[[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[Judges Overview]] [[Judges 19]] [[Judges 21]] # Judges 20 📖 > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts]] [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Civil War Breaks Out [[#Verse 01.]] All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the Lord at Mizpah.  [[#Verse 02.]] The leaders of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, which numbered 400,000 sword-wielding foot soldiers.  [[#Verse 03.]] The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!”  [[#Verse 04.]] The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, “I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.  [[#Verse 05.]] The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.  [[#Verse 06.]] I took hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces throughout the territory occupied by Israel, because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity in Israel. [[#Verse 07.]] All you Israelites, make a decision here!” [[#Verse 08.]] All Israel rose up in unison and said, “Not one of us will go home! Not one of us will return to his house! [[#Verse 09.]] Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will attack the city as the lot dictates.  [[#Verse 10.]] We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin, they will punish them for the atrocity that they committed in Israel.”  [[#Verse 11.]] So all the men of Israel gathered together at the city as allies. [[#Verse 12.]] The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “How could such a wicked thing take place?  [[#Verse 13.]] Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.” But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.  [[#Verse 14.]] The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites.  [[#Verse 15.]] That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities 26,000 sword-wielding soldiers, besides 700 well-trained soldiers from Gibeah. [[#Verse 16.]] Among this army were 700 specially trained left-handed soldiers. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target.  [[#Verse 17.]] The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered 400,000 sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior. [[#Verse 18.]] The Israelites went up to Bethel and asked God, “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”  [[#Verse 19.]] The Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah.  [[#Verse 20.]] The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they arranged their battle lines against Gibeah.  [[#Verse 21.]] The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down 22,000 Israelites that day. [[#Verse 22.]] The Israelite army took heart and once more arranged their battle lines, in the same place where they had taken their positions the day before.  [[#Verse 23.]] The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we again march out to fight the Benjaminites, our brothers?” The Lord said, “Attack them.”  [[#Verse 24.]] So the Israelites marched toward the Benjaminites the next day.  [[#Verse 25.]] The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down 18,000 sword-wielding Israelite soldiers. [[#Verse 26.]] So all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace to the Lord.  [[#Verse 27.]] The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days;  [[#Verse 28.]] Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord in those days), “Should we once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, or should we quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.” [[#Verse 29.]] So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.  [[#Verse 30.]] The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before.  [[#Verse 31.]] The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites.  [[#Verse 32.]] Then the Benjaminites said, “They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads.”  [[#Verse 33.]]  All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah. [[#Verse 34.]] Then 10,000 men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, made a frontal assault against Gibeah; the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. [[#Verse 35.]] The Lord annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites.  [[#Verse 36.]] Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated. The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hidden in ambush outside Gibeah.  [[#Verse 37.]] The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city.  [[#Verse 38.]] The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal from the city,  [[#Verse 39.]] the Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”  [[#Verse 40.]] But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky.  [[#Verse 41.]] When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep.  [[#Verse 42.]] They retreated before the Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down.  [[#Verse 43.]] They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba.  [[#Verse 44.]] So 18,000 Benjaminites, all of them capable warriors, fell dead.  [[#Verse 45.]] The rest turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites caught 5,000 of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels all the way to Gidom and struck down 2,000 more.  [[#Verse 46.]] That day 25,000 sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors.  [[#Verse 47.]] But 600 survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They stayed there four months. [[#Verse 48.]] The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. ## ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24 ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ###### Verse 39. ###### Verse 40. ###### Verse 41. ###### Verse 42. ###### Verse 43. ###### Verse 44. ###### Verse 45. ###### Verse 46. ###### Verse 47. ###### Verse 48. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write down things that are not straight from commentary but interesting facts that ground the text in history. %% ## 🧠 Chapter Summary - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write a short paragraph (3–5 sentences) summarizing what happens in this chapter. - What is the main event or teaching? - How does this chapter fit the book’s overall story? - What stands out immediately? Anything Apologetic to point out? %% ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) - 📌 Observation 1 - 📌 Observation 2 - 📌 Observation 3 - (Add more as needed.) %% %% #### Today, I can apply this chapter by: - ✅ Application 1 - ✅ Application 2 Make these very practical: - "Trust God's timing in an uncertain situation." - "Speak truth even when it’s unpopular." Think: - What do we learn about God here? - What do we learn about people? - Are there promises, commands, or warnings? %% ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) - 📖 [Verse Reference] – "Quote of important verse." - 📖 [Verse Reference] – "Quote of another important verse." (You can link to deeper notes if you want later.) %% ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 coming soon. - 🔗 coming soon. %% Examples: - John 1:1 and Genesis 1 - Romans 5 and Genesis 3 %% ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write 3–6 sentences reflecting on: - How this chapter encourages your faith, - Convicts your heart, - Reveals God's character. Optional format: "In light of this chapter, I am challenged to..." or "I am comforted by..." %% ##### 📂 Internal Links/Personal Notes