was associated with the harvesting of grapes. The women are identified as the “girls of Shiloh” not the “girls of Israel” suggesting that these “girls” were associated with the cultic rituals of Shiloh. The writer has alluded to Shiloh as being Canaanite and so it is not a great stretch to believe that the cultic ritual here is Canaanite and not Israelite.
Dan Block points out, that like much of the Book of Judges, Israel sanction the use of violence against their own daughters. Israel may have felt good about their solution to the problem of the Benjaminites but at what cost to their daughters. If these young women were unaware of what was to transpire, imagine the fear, confusion and fright they must have experienced as they were attacked and either dragged off or at best were witness to their friends and sisters being taken captive and dragged off. In another irony, Israel went to war and nearly wiped out Benjamin for defending those who had taken a woman and gang raped her and maybe even murdered her and yet here they gave their blessing to Benjamin to do almost the same thing.
Lest anyone complain about these actions on behalf of the victims a standard response is developed in verse 22. The response primarily reassures the fathers of the women taken by the Benjaminites that they are not in violation of the oath and that they should let matters lie as this would be good for Benjamin and ultimately good for Israel. This rationalization may have satisfied the letter of the law but it certainly violated the spirit of the law along with transgressing “every standard of morality and decency.” The response is worded in such a way that if one protested too much on behalf of the women they would be easily accused of putting their personal interests ahead the interests of the nation. The actual carrying out of this plan is described in verses 23-24. After effectively carrying out their plan to restore Benjamin, Israel broke camp and returned to their tribes as if all the problems had been properly resolved.
This chapter and Book close with verse 25:
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
This is intended as part of the continuing commentary on the events of this chapter along with the events of the Book of Judges. Israel acknowledges no king, human or divine, everyone one is free to do as he sees fit and the result is the Canaanization of Israel and her being cut off from Yahweh. Just like the near destruction of Benjamin, Israel’s separation from God is almost complete.
Conclusions
1) The rape and death of one woman had grown into the death and rape many more. The Women of Benjamin were destroyed because of the actions of their men. Four hundred women of Jabesh-Gilead not only lost their families and homes but they were forcibly taken and made to live with the Benjaminites. Two hundred women were kidnapped, dragged off to Benjamin, and forced to become wives to the Benjaminites. To coin a modern description of this situation, women became collateral damage due to the actions of men. Block quoting another commentator says: “Israelite males have dismembered the corporate bodies of Israelite females. Inasmuch as they have done it to one of the least of women, they have done it unto many.” The writer is not making the argument against patricentrism but rather against patricentrism that is filtered Canaanism. Biblical patricentrism “perceives male headship not as a position of power but one of responsibility, in which the leader sacrifices himself for the well-being of the led.” In the Book of Judges, with the impact of Canaanite influence on the culture “this pattern is reversed. Repeatedly women and children are sacrificed for males.”
2) Israel took whatever steps were necessary to maintain the twelve tribes of Israel but as seen through the words of our writer, Israel was more concerned with the outward signs or physical signs of preserving the nation than they were about saving or maintaining their spiritual relationship with Yahweh. Yet despite the methods used to maintain Benjamin as a viable entity we would be ill-advised to forget those who claim Benjamin as their tribe. Saul the King, Saul who became who became Paul and the apostle to the Gentiles whose impact flows down to our lives today to name two.
3) One looks to a response from God regarding what has taken place in this chapter but His silence continues to be deafening. There are questions on top of questions that we would like answered. Was Yahweh in agreement with all that Israel did to Benjamin? Did Yahweh want Benjamin destroyed? Was it wrong not to completely destroy Benjamin? Should Jabesh-Gilead have been destroyed? What about all of the human machinations that Israel undertook to restore Benjamin, how did God see them? Were they right? What sense did all of this make? “
4) How do we understand the fact that the “future of Israel depends on finding loopholes in the Law?” Like many in the modern world, Israel found itself sympathizing with criminal while overlooking the plight of the victims. What of “righteousness?” In trying to raise up Benjamin, Israel has putdown women and children. Israel has sacrificed the weak and the innocent upon the altar of pragmatism. “The entire nation becomes an accomplice in the defense of Canaanism. What Benjamin did for Gibeah the nation does for Benjamin.” But what of justice?
