שופטים, פרק כ׳, פסוק כ״ה

The battle against Gibeah stretches into its second day, bringing another crushing defeat for the Israelites at the hands of the tribe of Benjamin. This repeated failure of a massive national army against a single tribe is jarring, prompting a deeper look into the spiritual state of the people. The heavy losses suffered on the second day serve as a reflection of the Israelites' own wrongdoings. They had previously abandoned God in favor of idol worship, specifically ignoring the graven image of Micah. Because they had not yet recognized or corrected this sin, they absorbed another devastating blow. Only after this second defeat would they seek God's guidance a third time and finally secure a promise of victory [אלשיך]. The sheer scale of the tragedy is clear, as all the fallen men were fully armed soldiers, emphasizing the vast number of Israelite casualties left dead on the battlefield [מצודת דוד].

Even with these temporary setbacks, the intense anger the Israelites held against the tribe of Benjamin remained deeply justified. The outrage was rooted in the collective guilt of the entire tribe regarding the atrocity committed against the concubine in Gibeah. It was shocking to the rest of the nation that not a single person within the tribe of Benjamin, even those living outside the city of Gibeah, was disturbed enough by the evil act to side with the other tribes. Instead of denouncing the perpetrators, the entire tribe stood by them, refusing to apologize or punish the guilty.

This complete complicity in the crime ultimately shaped the military strategy moving forward, leading to the use of ambushes and tactical deception. These maneuvers were not employed because God needed them to secure a victory. Rather, the goal was to use the Benjaminites' own anger to draw them out of their city. By luring them into the open, the Israelites could surround them completely, ensuring a total defeat and leaving them no chance to retreat to safety [אלשיך].