34 And they come in over against Gibeah -- ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel -- and the battle `is' grievous, and they have not known that the evil is striking against them.
And it cometh to pass, when the king of Ai seeth `it', that hasten, and rise early, and go out do the men of the city to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at the appointed season, at the front of the plain, and he hath not known that an ambush `is' against him, on the rear of the city.
They wear out in good their days, And in a moment `to' Sheol go down.
The way of the wicked `is' as darkness, They have not known at what they stumble.
In the transgression of the evil `is' a snare, And the righteous doth sing and rejoice.
Because sentence hath not been done `on' an evil work speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of man is full within them to do evil. Though a sinner is doing evil a hundred `times', and prolonging `himself' for it, surely also I know that there is good to those fearing God, who fear before Him.
For even man knoweth not his time; as fish that are taken hold of by an evil net, and as birds that are taken hold of by a snare, like these `are' the sons of man snared at an evil time, when it falleth upon them suddenly.
Say ye to the righteous, that `it is' good, Because the fruit of their doings they eat. Wo to the wicked -- evil, Because the deed of his hand is done to him.
`And take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts may be weighed down with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day may come on you,
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.