שופטים, פרק כ׳, פסוק י״ב

Before rushing into a devastating civil war, the Israelites attempt a diplomatic resolution. Seeking peace and accountability, they send messengers throughout the territory of Benjamin to confront the local leaders about the atrocity committed in Gibeah, urging them to address the severe moral failure that had taken root in their midst [מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד]. Although Benjamin was a single entity, the messengers traveled among its various factions, as the tribe was composed of ten large families of mighty warriors. Because of their significant size and influence, these prominent families were effectively treated as individual tribes [רד״ק]. Some explain that these ten families were elevated to the status of tribes so that the matriarch Rachel could be credited with twelve tribes descending directly from her [רש״י]. Furthermore, this internal structure allowed Benjamin to present ten distinct family units to match the ten Israelite tribes gathering against them [רד״ק].

When the messengers confront the people of Benjamin, they cry out about the sheer magnitude of the crime. The primary approach among commentators is that they do not ask for information, as the horrific details are already widely known. Instead, their outcry is an expression of profound shock at how massive and terrible the act truly was. They place the blame squarely on the community, emphasizing a shared collective responsibility. Since the atrocity took place within their borders, the people of Benjamin should have been the very first to step forward and purge the wrongdoers from their land [מלבי״ם].

By failing to bring the criminals to justice, neglecting to protest the act, and making no effort to apologize to the rest of the nation, the people of Benjamin effectively offer their silent support to the perpetrators. This inaction transforms the local population into accomplices, making it as though the evil had infected the entire community [אלשיך, חומת אנך]. The Israelites merely ask that the entire nation unite to judge the guilty and remove the evil from their society, yet the people of Benjamin ultimately shut their ears and refuse to listen [אברבנאל].