I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 20-21.

In response to what had happened in Gibeah, the tribes of Israel gathered to make war against Benjamin.  The thought that came to me was a comparison to the time the tribes of Israel gathered to make war against the tribes who settled east of the Jordan (as recounted in the Book of Joshua).  As they had in the previous case, the tribes sent messengers to present their case for going to war and to request a response.  However, unlike previously, the tribe of Benjamin did not offer an explanation or an alternative.  Instead, the tribe of Benjamin gathered to defend those who had committed the crime.  When the tribe of Benjamin made clear that they would oppose bringing the criminals to justice, the rest of the Israelites asked God for guidance as to their order of march.

In the ensuing battles, the rest of the tribes of Israel lost more warriors than the tribe of Benjamin was able to muster in total, but still defeated Benjamin in the end.  In their anger over the crime, and from their losses in battle, the rest of the tribes killed all but a small number of the warriors of Benjamin and all of the rest of the tribe.  As a result, the tribe of Benjamin was almost completely wiped out.  The few remaining warriors only survived because they were able to hole up in a fortification where they were able to hold out for four months (it is not clear to me if they were under siege for four months, or if they were hiding out for four months.  I suspect the former).  Once the heat of battle had subsided the other tribes of Israel realized that they did not wish to wipe out the entire tribe of Benjamin.  The devastation wrought, primarily upon the tribe of Benjamin, but also in the losses suffered by the other tribes’ warriors, shows us what happens to a people when people are not held accountable for their sins.