5) As we have seen throughout the Book of Judges, and in this final episode, there is God’s grace. Despite the actions of Israel, their rationalizations, their pursuit of Canaanite religious and social beliefs, their ignoring of the covenant, Yahweh does not allow or cause their destruction. As Daniel Block observes, it is important that we realize that while “Yahweh cannot allow his people to succumb totally to the Canaanite world . . . the reader must know that his work continues here and generally in human history in spite of, rather than because of, his people. “Judges and the continuing history of the nation that follows it, give testimony to the fact that “God’s people are often their own worst enemy.” It was not Israel’s enemies in the Promised Land that almost destroyed them but the Canaanization of their soul; it was the enemy within that should be feared. But we are not left without hope. We are told and allowed to see that despite everything, God’s purpose will get done! “His kingdom is eternal; his covenant with this people is eternal; his promises are eternal.”
6) Judges is often thought to be a book of heroes. Yet, as we have seen, the problem is that are few if any real heroes. Block draws the conclusion that this is also the case throughout the history of the church and perhaps more so today in the evangelical church in America. The Book of Judges is a mirror of today’s church. All of the ills that we have found in the Book of Judges are reflected in our own churches. Instead of following after our King Jesus Christ, we are doing what is right in our own eyes and calling it religion. If we are failing to make an impact on the world around us, we need only ask ourselves the question “Are we doing what is right in our eyes or are we doing what is right in God’s eyes?”
”May the Lord of the church continue to lavish his mercy upon an undeserving people.”
Response
to the Outrage at Gibeah (20:1-48)
In this session we will look at how Israel responds to
the rape and death of the young concubine at Gibeah. This chapter will provide an
insight into the character of the Levite, the Israelites, and the Benjamites, as
the writer depicts the preparation of the coming battle between Israel and the
wayward tribe of Benjamin. We will begin with the assembly of the tribes of
Israel in Mizpah. 
The
Assembly (20:1-3a)
In these verses the writer stress the depth and unity of
Israel’s response to Levite’s sending out body parts dismembered concubine to
the tribes of Israel. The writer uses
two phrases to show the solidarity of Israel in dealing with this tragedy and
stain on their national honor. We encounter both phrases in verse one. The first phrase, “all the Israelites” as
translated in the NIV, actually means “All the sons of Israel” in Hebrew and is
used in only one other place in Judges, 2:4. This is the first usage of the
second phrase in the Old Testament, “from Dan to Beersheba,” which represents a
“geographic definition of the nation in the Old Testament.” This would reflect
the geography of the writer’s time and not necessarily of the actual geography
at the time of this gathering of Israel at Mizpah. It is unlikely that the
Tribe of Dan was clearly recognized as the most northern boundary of the nation
at this time. Both phrases are used of the writer to demonstrate that it was
all of Israel that was united in taking action against the tribe of Benjamin,
with at least one known exception that will become important in 21.8-9. The writer will continue to emphasize this
unity of action by the use of the word “all” in several places in this chapter.
The context shows that this only includes the other eleven tribes; Benjamin was
not part of this assembly. Furthermore, the congregation was assembled as one
man, emphasizing the unity of the eleven tribes a unity emphasized several
times in the context. For example, the phrase as one man appears three times
(verses 1, 8, and 11); the phrase, all the tribes of Israel appears three times
(20:2, 20:10, and 21:5); the phrase, all the people in 20:8 only; and the
phrase all the men of Israel in 20:11 only.
Verse 2 describes the presentation of the chiefs at the
assembly: “The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel.” They
presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God. This is the only
place that the phrase the assembly of the people of God is used, but it again
emphasizes that this was a holy war with a moral mission. With the leaders was
an army of four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. Not all the
Israelites were there, but all the leaders were there, along with the whole
army. Since this was the total army, it shows that the population had decreased
by one-third since the Exodus and the Conquest when the army was closer to
600,000.
Verse 3a notes the report to Benjamin: (The Benjaminites
heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Such a massive gathering at
the Benjamite border where Mizpah was located could not be hidden, and this
gave the Benjamites time to mobilize their army. The fact that they heard the
tribes had assembled but did not attend shows that they were siding with the
perpetrators of the crime. In verse 3b, the Levite was asked, “Tell us how this
awful thing happened.”
