Bible Strands
Judges 20:13
Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.” But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The assembled Israelite tribes issue a formal demand to the tribe of Benjamin, requiring them to surrender the perpetrators from Gibeah. This ultimatum is delivered after the initial inquiry into the crime and immediately before the Benjamites mobilize their forces for battle.
The words — The imperative תְּנוּ (te.Nu) means "give up" or "hand over," targeting the men identified as בְלִיַּ֜עַל (be.li.Ya.'al) "worthless" or "wicked" in Gibeah. The phrase וְ/עַתָּ֡ה (ve./'a.Tah) translates literally as "and now" or "therefore," marking the conclusion of the tribal inquiry and the start of the ultimatum.
The thread — The demand to purge evil corresponds to the legal mandates in Deuteronomy 13:13 and Deuteronomy 17:12 regarding the removal of presumptuous wickedness from the community. The narrative directly fulfills the earlier report of the "wicked men of the city" surrounding the house in Judges 19:22.
Why it lands — The text states a clear judicial demand that is explicitly rejected by the Benjamites, which directly precipitates civil war. It presents a structural failure of accountability where a tribe prioritizes internal protection over the mandated removal of covenant-breaking violence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 17:12 But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.
- Deuteronomy 13:13 that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),
- Judges 19:22 While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”
- Deuteronomy 13:5 Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Deuteronomy 17:7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Deuteronomy 19:19 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Deuteronomy 21:21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
- Deuteronomy 22:21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Deuteronomy 22:24 you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Deuteronomy 24:7 If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. So you must purge the evil from among you.