A Different Unity

Before the united tribes of Israel go to war against the Benjamite city of Gibeah, they make one last attempt at a diplomatic solution. They appeal not to the leaders of Benjamin but to the people, sending emissaries “through all the tribe” to ask them to rise up and hand over the guilty men of Gibeah, that they might be executed so as to “ ‘remove the evil from Israel!’ ” To justify this request, they point out that what happened in Gibeah was “ ‘wickedness’ ” and that the men who did it were “ ‘perverted.’ ” This is surely a laborious process. As Matthew Henry notes, “If the tribe of Benjamin had come up, as they ought to have done, to the assembly, and agreed with [the other tribes] in their resolution, there would have been none to deal with but the men of Gibeah only, but they, by their absence, taking part with the criminals, application must be made to them all.” However, proper discipline is nearly always tedious, and the Israelites again are commendable in making this effort.

However, the Benjamites are no less united than the rest of the Israelites—on the other side of the issue. The author of Judges tells us that “the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren” and that they “gathered together … to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel.” Their “love lines,” their loyalties to their fellow tribesmen, run deep, and they are willing to fight for them rather than surrender them to justice. “The men of Benjamin seem to have been as unanimous and zealous in their resolutions to stand by the criminals as the rest of the tribes were to punish them, so little sense had they of their honor, duty, and interest,” Henry says.

With Benjamin’s refusal to hand over the guilty men, the die is cast for war. On paper, it appears that Benjamin has sealed its fate. It can muster only twenty-six thousand, seven hundred men to oppose four hundred thousand Israelites. However, the Benjamites do possess one advantage of skill that will be useful—seven hundred of their warriors are left-handed and can sling a stone with deadly accuracy, doing great harm to enemies carrying their shields in their own left hands. Thus, in a great irony, the warriors of Benjamin, which can be translated “son of the right hand,” prepare to take their stand in defense of the men of Gibeah with a heavy dependence on left-handed men.