It is interesting to see that this nameless Levite from some
remote place in Ephraim did what no judge had been able to do. Daniel Block
tells us that “Not even Deborah and Barak had been able to galvanize support
and mobilize the military resources of the nation to this extent.”
After underscoring the unity and completeness of the
Israelites’ response to the outrage at Gibeah, the writer makes note of the
spiritual nature of this assembly. By referring to it as an assembly of the
people of God the writer “identifies the nation as a body “called out” by
Yahweh to engage in holy war.” In the Torah
the Hebrew word for “assembly” was a favorite designation for the people of
Israel gathered together to worship Yahweh.
The writer adds that Israel “assembled before the Lord at
Mizpah.” This Mizpah is not the Mizpah in the Transjordan where Jephthah made his
pact with the Gileadites in 11:11. The Mizpah spoken of here is thought to have
been located approximately “twelve kilometers north of Jerusalem and four to
five and one-half kilometers northwest of Gibeah, on the boundary between
Benjamin and Ephraim.”
In the first three verses we get the impression that
perhaps Israel has turned the corner- that they have come back to Yahweh. With
the mention of the fact that it was an assembly of the people of God and that
they had assembled before the Lord, it seems like this is a gathering of God’s
people turn to Him to seek His will- but that is not the case. They did not
gather to seek God’s will but they gathered as an army to right an outrage
against the Levite done by the men of Gibeah. We have little information as to
what the various tribes may have thought when they each received a body part of
the Levite’s concubine but it seems that the body part and the summons by the
Levite was enough to make the tribes gather at Mizpah and be willing to fight
to right the wrong that was done to him. In v3a we find out that not all tribes
gathered at Mizpah. The tribe of Benjamin was not among those tribes gathered
at Mizpah and no reason for their absence is given by the writer. We are left
to conclude that perhaps they had decided to defend their fellow Benjaminites,
the men of Gibeah, and stand against the other tribes of Israel and as Block suggests
also against Yahweh.
The
Question: 20.3b-4a
The question of 3b raises more questions. To whom was the
question of 3b addressed? Was it addressed to any of the leaders or was it
addresses specifically to the Levite? To what awful thing was the question
referring? Was it the murder of the concubine, the lack of hospitality shown by
the Gibeahites, or perhaps simply the dismemberment of the woman?
Since the Levite answers the question it is logical to
assume the question was addressed to him. It is interesting to note how the writer introduces the Levite. He is “the
Levite, the husband of the murdered woman.” If this were a spiritual gathering the Levite’s role would be to have
led the gathering but this is not a spiritual gathering and the Levite is
announced as the husband of the murdered woman and it as a husband he addresses
the gathering. Daniel Block raises an
interesting question by noting that the concubine is described as the “murdered
woman” rather than the “dead woman.” Murder normally refers to a “premeditated” act and if that is the case
then Block questions the description of her death in 19.27-29. “Was not the
intention of the men of Gibeah to rape her and abuse her all night, and then to
let her go (19:25)? If her death was a secondary effect of their violence,
would it be called murder? On the other hand, 19:27 leaves open the question
whether she was even dead when the Levite found her. If not, then the person
who answers the Israelites’ questions is no longer an aggrieved party but the
criminal.” Verses 4b-7, the Levite’s answer to the question of 3b, does not
provide any satisfactory answers to the questions raised by Block.
The Levite describes for Israel what happened in Gibeah.
He tells them that he and his concubine came to Gibeah of Benjamin to spend the
night. Once they were settled in the house of the old man the men of the city came
after him and surrounded the house, intent on killing him. Instead they raped
his concubine and she died. He then took his concubine, cut her in pieces, and
sent a piece to each tribe in Israel. After telling what happened, he asks for
a verdict.
