Study Desk

The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you?^(p)

Now turn those wicked men^(q) of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.^(r)" But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.

From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites.

At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah.

Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed,^(s) each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.

The Israelites went up to Bethel^[b](t) and inquired of God.^(u) They said, "Who of us is to go up first^(v) to fight^(w) against the Benjamites?" The Lord replied, "Judah^(x) shall go first."

The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah.

The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.

The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites^(y) on the battlefield that day.

But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day.

The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord ^(z) until evening,^(aa) and they inquired of the Lord .^(ab) They said, "Shall we go up again to fight^(ac) against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?" The Lord answered, "Go up against them."

Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day.

This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites,^(ad) all of them armed with swords.

Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord .^(ae) They fasted^(af) that day until evening and presented burnt offerings^(ag) and fellowship offerings^(ah) to the Lord .^(ai)

And the Israelites inquired of the Lord .^(aj) (In those days the ark of the covenant of God^(ak) was there,

with Phinehas son of Eleazar,^(al) the son of Aaron, ministering before it.)^(am) They asked, "Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?" The Lord responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.^(an)"

Then Israel set an ambush^(ao) around Gibeah.

They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before.

The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away^(ap) 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^(aq) and the other to Gibeah.

While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before,"^(ar) the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads."

All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place^(as) on the west^[c] of Gibeah.^[d]

Then ten thousand of Israel's able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize^(at) how near disaster was.^(au)

The Lord defeated Benjamin^(av) before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.

Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten. Now the men of Israel had given way^(aw) before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush^(ax) they had set near Gibeah.

Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword.^(ay)

The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke^(az) from the city,^(ba)

and then the Israelites would counterattack. The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle."^(bb)

But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke.^(bc)

Then the Israelites counterattacked,^(bd) and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come^(be) on them.

So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there.

They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily^[e] overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east.

Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.^(bf)

As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon,^(bg) the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite^(bh) swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters.

But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.

The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.^(bi)

Wives for the Benjamites

The men of Israel had taken an oath^(a) at Mizpah:^(b) "Not one of us will give^(c) his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite."

The people went to Bethel,^[a] where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly.

" Lord , God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing^(d) from Israel today?"

Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.^(e)

Then the Israelites asked, "Who from all the tribes of Israel^(f) has failed to assemble before the Lord ?" For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.

Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel," they said.

"How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath^(g) by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"

Then they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?" They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead^(h) had come to the camp for the assembly.

For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.

So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children.

"This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male⁽ⁱ⁾ and every woman who is not a virgin.^(j)"

They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh^(k) in Canaan.

Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace^(l) to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.^(m)

So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.

The people grieved for Benjamin,⁽ⁿ⁾ because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.

And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left?

The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.^(o)

We can't give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath:^(p) ‘Cursed be anyone who gives^(q) a wife to a Benjamite.'

But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh,^(r) which lies north of Bethel^(s), east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem,^(t) and south of Lebonah."

So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards

and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,^(u) rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin.

When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give^(v) your daughters to them.'"

So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing,^(w) each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance^(x) and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.^(y)

At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.^(z)