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Judges

Chapter 20
1~~Then all the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el} went out,
and the congregation was gathered together as one man,
from Dan even to Beersheba,
with the land of Gilead,
unto the Jehovah/God in Mizpeh.
  {Mizpeh is where the Judges gathered - the capital at this time}

2~~And the chief of all the people
  {each tribe has a 'Judge' or chief},
even of all the tribes of Israel,
presented themselves
in the assembly of the people of 'Elohiym/Godhead,
four hundred thousand infantry/footmen who drew sword.

{Note: They are going to solve the problem of the woman killed by 400,000 infantry.}

3~~(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.)

Then said the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el},
"Tell us, how was this wickedness?"

4~~And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said,
"I came into Gibeah which belonged to Benjamin,
I and my concubine/ paramour {piylegesh}, to lodge.

5~~And the men of Gibeah rose against me,
and beset the house round about upon me by night,
and 'thought to have slain me'/'I was sure they would kill me'.
And my concubine/paramour {piylegesh}
have they forced/'raped and abused'
  {zimah - to rape in a horrible way},
and she is dead.

6~~And I took my concubine/paramour {piylegesh},
and cut her in pieces,
and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel
for they have committed lewdness and evil in Israel.

7~~Behold, you are all sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}
give here your advice and counsel."

8~~And all the people arose as one man, saying,
"We will not any of us go to his tent,
neither will we any of us turn into his house.

9~~But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah
we will go up by lot against it.

10~~And we will take ten men of an hundred
throughout all the tribes of Israel,
and an hundred of a thousand,
and a thousand out of ten thousand,
to fetch provisions for the people,
that they may do,
when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin,
according to all the evil that they have wrought in Israel."
  {1/10th of the men of Israel will go up against Gibeah to destroy
  it}

11~~So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city . . .
knit together as one man.

12~~And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that is done among you?"

13~~Now therefore deliver us the men,
the sons of Belial, who are in Gibeah,
that we may put them to death,
  {this is legitimate - capital punishment for the rapists and murders}
and put away evil from Israel.
  {this is their law and this is correct}

But the sons/children of Benjamin
would not listen to the voice of their brethren . . .
the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}.

14~~But the sons/children of Benjamin gathered themselves
together out of the cities unto Gibeah,
  {Benjamin's entire fighting force came to Gibeah to hold out}
to go out to battle against the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}.

15~~And the sons/children of Benjamin
were mustered/numbered at that time out of the cities
twenty and six thousand men who drew sword,
beside the inhabitants of Gibeah,
which were numbered seven hundred chosen/'great fighting' men.

{Note: Not one man would turn over the men who raped this woman. Yet thousands will fight and die to protect these criminals. Without the authority of God's Word, they are all messed up in what to do.}

16~~Among all this people there
were seven hundred chosen men . . . left handed.

Every one could 'hit a rabbit on the run and not miss'.

17~~And the men of Israel, against Benjamin,
were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew sword . . .
all these were men of war {over a 10 to 1 advantage}.

{Note: So no matter what else, the men of Benjamin had great courage. The Levite would not die for his wife, but these men will die over their 'misplaced loyalty' to criminals in their tribe.}

18~~And the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el} arose,
and went up to the house of 'Elohiym/Godhead,
and asked counsel of 'Elohiym/Godhead, and said,
"Which of us shall go up first to the battle
against the sons/children of Benjamin?"

And the Jehovah/God said, "Judah shall go up first."

{Note: They did the right thing in asking God's counsel, but they were not right with God - as evidenced by the fact that they did not win the first battle coming up.}

19~~And the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el} rose up in the morning,
and encamped against Gibeah.

20~~And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin.

And the men of Israel put themselves in array
to fight against them at Gibeah.

{Forces of Israel Defeated Badly}
21~~And the sons/children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah,
and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day
twenty and two thousand men.

22~~And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves,
and set their battle again in array in the place
where they put themselves in array the first day.

23~~(And the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el} went up and wept
before Jehovah/God until evening, and asked counsel of Jehovah/God, saying, "Shall I go up again to battle against the sons/children of Benjamin my brother?"

And Jehovah/God said, "Go up against him.")

24~~And the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}
came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

{2nd Decisive Defeat of Israel}
25~~And Benjamin went forth
against them out of Gibeah the second day,
and destroyed down to the ground
of the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}
again eighteen thousand men . . . all these drew the sword
  {40,000 causalities in 2 days}.

26~~Then all the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el},
and all the people, went up, and came
unto the house of 'Elohiym/Godhead,
and wept, and sat there before Jehovah/God,
and fasted that day until evening,
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Jehovah/God.

27~~And the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el} inquired of Jehovah/God,
 
(for the ark of the covenant of 'Elohiym/Godhead was there in those days, 28~~ and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,)

saying, "Shall I yet again go out to battle
against the sons/children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?"

And Jehovah/God said, "Go up . . . for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand."

{Note: The Benjamites were the greatest fighters in Israel. They were not going to beat them head to head. King Saul came from Benjamin as did the Apostle Paul. God would have to show them the way.}

29~~And Israel set 'liers in wait' round about Gibeah
  {men hiding - when the soldiers leave the city they will set fire to
  the city}.

30~~And the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}
went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day,
and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.

31~~And the sons/children of Benjamin went out against the people,
and were drawn away from the city.

And they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times,
in the highways, of which one goes up
to the house of 'Elohiym/Godhead,
and the other to Gibeah in the field,
about thirty men of Israel.

32~~And the children of Benjamin said,
"They are smitten down before us, as at the first."

But the children of Israel said,
"Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways."

33~~And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place,
and put themselves in array at Baal-Tamar.

And the 'liers in wait' of Israel came forth out of their places,
even out of the meadows of Gibeah.

34~~And there came against Gibeah
ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel,
and the battle was hard/grievous . . .
but they knew not that evil was near them.

35~~And Jehovah/God smote Benjamin before Israel.

And the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}
destroyed of the Benjamites that day
twenty and five thousand and an hundred men . . .
all these drew the sword.

36~~So the sons/children of Benjamin
saw that they were defeated . . .
for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites,
because they trusted unto the 'liers in wait'
which they had set beside Gibeah.

37~~And the 'liers in wait' hurried, and rushed upon Gibeah.

And the 'liers in wait' drew themselves along,
and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.

38~~Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel
and the 'liers in wait',that they should make
a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.

39~~And when the men of Israel retired in the battle,
Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel
about thirty persons.

For they said,
"Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle."

40~~But when the flame began to arise up out of the city
with a pillar of smoke,
the Benjamites looked behind them,
and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.

41~~And when the men of Israel turned again,
the men of Benjamin were amazed
for they saw that evil was come upon them.

42~~Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel
unto the way of the desert {they ran away};
but the battle overtook them;
and those who came out of the cities
they destroyed in the middle of them.

43~~Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about,
and chased them,
and marched/road them down with ease
over against Gibeah toward the sun rising.

44~~And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men . . .
all these were men of valor.

45~~And they turned and fled
toward the desert unto the rock of Rimmon.

And they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men
and pursued hard after them unto Gidom,
and slew two thousand men of them.

46~~So that all which fell that day of Benjamin
were twenty and five thousand men who drew the sword . . .
all these were men of valor.

{Only 600 of Benjamin's Army Remain}
47~~But six hundred men turned and fled to the desert
unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
  {Rimmon is a broken bad lands of an area like the bad lands of
  Dakota}

48~~And the men of Israel turned again
upon the sons/children of Benjamin,
and smote them with the edge of the sword,
as well the men of every city, as the beast,
and all that came to hand.

Also they set on fire all the cities to which they came.