On the surface the Levite’s explanation may seem
satisfactory but a closer examination suggests that there are holes and as
Block notices “certain features of the speech are extremely troubling.” Block has the following problems with the
Levite’s response:
“The Levite expresses no
concern whatsoever for his concubine. On the contrary, he diminishes her role
at the outset by opening with a first person singular verb (v. 4b). In fact, he
transforms an explanation of the events into a self-centered apologia. The
Levite makes it sound as though Gibeah was his destination saying nothing of
his domestic troubles or how he had been proved wrong for recommending to his
servant and concubine that they spend the night in Gibeah rather than Jebus. He
blatantly twists the facts by claiming that he was the primary target of the
men of the city. They had risen against him, surrounded the house because of
him, and sought to kill him. For some (undeclared) reason, their attention had
been deflected to the concubine, whom they raped and violated, though he does
explicitly link the woman’s death to the actions of the men of the city. His
addition of “and she died” at the end of v. 5 does not preclude the possibility
that he may himself have had a hand in her death. Finally, although his
vocabulary sounds pious, he makes no reference to Yahweh, let alone appeal to
him to act in defense of the covenant and/or the sanctity of the land.”
Regardless of Block’s questions or the Levite’s
self-interest, the Levite’s speech in conjunction with his sending various body
parts of his wife to the tribes of Israel is more than enough to galvanize
Israel to take action against Gibeah. The Levite, as we mentioned earlier, has
accomplished more than any Judge as he brought the tribes together to take part
in a united action against the Benjaminites. The irony here is that for both
the Levite and Israel all is accomplished without Yahweh. Yet even though the
Yahweh’s involvement appears non-existent, the plans of Levite and Israel
seemingly succeed just like the Danites did in the previous section.
Israel’s
Reaction: 20.8-13
The speech of the Levite moved the army of Israel to take
immediate action against Gibeah and then subsequently against Benjamin. Israel
resolves that none will go home until the city of Gibeah is punished (20:8-10).
Another example of Israel taking action
without Yahweh is seen in the fact that rather than inquire of Yahweh as to the
order in which the tribes should go into battle, Israel simply relies upon the
lot to determine who will lead the attack.
In verses 10-11 we see that Israel is preparing for a
rather protracted campaign as they are concerned about establishing supply
lines for the army. At the end of v10 we are given the mission statement of the
campaign: “When the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what
they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel.” As is proclaimed in verse
11 the support for this mission is unanimous. Not since the days of Joshua have
we seen the tribes of Israel so united against a common foe, it is tragic that
the foe is an Israelite city rather than a city of the Canaanites.
Verses 12-13 report that prior to attacking Gibeah Israel
sends representatives throughout the tribe of Benjamin asking their support in
punishing Gibeah by surrendering them to the army for execution.
Setting the Stage: (20:14-17)
Benjamin not only refuses the demands of their brethren,
placing themselves alongside the “rapists rather than the assembly of God,” but
they move their forces to Gibeah to confront the army of Israel (v14-15). The
Benjaminites mobilize an army of twenty-six thousand swordsmen and seven
hundred chosen men from Gibeah. In verse 16 we are told that among Benjamin’s
forces there were seven hundred left-handed men who were expert with a sling. Israel
counters by facing Benjamin with four hundred thousand swordsmen (v17).
Three
Battles (20:18-48)
The
First Battle (20:18-21)
The first battle opens with the Israelites at Bethel asking
God who should be the tribe to lead Israel into battle against the Benjamites. We
might wonder why the Israelites didn’t ask the big question like “Should we go
to war against our brothers over this issue?” but they didn’t instead the
writer tells us that it was the minor points that Israel turned to God to resolve. Block also points out that
the generic term for God, Elohim, was used instead of the more personal,
covenant name for God, Yahweh. Perhaps
the usage of Elohim is an indicator that this was more of a formality than a
real question.
Yahweh answers saying: “Judah shall go first.” Judah was
a logical choice in that the Levite had begun his travel from Bethlehem in
Judah and the woman was from Bethlehem. Judah was also the tribe that seems to have
been designated as the “go to tribe” when it came to fighting as evidenced by
their successes in chapter one of Judges. So this may have been a logical
choice. The difference here is that while this may have been looked at as a
holy war it is war against kin, a fellow Israelite tribe and not the Canaanites
even thought the Benjaminites “by their conduct have demonstrated themselves
functionally and spiritually Canaanites.”
