Judges 20:24-28 · Bible study
Judges 20:24-28 Commentary: Defeat, Repentance, and Deliverance
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Israel suffers heavy losses despite asking God's will. What changed when they added fasting and sacrifice?
Research Summary
- Meaning: Genuine seeking of God requires more than verbal inquiry; it demands a posture of humility, repentance, and dependence.
- Key words: “inquired” (sha'al, H7592), “fasted” (tsum, H6684), “burnt offerings” and “peace offerings” (olah, H5930; shelem, H8002).
- Main debate: Whether God was testing Israel through defeat or whether their defeats were due to their own presumptuous hearts.
- Theological theme: The interplay of divine sovereignty and human responsibility in times of judgment and seeking.
- Best use: A case study for teaching on repentance and seeking God's will amidst disappointment.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
24On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites.
25That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
26Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.
27And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there,
28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
24The children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25Benjamin went out 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.
26Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.
27The children of Israel asked Yahweh (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28and 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?” Yahweh said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.”
KJV King James Version 1769
24And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25And 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.
26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
27And the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28And 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 the Lord said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
24And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25And 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.
26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
27And the children of Israel asked of Jehovah (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28and 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 to-morrow I will deliver him into thy hand.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
24And the sons of Israel draw near unto the sons of Benjamin on the second day,
25and Benjamin cometh out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroy among the sons of Israel again eighteen thousand men--to the earth; all these are drawing sword.
26And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come in to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before Jehovah, and fast on that day till the evening, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
27And the sons of Israel ask of Jehovah, --and there is the ark of the covenant of God in those days,
28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, is standing before it in those days--saying, `Do I add again to go out to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or do I cease?' And Jehovah saith, `Go up, for to-morrow I give him into thy hand.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
24And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and again destroyed to the ground of the children of Israel eighteen thousand men: all these drew the sword.
26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and came to Bethel, and wept, and abode there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
27And the children of Israel inquired of Jehovah (and the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28and 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 to-morrow I will give them into thy hand.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
24And when the children of Israel went out the next day to fight against the children of Benjamin,
25The children of Benjamin sallied forth out of the gates of Gabaa: and meeting them, made so great a slaughter of them, as to kill eighteen thousand men that drew the sword.
26Wherefore all the children of Israel came to the house of God, and sat and wept before the Lord: and they fasted that day till the evening, and offered to him holocausts, and victims of peace offerings,
27And inquired of him concerning their state. At that time the ark of the covenant of the Lord was there,
28And Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was over the house. So they consulted the Lord, and said: Shall we go out any more to fight against the children of Benjamin, our brethren, or shall we cease? And the Lord said to them: Go up, for to morrow I will deliver them into your hands.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Judges 20:24
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Israel's repeated defeats stemmed not from God's unwillingness to help but from their own presumption. Adam Clarke notes that had they humbled themselves, fasted, and prayed at the first inquiry, they would not have been discomfited. Barnes points out that the two earlier answers merely commanded them to go up against Benjamin; only after fasting and sacrifice did God add a promise of victory. The Cambridge Bible states plainly that not until the Israelites made their peace with God were they allowed to win. Keil and Delitzsch argue that the congregation discovered from the second defeat that the Lord had withdrawn His grace and was punishing them. The common thread: the outward act of asking God was insufficient. Real engagement with God required weeping, fasting, and offerings, a posture of contrition that acknowledged their own need.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Presumption view: Israel inquired but did not humble themselves; the absence of fasting and sacrifice shows a lack of heartfelt repentance.
- Divine testing view: God allowed the defeats to teach Israel that victory depends on humble dependence, not just asking for orders.
- Incomplete inquiry view: Israel asked only about tactics ('Who goes first?') rather than about their own standing before God; they learned to ask the right question ('Shall we cease?').
