שופטים, פרק כ׳, פסוק י׳

Preparing for the civil war against the tribe of Benjamin required massive logistical organization. To support such a huge army, the tribes established an organized supply system by carefully dividing their forces. Exactly one-tenth of all men from the tribes, calculated as ten out of every hundred and a thousand out of every ten thousand [מצודת ציון], were assigned to a support role. Their specific responsibility was to gather food and provisions for the remaining nine-tenths of the men who were heading to fight on the front lines [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת ציון].

The massive army and its newly formed supply chain were assembled for a specific moment of action. All preparations were directed toward the impending invasion and arrival at Gibeah of Benjamin [רש״י, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The ultimate goal of gathering these forces and preparing the supplies was to punish the people of the city, ensuring they were paid back for the terrible outrage they had committed in Israel [מצודת דוד].