We are told the events of the first battle in verses
19-21. Israel with all of the advantages
on paper was eager for battle and yet at the end of the day it was Benjamin who
emerged the victor. The Benjaminites are credited with killing twenty-two
thousand Israelites, a staggering number in that it was almost equal to the
entire army of the Benjaminites. We are not told how Benjamin achieved this or
what Benjamin’s casualties were but they indeed carried the day.
The
Second Battle (20:22-25)
There is no hint of the Israelites being discouraged by
their defeat as they prepare for a second engagement. This time however Israel
was not so eager. Before returning to the battlefield they went weeping before
God and this time they ask the big question “Shall we go up again to battle
against the Benjaminites, our brothers?” And Yahweh responds “Go up against
them.” On the morning of a new day, Israel launches another attack against the
Benjaminites, but the results are pretty much the same. Israelite casualties
are around eighteen thousand fighters while again there is no indication how
Benjamin was able to defeat Israel or is there any mention of Benjamin
casualties.
The
Third Battle (20:26-48)
The third battle is given the greatest coverage by our
writer as he goes into greater detail of this third and final battle. In verse
26 the writer reveals how crestfallen the Israelites were over this second
defeat. “Then the Israelites, all the
people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord. They
fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship
offerings to the Lord.” Note the increase in the intensity as now all the
people go up and not only do they weep before Yahweh but now they also fast and
present offerings. Are they now realizing
that perhaps there are some relationship issues between Israel and Yahweh that
need to be repaired?
The Inquiry (20:27-28)
Verses 27-28
indicate that doubt regarding this venture is now foremost in the minds of
Israel. While they ask if they should go up against Benjamin there are two
telling words added “or not?” We also have mention of the presence of the Ark
of the Covenant of God. The writer may
be implying that after two defeats Israel was pulling out all the stops and
that they brought the ark to Bethel from Shiloh, as a symbol of God’s presence
and to bring them victory in the battle against the Benjamites. Daniel Block
suggests that it is possible that the phrase “in those days probably refers to
the days of the first two battles described in vv. 18-25. If this
interpretation is correct, then the strategy had obviously failed.”
According to v. 28b, in response to the third question of
whether or not the Israelites should attack Benjamin again, Yahweh replies that
yes they should attack and that He would deliver the Benjamites into the hands
of the Israelites the next day.
The Result (20:29-48)
The writer, until now, has described the battles between
the Israelites and Benjamites only from Israel’s perspective. After two
resounding defeats and the death of forty thousand or more soldiers, Israel is
left wondering “Is God on our side?” “If this is a just war where is God?”
Throughout his account of the first two battles the
writer has provided us with insight into the emotions of Benjamin after their
two victories against an overwhelming force. We know nothing of the losses of
Benjamin or how they went about so easily defeating a superior force. We are
left to construct for ourselves the emotions and excitement that must have been
on display in Benjamin’s camp after their first two overwhelming victories over
Israel. We might wonder about their confidence level. Where they beginning to
feel as if they were indestructible? Were they thanking Yahweh for their
victories? Did they feel that Yahweh was on their side and that they were in
the right to defend the men of Gibeah from punishment at the hands of Israel?
These are but some of the questions we are left to answer on our own.
It is in the third battle that we see the focus of the
writer turn from Israel to Benjamin as he pays particular attention to the
emotions of the Benjamites. “He (the writer) focuses particularly on the
emotions of the Benjamites at the moment they realize they are about to be
annihilated. This moment of realization is the high point of the chapter.”
Verses 29-34
describe the ambush that Israel sets in place to trap and destroy Benjamin. Israel lures Benjamin into its ambush by
doing what it had done in two previous engagements and Benjamin, predictably
reacts as it had previously. Experiencing initial success the Benjamite forces likely
felt certain that the results would once again prove them victorious over
Israel. Benjamin clearly feels that this battle will end with them experiencing
victory a third time. Things certainly seem to be going their way.
The Israelites turn from the forces of Benjamin and begin
to flee. Benjamin, believing that the rout is on run after them not recognizing
that they were being “lured” into an ambush. As soon as Benjamin had been lured far enough away from the walls of
Gibeah an Israelite force moved in behind the Benjamites, preventing them from
returning to the safety of the city walls. At the same time Israel launched an attack on the unprotected city of
Gibeah.