What is clear: Israel genuinely sought God in both phases of the story, but only after adding weeping, fasting, and offerings did their seeking result in a promise of deliverance.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Reason for initial defeats | The defeats were a consequence of Israel approaching God without genuine repentance or humility. | Some see it as God actively withdrawing His protection to discipline Israel; others see it as God allowing the natural consequences of a half-hearted approach to unfold. |
| Meaning of the fasting and sacrifices | These actions were outward signs of inward humiliation and dependence on God. | Christians differ on whether such outward acts are normative for seeking God today or are cultural expressions tied to the old covenant. |
| Why God commanded them to fight before promising victory | God's earlier commands were tests of obedience, not promises of outcome. | Some argue that God was gradually leading them to repentance; others that He was simply answering their limited request without overruling their self-confidence. |
| Location of the ark at Bethel | The ark was temporarily at Bethel during this period, with Phinehas ministering before it. | Whether this indicates a legitimate move of the central sanctuary or a concession to the crisis is debated; some suggest Shiloh may have been temporarily unavailable. |
Historical & Cultural Context
These verses sit inside a brutal civil war. After the Levite's concubine was abused at Gibeah (Judges 19), the entire tribe of Benjamin refused to hand over the guilty men. Israel assembled at Mizpah and agreed to punish Benjamin (Judges 20:1-14). Outnumbered four hundred thousand to twenty-six thousand, Israel expected an easy victory. Instead Benjamin routed them twice, twenty-two thousand men lost the first day, eighteen thousand the second.
The sanctuary moved temporarily to Bethel in those days. The ark of the covenant, normally at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1), is noted as being at Bethel, and Phinehas the grandson of Aaron serves as priest. This detail anchors the story to the period shortly after Joshua's death, Phinehas had been active in the wilderness generation (Numbers 25:7). The phrase “in those days” suggests this was a temporary arrangement, perhaps because Shiloh had been compromised or because Bethel was closer to the battlefront at Gibeah.
Fasting until evening was standard Hebrew practice (compare 1 Samuel 14:24, 2 Samuel 1:12). The burnt offering was wholly consumed, symbolising total dedication; the peace offering included a shared meal, symbolising restored fellowship. Israel went up to Bethel, wept, sat before the Lord, and performed these rites. The combination shows a community that had moved from mere asking to full self-humbling before God.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for this passage. The Cambridge Bible mentions a possible doublet in the phrase “all the children of Israel, and all the people” (v. 26), suggesting that “all the people” may have been added as an explanatory note. However, this does not affect the meaning of the narrative.
Reception History
Throughout church history, this passage has been used to illustrate that seeking God's will is more than a formula. Early Christian writers saw the pattern of asking, being defeated, repenting, and receiving victory as a model for the life of faith. Medieval commentators such as the Glossa Ordinaria emphasised the necessity of fasting and tears as accompaniments to prayer. Reformation-era interpreters, including Matthew Henry, pointed to the contrast between Israel's first presumptuous inquiries and their later humble weeping as a warning against taking God's guidance for granted. In modern preaching, the passage is often cited in sermons on national repentance and the discipline of waiting on God.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Asking God is not enough without heartfelt repentance. Israel inquired of the Lord twice and followed His orders but still lost. Their hearts were not broke.n.
- God withholds His hand until we humble ourselves. Only when they added weeping, fasting, and sacrifice did the answer include a promise of victory.
- Victory comes when we stop treating God as a resource and start approaching Him as Lord. The shift from “Which tribe goes first?” to “Shall we cease?” shows a deeper dependence.
Five-point outline
- Presumption looks like obedience but lacks the heart (vv. 24-25). Israel obeyed God's command to fight but without humbling themselves.
- God uses defeat to expose what is lacking (v. 25). Defeat is not always God's final word, it is often His classroom.
- True seeking involves more than words (v. 26). They came to Bethel, wept, fasted, and offered sacrifices. These actions revealed genuine distress.
- God answers when His people come in humility (vv. 27-28). The question changes: “Shall I yet again … or shall I cease?”, a willingness to submit to God's decision.
- The promise comes after the posture is corrected (v. 28). “Tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.” God was never powerless, He was waiting for them to be ready.
