And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
The closing chapters of Judges, chapters 17 to 21, stand at the end of the book but describe the early part of the history of the judges, when Israel had fallen into a low state before the call of Samuel the prophet. Its setting is the crime at Gibeah, the disgraceful murder of the Levite's concubine there, with which the whole tribe of Benjamin identified by standing with its people. Gibeah means high, and it stands 2,690 feet above the sea, about 200 feet higher than Jerusalem, commanding a fine view even beyond the Dead Sea far into the mountains of Moab, lying on the right after Mizpeh on the road to Jerusalem, within an hour's walk of Jerusalem, a little more than a mile from Nob and opposite Anathoth.
The encampment took place at a time when the ark of the covenant was at Bethel and the people came there to inquire of the Lord. The verse shows Israel going up again against Gibeah after an earlier defeat, for in the campaign against the wicked Benjamites Israel was twice repulsed before finally winning, being sent by the Lord a third time. The war against Gibeah left Benjamin the least tribe of Israel and nearly exterminated it.
The record is one of Israel's backsliding and the disgrace and punishment that followed, giving no excuse for sin. Choosing the king from this weak, nearly extinct tribe showed divine wisdom to remove all grounds of jealousy among the other tribes. The episode shows that God may allow His people to suffer defeat, shame, and apparent destruction for a time, yet grant them victory after they turn to Him, so temporary oppression does not mean their cause will ultimately fail. Though the low state of Israel here stands in mighty contrast to the miracles and teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke, together they speak of the goodness and mercy of God.
The closing chapters of Judges, chapters 17 to 21, stand at the end of the book but describe the early part of the history of the judges, when Israel had fallen into a low state before the call of Samuel the prophet. Its setting is the crime at Gibeah, the disgraceful murder of the Levite's concubine there, with which the whole tribe of Benjamin identified by standing with its people. Gibeah means high, and it stands 2,690 feet above the sea, about 200 feet higher than Jerusalem, commanding a fine view even beyond the Dead Sea far into the mountains of Moab, lying on the right after Mizpeh on the road to Jerusalem, within an hour's walk of Jerusalem, a little more than a mile from Nob and opposite Anathoth.
The encampment took place at a time when the ark of the covenant was at Bethel and the people came there to inquire of the Lord. The verse shows Israel going up again against Gibeah after an earlier defeat, for in the campaign against the wicked Benjamites Israel was twice repulsed before finally winning, being sent by the Lord a third time. The war against Gibeah left Benjamin the least tribe of Israel and nearly exterminated it.
The record is one of Israel's backsliding and the disgrace and punishment that followed, giving no excuse for sin. Choosing the king from this weak, nearly extinct tribe showed divine wisdom to remove all grounds of jealousy among the other tribes. The episode shows that God may allow His people to suffer defeat, shame, and apparent destruction for a time, yet grant them victory after they turn to Him, so temporary oppression does not mean their cause will ultimately fail. Though the low state of Israel here stands in mighty contrast to the miracles and teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke, together they speak of the goodness and mercy of God.