34 And there came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore; but they knew not that evil was close upon them.
And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
They spend their days in prosperity, And in a moment they go down to Sheol.
The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble.
In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare; But the righteous doth sing and rejoice.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his `days', yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him:
For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
Say ye of the righteous, that `it shall be' well `with him'; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! `it shall be' ill `with him'; for what his hands have done shall be done unto him.
But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Judges 20
Commentary on Judges 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
Into the book of the wars of the Lord the story of this chapter must be brought, but it looks as sad and uncomfortable as any article in all that history; for there is nothing in it that looks in the least bright or pleasant but the pious zeal of Israel against the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, which made it on their side a just and holy war; but otherwise the obstinacy of the Benjamites in protecting their criminals, which was the foundation of the war, the vast loss which the Israelites sustained in carrying on the war, and (though the righteous cause was victorious at last) the issuing of the war in the almost utter extirpation of the tribe of Benjamin, make it, from first to last, melancholy. And yet this happened soon after the glorious settlement of Israel in the land of promise, upon which one would have expected every thing to be prosperous and serene. In this chapter we have,
Jdg 20:1-11
Here is,
Jdg 20:12-17
Here is,
Jdg 20:18-25
We have here the defeat of the men of Israel in their first and second battle with the Benjamites.
Jdg 20:26-48
We have here a full account of the complete victory which the Israelites obtained over the Benjamites in the third engagement: the righteous cause was victorious at last, when the managers of it amended what had been amiss; for, when a good cause suffers, it is for want of good management. Observe then how the victory was obtained, and how it was pursued.