Illustration hooks
- A student prays for an exam result but never opens the textbook, the prayer is real, but the heart still trusts in luck rather than work.
- A couple asks God for a healed marriage but avoids the hard conversation about past wounds. They ask; they do not humble themselves.
- A team keeps losing games despite having the best plays on paper, the coach realises they need to change their attitude, not their tactics.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Why did God let Israel get defeated when they were acting in obedience?”
- “Does God require specific religious acts like fasting before He will help us?”
- “How can I know if a setback is God's discipline or just normal difficulty?”
Leading a Discussion
This passage shows a turning point in a brutal civil war. The Israelites had a just cause, punishing evil, but they approached God's will with a casual mindset. After two humiliating defeats, they finally did something different. Use these questions to explore what changed and why.
Discussion questions
- What did Israel do after the first defeat (v. 23)? What did they do after the second defeat (v. 26)? Make a list of the differences.
- Why do you think the first two inquiries resulted in orders to fight but no promise of victory?
- The comment by Adam Clarke says that if they had humbled themselves from the start, they would not have been defeated. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- In verse 27, the ark of the covenant and Phinehas are mentioned. What purpose does this detail serve in the story?
- How does the question change from “Who goes first?” (v. 18) to “Should we keep fighting or stop?” (v. 28)? What does that shift reveal about their hearts?
- Think of a time when you prayed for guidance but felt like you were hitting a wall. What might this story suggest about how to respond?
- What role should fasting, weeping, or other expressions of humility have in our own decision-making today?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 18:25 | May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?” |
| Judges 20:21 | The children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day destroyed twenty-two thousand of the Israelite men down to the ground. |
| Job 9:12 | Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’ |
| Job 9:13 | “God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him. |
| Psalms 97:2 | Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. |
| Romans 2:5 | But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God, |
| Romans 3:5 | But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do. |
| Romans 11:33 | Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke identifies this passage as the first mention of fasting as a religious ceremony meant to obtain divine help. He observes that it has become little practiced, which he takes as evidence that self-denial is falling out of fashion. He also identifies Phinehas son of Eleazar to date the events shortly after Joshua's death.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that God's third answer to Israel was the first to include a definite promise of victory the next day, whereas the previous two responses only told them to go up. He also points out that Phinehas' involvement places these events likely within twenty years of Joshua's death.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge commentary notes that the remarks in parentheses are likely a later editor's insertion, meant to explain why all Israel could offer sacrifices at Beth-el by claiming the ark was temporarily there with proper priests. This shows how later theory was used to justify earlier practice.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva notes highlight that Israel only received God's promise of victory after they went up to Bethel, wept, fasted, and offered sacrifices before the Ark with Phinehas the high priest. Their earlier defeat came from relying on their own strength; now, humbling themselves at the proper sanctuary, they received the divine assurance.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that the presence of Phinehas, Aaron's grandson, as priest before the ark places this battle much earlier than the events around Samson, otherwise he would be over 300 years old. He also observes that the Israelites' inquiry now shows humility: they ask whether to fight their brother Benjamin at all, submitting to God's will rather than assuming victory.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch argues that Israel’s defeats were not from waging a wrong war but from a wrong spirit: self-reliant confidence in their numbers rather than humble dependence on the Lord. Only after two devastating losses, when they finally fasted and offered supplicatory sacrifices, did God promise victory.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange notes that Israel's first two inquiries received only partial answers because they approached God with self-righteous assurance rather than genuine repentance. Only after weeping, fasting, and offering sacrifices did they receive the full promise of victory.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that before their first two battles, Israel asked God only about the order of battle, not whether they should fight at all. They took the war itself for granted, and were twice defeated despite having God's direction on who should lead.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley rejects Matthew Henry's claim that the goodness of God's promised land will intensify the punishment of those who perish. He argues that this reasoning fails under predestination: if some are not elected, they never had a genuine offer, and if all the elect are saved, the grant was never free to the others.