Judges 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible.[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel,[2][3] but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans in the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE.[3][4] This chapter records the war between the tribe of Benjamin and the other eleven tribes of Israel,[5] belonging to a section comprising Judges 17 to 21.[6]
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 48 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[7]
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} A; 5th century).[8][a]
Chapters 17 to 21 contain the "Double Conclusion" of the Book of Judges and form a type of inclusio together with their counterpart, the "Double Introduction", in chapters 1 to 3:6 as in the following structure of the whole book:[6]
There are similar parallels between the double introduction and the double conclusion as the following:[10]
The entire double conclusion is connected by the four-time repetition of a unique statement: twice in full at the beginning and the end of the double conclusion and twice in the center of the section as follows:[11][12]
It also contains internal links:[13]
Both sections end with a reference to Shiloh.[13]
Three sections of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) — Judges 17–18, Judges 19–21, Ruth 1–4 — form a trilogy with a link to the city Bethlehem of Judah and characterized by the repetitive unique statement:[14]
as in the following chart:[15]
The section comprising Judges 19:1-21:25 has a chiastic structure of five episodes as follows:[16][17]
The rape of the daughters of Shiloh is the ironic counterpoint to the rape of the Levite's concubine, with the "daughter" motif linking the two stories (Judges 19:24 and Judges 21:21),[17] and the women becoming 'doorways leading into and out of war, sources of contention and reconciliation'.[5]
This chapter records the detailed process of a civil war that pits the pan-Israelite unity against a tribal unity. It also wrestles with the execution of a 'ban" (Hebrew: herem; "holy war") whether Israel should eliminate a whole tribe to root out evil in its own midst as required in Deuteronomy 13:12-18.[18] As stated in Deuteronomy 13:14, an investigation must first be undertaken before the Israel confederation can declare war against alleged miscreants (verses 3–7; cf. 'base fellows' in Deuteronomy 13:13).[18] The tribe of Benjamin did not send any representative to the gathering, although they have heard about the event (verse 3).[18] The Levite was called to testify about the crime committed against his concubine, but as a sole witness he heightened the evil deed of the Gibeahites, while omitting his cowardly sacrifice of her.[19] There was a unity of the tribes ("as one man" in verses 1, 8, 11[20]) and a single-mindedness in rooting out the evil in their midst, that vengeance was to be directed to the entire city of Gibeah, because of the evildoers in their midst, just as the action against a breaker of covenant would be extended to their families and townsmen (cf. Deuteronomy 13:15–16; Joshua 7:24–25).[18]
The war between the tribe of Benjamin against the other tribes of Israel consists of three battles with similar structure of reports in this chapter. The focus is on how the people of Israel would gradually humble themselves before YHWH (after two losses), so that the goals of Israel and YHWH would coincide (a huge victory against the Benjaminites.[24]
The head count of the fighting men both from the Benjaminites and the other tribes of Israel in verses 15-17 can be compared to the last count in Numbers 26 as follows:[20]
Assuming that the ratio between the number of men able to go to war and the total population remains relatively constant, the count indicates a decline of almost 30 percent in Israel's population since they entered the land of Canaan,so 'despite the victories under Joshua, Israel has not prospered since its arrival in Canaan' (cf. Deuteronomy 28:29).[20]
The battle report structure, especially for the first battle in chapter 20, is similar to that in chapter 1 as follows:[25]
The battle accounts appear to end, but because 600 Benjaminites escape, the finale of the battle is not technically a full imposition of the ban, which, in the Books of Deuteronomy and Joshua, is described as the killing of all human enemies.[18]
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