Judges 20:24

ISRAEL DEFEATED IN THE SECOND BATTLE (Judges 20:24-28)

"And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah. And the children of Israel asked of Jehovah (for the ark of the covenant was there in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And Jehovah said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver him into thy hand."

"The second day" (Judges 20:24). This is a reference not to the next day after the first battle, but to the day of the second battle, which probably occurred two or three days later.

"The Benjamites destroyed to the ground eighteen thousand men" (Judges 20:25). The commentators are hard pressed to explain why God allowed this second overwhelming defeat of Israel. "Some have suggested that Israel's failure to suppress the idolatry of the Danites was a major factor in turning the hand of God against them."[21]

"The children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Bethel" (Judges 20:26). This second defeat got Israel's attention. Not only the armed men, but the whole nation, women and children as well, went up to Bethel, where they wept, fasted, and prayed to Jehovah, offering burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. This time, God heard their supplications, reinstated the apostate nation into his favor, and then, on the day following, executed the awful judgment upon Gibeah and the tribe of Benjamin.

"In those days ... in those days" (Judges 20:27). Keil assures us that this terminology, as used here, "Indicates that the presence of the ark at Bethel, and the presence of Phinehas there, were only temporarily at Bethel; they had been brought thither from the tabernacle at Shiloh."[22] The tabernacle was permanently located at Shiloh until its capture by the Philistines (circa 1050 B.C.).

"And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days" (Judges 20:28). Some have attempted to identify the Phinehas of Judges 20:28 with some far later generation, but as Boling said, "With so many other indicators of an early date, this genealogy (of Phinehas) is to be taken at its face value."[23] The fact of Phinehas being a grandson of Aaron the high priest, establishes a very early date indeed for the events in this concluding episode of Judges. "The mention of Phinehas here makes it probable that the events mentioned here occurred within twenty years of the death of Joshua."[24] Of course, this distresses some die-hard critics striving to find a "late date"; but as Myers noted, "It is a perilous hyper-criticism to consider the name `Phinehas' itself as a late insertion into the text."[25]