Judges 20 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

In this chapter, the author continues the story he began in chapter 19 which provides evidence of the benefits of Israel having a godly king in the future. He tells how the Benjaminites refused to surrender the men who had committed the outrageous crime and how the Israelites fought a very destructive war against them to purge Israel from the guilt and defilement of this crime.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Why does the Levite say that the “lords of Gibeah” encircled the house?

As the Levite is giving an account of the crime to the Israelite assembly, he says that “the lords of Gibeah arose against me, and they encircled the house at night against me” (20:5). He probably does not mean that the legal rulers of the city of Gibeah did this, even though he is using the same term that the author uses for such rulers several times in chapter 9 when he speaks of the “lords of Shechem.” (The phrase “the lords of the Philistines,” which occurs several times in chapter 16, uses a different term for “lords,” but it has the same meaning.) Rather, the Levite probably means that the wicked men who surrounded the house where he was staying could do whatever they wanted in the city and no one could stop them. It was as if they actually were the “lords” of the city. The UST models one way to convey this meaning.

Why does the Levite say that the men of Gibeah intended to “kill” him?

The wicked men in Gibeah shout in 19:22 to those inside the house that they want to “know” the Levite, that is, to assault him sexually. When the Levite gives an account of their crime in 20:5, he says that they intended to kill him. He probably says this because he recognizes that while the men were going to use sex as a weapon, they intended to commit a crime of power and violence that would likely have involved killing him in the end. That is what they did to his concubine. The UST models one way to convey this meaning.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

“drawing the sword”

Several times in this chapter, the author describes men as “drawing the sword.” He is using one thing that a skilled fighter would learn to do to represent all the things that such a fighter would do. The meaning is that such men were experienced soldiers. Use a word or phrase in your translation that would convey that meaning. (See: figs-synecdoche)