Judges 20:34
And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.
Judges 20:34 stands in the closing chapters of Judges, which record events from the early period of the judges and portray Israel's backsliding into a low state marked by disgrace and punishment before the call of Samuel the prophet. The battle at Gibeah shows the consequences of sin, for which there is no excuse, and sin is not presented as something that can be done with impunity. In its immediate setting the verse describes Israel's third attack on Gibeah after two defeats, when ten thousand chosen men attacked fiercely while the Benjamites, who had identified themselves as a tribe with the crime committed at Gibeah, did not realize that disaster was near. It was part of a conflict that nearly wiped out the tribe of Benjamin.
God permitted the first two defeats but sent Israel to try again under different circumstances leading to victory. He allowed temporary defeat to humble self-confidence and lead the people to seek victory from Him, so that distress is turned into joy and success and His cause ultimately prevails despite opposition. Though the account of war against Gibeah stands in mighty contrast to the miracles and teaching of Jesus in Luke 4:31-7:50, both speak of the goodness and mercy of God. By showing Benjamin reduced to the least and nearly extinct tribe in Israel, the chapter explains why God chose the king from Benjamin, to remove all grounds of jealousy among the other tribes.