1. And it came to pass in those days [not long after Joshua's death, and before Othniel was judge], when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine [such relations were not legally forbidden] out of Beth-lehem-judah.

2. And his concubine [wife or concubine,—a wife with inferior rights] played the whore against him, and went away from him [Proverbs 30:21], unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there four whole months [literally, days four months; or, one year and four months].

3. And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly [to speak to her heart] unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him and a couple of asses [one was meant to convey his wife]: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

4. And his father-in-law [so the relationship was recognised], the damsel's father, retained him [with hospitable and affectionate intentions]; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there ["in token of hearty reconciliation"].

5. And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning [to avoid the burning heat], that he rose up to depart ["It is good hearing when the Levite maketh haste home. An honest man's heart is where his calling is "]. And the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, Comfort thine heart [literally, prop up thine heart] with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.

6. And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.

7. And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him [to test his good intentions towards a faithless woman]: therefore he lodged there again.

8. And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried [lingered] until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.

9. And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening [literally, is weak or has slackened to evening], I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end [literally, it is the bending or declining of the day], lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayst go home [to thy tent].

10. But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus [so called in the clays of David], which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled; his concubine also was with him.

11. And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent [he had been detained too long by hospitality]; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites [which they would reach about five o'clock], and lodge in it.

12. And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger [think of Jerusalem being so described!], that is not of the children of Israel: we will pass over to Gibeah [the Gibeah of Saul,—the birthplace of the first king of Israel].

13. And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah [two miles beyond Gibeah].

14. And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah [which determined them to stay], which belongeth to Benjamin [there were many other Gibeahs in Palestine].

15. And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah [Poneropolis, or city of the Evil One]; and when he went in [through the city gate], he sat him down in a street [open place, or square] of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging [Deut. x. 9] [They would have gone on to Ramah, two miles farther north, had the daylight held out. Sunset in that latitude is almost immediately followed by darkness].

16. And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even [an old man; an old man working; an old man working out of doors], which was also of mount Ephraim [a fellow countryman of the Levite]; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.

17. And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?

18. And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth-lehem-judah toward the side of mount Ephraim [the depths of the hill country of mount Ephraim]; from thence am I: and I went to Beth-lehem-Judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord [or, I am a Levite engaged in the service of the Tabernacle at Shiloh]; and there is no man that receiveth me to house [Hesiod reckons this as supreme wickedness].

19. Yet there is both straw and provender [any grain fit for food of cattle] for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing.

20. And the old man said, Peace be with thee [not merely a greeting, but an assurance of help]; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street [Genesis 19:2].

21. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses [it was the custom of the East to attend first to the wants of the animals]: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.

22. Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial [sons of worthlessness], beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him [Hosea 9:9].

23. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house [an appeal to the sacred rights of hospitality], do not this folly.

24. Behold, here is my daughter, a maiden [see from what depths the world has risen], and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.

25. But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

26. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.

27. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold [as if in one last appeal of agony and despair].

28. And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.

29. And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coast of Israel [that he might rouse a spirit of vengeance].

30. And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day [and so soon after the death of Joshua]: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

[The nineteenth chapter would be intolerable but for the twentieth; the two must be read together. When men remark upon the awful depravity of the one they should remember the awful vengeance of the other.].

Judges 20

1. Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation [the whole community of Israel] was gathered together as one man [a phrase which disappears after the days of Solomon], from Dan even to Beersheba [from one extremity to another,—a proverbial expression for all Israel], with the land of Gilead [the transjordanic tribes], unto the Lord in Mizpeh [not the one mentioned in Judges 11:11].

2. And the chief [literally, the corner-stones] of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand [so the number had been diminished by one third] footmen that drew sword [the Israelites were forbidden to use either chariot or cavalry].

3. (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, 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, that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

5. And the men [lords or masters] of Gibeah rose against me ["The Levite colours the story in a way most favourable to himself"], and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.

6. And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.

7. Behold, ye are all children of Israel: give here your advice and counsel.

8. And all the people rose as one man [1Samuel 11:7], saying, We will not any of us go to his tent [the transjordanic tribes were principally graziers], 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 ["The shape of the ground probably made it impossible for the whole force to operate at once"]:

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 victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.

11. So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man [fellows of one college or club].

12. And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you [even Benjamin had a chance of self-defence]?

13. Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. [The verb implies extermination, such as the burning out of diseased flesh.] But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel [an evil solidarity]:

14. But [and] the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel:

15. And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men [diminished by about a third since the census] that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which numbered seven hundred chosen men.

16. Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men [these words are omitted by the LXX. and the Vulgate] left-handed [not an accidental defect, but an acquired art]; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss [Cyrus valued his four hundred slingers].

17. And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.

18. And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God [Bethel], and asked counsel of God [by the Urim and Thummim], and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up first.

19. And the children of Israel 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.

21. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah [the whole tribe adopted the bad deed,—an evil esprit de corps], 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 children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? ["showing a sort of compunction"] and the Lord said, Go up against him.)

24. And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

25. And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

26. Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept ["The two battles must have caused an almost universal bereavement"], and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.

27. And the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days;

28. And Phinehas [the noble and heroic grandson of Aaron], 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 children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, Go up; for to-morrow [the first promise of success] I will deliver them into thine hand.

29. And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah ["acting with more humility, caution, and wisdom"].

30. And the children of Israel 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 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 [the wounded or beaten of the people], as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God [Bethel], and the other to Gibeah in the field [probably Geba, Joshua 21:17], 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 [Lord of the palm]: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows [a word which occurs nowhere else] of Gibeah.

34. And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore [Benjamin was attacked both in front and rear]: but [and] they knew not that evil was near them [that the hour of ruin had come],

35. And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that clay twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword.

36. So the children of Benjamin saw that they [the Israelites] were smitten: 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 hasted, and rushed [set upon; see Judges 9:33] upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword [an expression which denotes extermination].

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 wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities [Benjamites] they destroyed in the midst of them [that is, in their own cities].

43. Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising. ["The language and construction of this verse is poetical; it seems to be an extract from a song, and to describe, in the language of poetry, the same event which the preceding verse described in that of prose."]

44. And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour.

45. And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon [the rock of the pomegranate]; and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom [mentioned nowhere else], and slew two thousand men of them.

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

47. But six hundred men [compare 1Samuel 14:2] turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.

48. And the men of Israel turned again upon the 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 that they came to.

"Having utterly destroyed the Benjamite army, except the six hundred men who were shut up in Rimmon, the Israelites returned through the Benjamite country and put to death all the remaining inhabitants, destroyed the cattle and burnt the cities" (The Speaker's Commentary). Keeping the whole tragedy vividly in mind, we shall the more profitably enter upon the study of the following subject.