This chapter relates, how that there was an assembly of the children of Israel at Mizpeh, upon what had happened to the concubine of the Levite, where he appeared and related the whole affair to them, Jude 1–7 upon which they unanimously agreed to chastise the inhabitants of Gibeah for what they…

Then all the children of Israel went out Of their tribes, cities, habitations, not every individual of them, but some of the chief of them, with a select company with them: and the congregation was gathered together as one man; with as much unanimity and ease met together in one place, at the same…

And the chief of all the people The princes of the tribes and heads of families, rulers of thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens; or the “corners” [[2]], who were like the corner stones in a building, which are not only the most valuable and ornamental, but the strength of the building,…

Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh Having no doubt the same notice the rest of the tribes had; but the thing complained of being done in their tribe, and by some of it, they might be willing to screen the delinquents, or were careless about and…

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered, and said He rose up, and, in answer to their request, declared the whole affair as follows: and none so proper as he, who was upon the spot when it was done, and so near a relation of the deceased, and had a right to demand justice…

And the men of Gibeah rose against me Not all of them, but some that dwelt in that city; he forbears giving them the character they justly deserved, sons of Belial.

And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces Lest it should be thought that these barbarous creatures, after they had used her in such a manner that occasioned her death, that they had committed this fact also; the Levite takes it to himself, and owns that he did that: and sent her throughout all…

Behold, ye are all children of Israel The descendants of one man that feared the Lord; were of one nation, and of one religion, men professing godliness, and therefore ought to bear testimony against sin and wickedness of every sort, and especially such crying abominations as these: give your…

And all the people arose as one man Either the heads of the people assembled in council, all agreed unanimously in one vote or resolution, or all the 400,000 men were of the same mind, when the case was reported to them: saying, we will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn…

But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah, &c.] Where the fact was done; what follows was proposed by some, and unanimously agreed to by all: we will go up by lot against it; cast lots who shall go up to it and demand satisfaction for the offence committed; and if denied, to act in…

And we will take ten men of an hundred, throughout all the tribes of Israel Excepting that of Benjamin which was not with them, not any of them: and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand; in all 40,000, out of the 400,000: to fetch victual for the people; ten men were to…

So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city Of Gibeah, even 360,000 men: knit together as one man; went heart and hand together, united in their sentiments and resolutions, determining to have justice done, or lose their lives in this cause: according to the Jews [[4]], this was on the…

And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribes of Benjamin Meaning the families of Benjamin; for as sometimes a tribe is called a family, so a family is called a tribe; and there were ten families in the tribe of Benjamin, according to the number of his sons, the fathers of these…

Now, therefore, deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah Those wicked men that were the authors of that abominable wickedness there committed: that we may put them to death; as they deserved, since they were guilty both of adultery and murder; their meaning is, that they in…

But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah To protect and defend it against the other tribes, being a city of theirs and where the persons charged with the crime lived; these got together thither out of the several cities of the tribe of Benjamin, as…

And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities All that they could muster up, and gather together out of their several cities, were no more man than twenty and six thousand men that drew the sword able bodied men fit for war, and expert in it: beside the inhabitants of…

Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded According to Ben Gersom, these were the seven hundred men of Gibeah; but this does not appear from the text, but, on the contrary, that these were among all the people; or there were so many to be selected out of them all, who…

And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin Who did not join them in this affair, but opposed them, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: see all these were men of war; inured to it, skilful and courageous.

And the children of Israel arose From Mizpeh, where they were assembled, having heard that the Benjaminites were gathered together to defend the men of Gibeah: and went up to the house of God; to the tabernacle which was in Shiloh, , see though the Targum takes Bethel for the name of a place so…

And the children of Israel rose up in the morning After they had had counsel at Shiloh, and which perhaps was by a deputation sent thither: and encamped against Gibeah: formed a camp near Gibeah of 360,000 men, enough to have stormed and taken that city at once, one would think.

And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, &c.] From the place where they were encamped: and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah; not only against the inhabitants of Gibeah, but the children of Benjamin, that came to the defence of them; they…

And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah Which was their place of rendezvous, and which they came to defend; and in and about which they had stationed their whole army of 26,000 men: and destroyed down to the ground: killed dead upon the spot: of the Israelites that day twenty and two…

And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves That though they had lost a great number of men, yet still their forces were large and greatly superior to those of Benjamin, and above all their cause was good: and set their battle again in array formed a line of battle again facing their…

And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even The evening of the day in which the battle was fought; not that the whole army went up to Shiloh to the house of God there, but a deputation of them, who lamented their defeat, and the loss of so many lives, but not their sins…

And the children of Israel came near To the city of Gibeah, drew nigh to battle: against the children of Benjamin the second day; for the two battles were fought two days successively.

