Judges - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 273

him; so the mam seized his servant- wife, and sent her out to them out- side, and they outraged her, and maltreated her all the night, until daybreak, but went: away from her at the departure of darkness. Then at the arrival of dawn the woman came, and fell before the doorway of

the man’s house, where she had been outraged until daylight. Her master also arose at daybreak

and opened the doors of the house, and came out to proceed on his journey and saw the woman, his servanbwife, fallen before the house with her hands upon the doorstep, Get up and But she spoke not, Then he brought the ass and lifted the woman up, and went to his place, and entered his house, where he took a knife, and seized his servant- wife and divided her corpse into twelve pieces and sent to all the countries of Israel, and all who saw There has not been, nor has there been seen anything like this from the time the Children of Israel came up from the Mitzeraim until this day! Apply yourselves to it,— consult, and speak! 20 All the Children of Israel then went out and assembled the Parliament unanimously from Dan to Beersheba, and the country of Gilad, to the EVER-LIVING at Mizphah, where the Chiefs of the people of all the tribes of Israel presented themselves as an assembly of the people before Goo, with four hundred thousand men, disciplined soldiers. The Benjaminites, however, heard

that the Children of Israel had gone up to Mizphah where the Children Who has committed And the Levite, the husband of the woman who had been I and my servant—wife came to Gibeah of Benjamin to lodge, when the blackguards of Gibeah rose upon me, and surrounded the house at night, purposing to murder me, and they outraged my wife until she died. So I took my wife and cut her to pieces, and sent her to all the land possessed by Israel, because they had com- mitted such a crime in Israel. Now, Sons of israel, apply to the matter and consult about it! Then all the Parliament arose as

Let no man go to his home, nor any man return to his house, for this is what shall be done to Gibeah,——·we will assail it by lot, and we will select ten men in a hundred, from every tribe of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, as a provisional draft of the army for action, and send them against Gibeah of Benjamin, because of the great crime they have com- mitted in Israel, and all the people of Israel shall approach the town as if united in one man. However, the tribes of Israel sent

officers to all the tribe of Benjamin What crime is this which has occurred amongst you? Therefore, now, give up those men, sons of Belial, who are in Gibeah, and we will execute them, and burn out the crime from Israel. The Benjaminites, however, would

not listen to the voice of their country— men the Children of Israel, but assembled from their villages to Gibeah, to prepare for war with the Children of Israel, and the Benjamim ites at that period could collect from their towns twenty—six thousand dis- ciplined men, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah,~—and they amounted to seven hundred chosen men. These seven hundred skilful men were more than a numerous force. All of them were both-handed at slinging stones to a hair’s breadth, and never missed. But Israel stood up, without

Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, all of them disciplined soldiers, men of war, and they arose and advanced to Bethel, and enquired of GOD-·—where the Children of Israel Who of us shall go up to open the war with the Benjamirlites ? judah shall The Children of Israel accordingly

arose at dawn and camped before Gibeah, and the leader of Israel advanced to fight with Benjamin, and the Israelites proceeded from the camp towards Gibeah. But the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah, and left Israel that day twenty—two thousand men on the ground. The army of the men of Israel, however, were bold, and continued to prosecute 273 IO II I2 16 18 20 21 22