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More Judges commentaries
Judges 17:1-6
Micah Makes a Pagan Shrine
Judges 17:7-13
Guided by convenience rather than conviction
Judges 18:1-11
The Danites Search for New Territory
Judges 18:12-31
The Danites Seize Laish
Judges 19:1-10
The Desertion of the Levite Concubine
Judges 19:11-21
Full Hospitality for Weary Travelers
Judges 19:22-30
The Results of Sexual Perversion
Judges 20:1-11
Judgment Must be Rendered
Judges 20:12-23
God’s Law Commanded Death
Judges 20:24-35
The Horrors of a Civil War
Judges 20:36-48
Tricked into Surrender
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Tricked into Surrender
Judges 20:36–48
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
Lord Byron, a brilliant poet, spent his life in a mad search for pleasure. Toward the end of his days he wrote, “The thorns which I have reaped are of the tree I planted; they have torn me and I bleed. I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.” (Chil … More
Unfortunately, in the beginning chapters of this book gross immorality had taken place and had set tribe against tribe and class against class. It led to political anarchy. First there was religious apostasy in the temple, then moral awfulness in the home, and finally political anarchy in the state. These are the steps that any nation takes that goes down. These verses supplement the previous account by giving detail of the ambush and aftermath of this major battle (vv. 36-48). The small tribe of Benjamin could withstand this great power of the multitude for a brief period of time but finally the size of the Israelite Army was too much for them.
The Israelites pretended to be wounded and retreating along two separate roads. The Benjamites ran out to finish off the Israelites as they pretended to retreat, only to find themselves trapped. The battle was fierce but the Benjamites were not aware of the events already in motion which were to seal their doom. Twenty-five thousand men were killed, the cities of Benjamin were burned to the ground, and most of the people including women and children were destroyed (v. 46). Only six hundred Benjamites were known to have survived this final battle (v. 47). The Israelites apparently made no attempt to pursue the surviving 600 Benjamites who escaped to the rock of Rimmon which is thought to be about 4 miles east of Bethel.
To prevent unresolved problems from turning into major conflicts, firm action must be taken quickly, wisely and forcefully before the situation gets out of hand like this did.
Application
I cannot live in past victories. Just because I have experienced great accomplishments during my Christian life does not guarantee the same in the future. I must walk close to the Lord and in the light of His Word each day.
Judges 20:36-48 (English Standard Version)
So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, "Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle." But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them. Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst. Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah as far as opposite Gibeah on the east. Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down. So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor. But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire.
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