In verses 35-41 we are given a detailed account of the
destruction of Benjamin, prefaced with the statement in verse 35 that the credit
for this victory belonged to Yahweh. It
was “this divine intervention accounts for the rout of the Benjamites.” The results this day were unlike the previous
battles as this time more than 25,000 Benjamites had been cut down. The writer
recounts how Israel lured Benjamin into their ambush and how the Israel had
successfully triggered the ambush by burning the city, signaling that the city
had been taken.
In v. 39 the writer tells us that as Benjamin was
pursuing Israel they had no idea what was happening behind them. When Israel stopped running before them and turned
around to face Benjamin, the Benjamites felt an initial sense of victory only
to see the smoke rising from the city and realize that they were cutoff and
that they were trapped in a vice of the Israelite army. Realizing their dire situation Benjamin’s
forces turning towards the desert and begin to flee for their lives only to be
caught and cut down by Israel.
We are provided with the casualty list from this battle
for the Benjamites in verses 44-47. Twenty-five thousand Benjamites died survived by only six hundred men
who were holed up in an area near the Rock of Rimmon. In verse
48 the writer tells us that Israel turned to the land of Benjamin, burning the
cities, killing the inhabitants and livestock. The tribe of Benjamin was nearly
completely destroyed. This was what Yahweh had asked Israel to do to the
Canaanites and yet here it was done to their kinsmen.
Conclusion
There are at least four things that standout in this
chapter. First, we are finally given a picture of Israel completely engaged in a
holy war against evil. As Daniel Block says: “All the key elements of Israel’s
holy war traditions are found in this chapter: (1) The people assemble as one
man before Yahweh. (2) The priest leads the people in seeking the will of
Yahweh. (3) Yahweh gives directions about the order of march into battle. (4)
Yahweh goes before Israel as the divine Warrior striking the enemy. (5) The
people apply the law of holy war.”
The unfortunate thing is that this holy war took place
against an enemy that was one of their own. It was against a tribe that had
become so Canaanized that it literally was just like the Canaanites and they
were treated as such. It was a statement of how deeply rooted the Canaanizing
rot was in the culture of Israel.
Second, the writer presents us with a challenging picture
of Yahweh. We see Yahweh as being just a witness to the gathering of Israel at
Mizpah in verses 1-2, then responding to the inquiries of Israel regarding battle
strategy (vv. 18, 23, 28), and finally acting in judgment of Benjamin, and
punishing them for protecting and defending those whose despicable acts brought
disgrace on all of Israel. As Block says “this account provides the clearest
example of deuteronomistic theology in the book.” This is the classic example of disobedience
bringing down Yahweh’s divine curse. There is no mercy only brutal justice. But
it is not just the guilty that are punished: “All Israel suffers for the sin of
one city, for with the annihilation of Benjamin they lose a brother and
one-tenth of their own male population (over forty thousand soldiers from their
own ranks).”
Third, we come to another great irony in the Book of
Judges. Israel, which has been
increasingly canaanized, gathers before Yahweh as a covenant community (vv. 1-3).
Throughout the Book of Judges we have seen divinely called and empowered judges
fail to be able to mobilize the nation into taking united action against the
Canaanites and yet here “a nameless Levite of questionable character and with
questionable methods is able to rally all the troops as “one man.”
Daniel Block identifies another irony:
“The
tribe that embodies right-handedness (Benjamin, “son of the right hand”) not
only demonstrates its left-handedness metaphorically by being completely out of
step with orthodox theological and ethical standards, but also, ironically, is
able to field an entire contingent of first class left-handed warriors. A
little army of twenty-six thousand, seven hundred of who are “handicapped with
respect to the right hand,” is able to put to rout an army more than fifteen
times its size, not once but twice. In the process they slaughter forty
thousand Israelite soldiers, without a single stated casualty of their own.
Fourth and perhaps the greatest irony of all, we see the
nation of Israel fighting a holy war against one of their own tribes with all
the energy and aggression that they should have demonstrated if battling against
the Canaanites. “Israel has discovered who her greatest foe is: she is her own
worst enemy.”