And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day Flushed with the victory they had obtained the day before: and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men, all these drew the sword, were armed men; this, with the 22,000 slain the day…

Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came unto the house of God This looks as if the whole body of the army, with other people from parts adjacent, went up to the tabernacle of God in Shiloh: and wept and sat there before the Lord; not only wept, but continued weeping,…

And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord By the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, and which has the same expression in (Judg. 20:18, Judg. 20:23) for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days; in Shiloh, where the tabernacle was.

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days Before the ark, ministering before the Lord, which shows that this affair was long before the times of Samson, though placed after them; or otherwise Phinehas must have been more than three hundred years of age, which…

And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. ] For though they were assured of success and victory, yet they thought proper to make use of means: and though their numbers were very great, they had recourse to art and stratagem, and set an ambush in divers places, much in like manner as Israel…

And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day Not the day following the second battle, since it would take more time to go to Shiloh, and fast and offer sacrifices there, but on the third day from the second battle: and put themselves in array against Gibeah,…

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people Sallied out of Gibeah upon them, where they had put themselves in array against them: and were drawn away from the city; the Israelites retreating, and dissembling a flight, which drew the Benjaminites to pursue after them, by which means…

And the children of Benjamin said, they are smitten down before us, as at first At the first battle, which gave them great spirit, and they concluded they should have victory, as before: but the children of Israel said, let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways; pretending to be…

And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place The main body of the army, which fled before Benjamin, when they were come to a proper place, stopped, and rose up out of it, and stood in their own defence: and put themselves in array at Baaltamar; drew up in a line of battle at that place,…

And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel Which, according to Ben Gersom, were the liers in wait; and came from the south, as the Targum says: and the battle was sore; not between those liers in wait, and the Benjaminites, but between those at Baaltamar, and them who…

And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel Gave Israel the victory over them at Baaltamar; for notwithstanding all the art and stratagem they used, their numbers and their valour, victory was of the Lord, and to him it is ascribed; for until now Benjamin, though fewer in number, had been always…

So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten Their forces broken and worsted, many being killed: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjaminites; at first, and made as if they were afraid of them, and so fled before them, which was only to decoy them to a greater distance from the…

And the liers in wait hasted When the time was come agreed upon for them to rise out of their ambush: and rushed upon Gibeah; at unawares, with great force and violence entered the city, and took possession of it; or “extended” [[22]], or spread themselves unto it; before they lay close in a narrow…

Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait Or an appointed time [[24]] as the Targum; so Kimchi and Abarbinel. There was a time fixed, at which the men of Israel proposed to be at Baaltamar, exactly when the Benjaminites would be drawn at a proper distance from…

And when the men of Israel retired in the battle Which is before expressed by their fleeing, and giving place to the Benjaminites, and was only an artifice of theirs, to draw them off from the city: Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; which was done in the…

But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke Fire being set to it by the liers in wait, who had entered it, and who made a large fire, which caused a vast pillar of flame and smoke to arise, which might be seen a great way off: the Benjamites looked behind them;…

And when the men of Israel turned again Turned their faces to the Benjaminites, on whom they had turned their backs; and which they did on hearing the sound of the trumpet, or seeing the flame of the city, or both, and that in order to fight the Benjaminites, and smite them, as now was their…

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel, &c.] And fled from them: unto the way of the wilderness; what wilderness is not certain, perhaps the wilderness of Judah; they did not turn directly back towards Gibeah, perceiving that was taken, and in the hands of a body of men that…

Thus they enclosed the Benjaminites round about Surrounded them on all sides, the army of Israel being posted in different places, and people coming out of all the cities to their assistance.

And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men Just the number they had slain of Israel in the second battle. This is the number of them that were slain when Israel turned upon them, and by that time they got to the east of Gibeah; afterwards 5000 more were slain on the highways, and 2000 near…

And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon Which signifies pomegranate; perhaps it was in the form of one, and may be the same as in where Saul is said to be under a pomegranate tree, or under Rimmon, the rock Rimmon, for that is said to be near Gibeah, as this was.

So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and thousand men It is before said 25,100 here the one hundred are omitted, and the round number of thousands given, which is no unusual way of speaking and writing; the whole army of Benjamin consisted of 26,700 of which 18,000 were slain in…

But six hundred men Who were all that were left of 26,700 turned and fled to the wilderness; turned out of the highway or common road, and being swift of foot, got to a wilderness; what wilderness is not certain: unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months; very probably in a…

And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin After they had destroyed their army, the city of Gibeah, and the inhabitants of it: not content with this, in their wrath and fury, turned and went, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city; even men,…