Gibeah in the Bible
Meaning: a hill
Exact Match
But his master said to him, "We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. We will travel on to Gibeah."
He said to his servant, "Come on, we will go into one of the other towns and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah."
So they traveled on, and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.
They stopped there and decided to spend the night in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night.
But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.)
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, "I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.
The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.
Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will attack the city as the lot dictates.
We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel."
And so all the men of Israel gathered together, unto Gibeah, knit together as it had been but one man.
Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness." But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.
The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites.
That day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand sword-wielding soldiers, besides seven hundred well-trained soldiers from Gibeah.
The Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah.
The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they arranged their battle lines against Gibeah.
The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day.
The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers.
So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.
The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before.
The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites.
All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah.
Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah -- the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep.
Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated. The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah.
The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city.
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Gibeah » Of saul » The people's wickedness
Then turned they aside there, to go in and tarry the night in Gibeah, - so he went in and abode in the broadway of the city; and there was no one minded to take them into a house, to tarry the night. But lo! an old man, coming in from his work, out of the field, in the evening, and, the man, was from the hill country of Ephraim, he himself, being a sojourner in Gibeah, - but, the men of the place, were Benjamites. So he lifted up his eyes, and saw a wayfaring man in the broadway of the city, - and the old man said - Whither goest thou? and from whence hast thou come? And he said unto him - We, are passing along, from Bethlehem-judah, unto the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, whence I am, but I have been as far as Bethlehem-judah, and now, unto the house of Yahweh, am I going, and there is no one minded to take me into a house. Nevertheless, straw and fodder too, is there for our asses, yea moreover, bread and wine, there are for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man that is with thy servants, - there is lack, of nothing. And the old man said - Thou art welcome! only, all thy wants, be on me, - by no means, in the broadway, mayest thou lodge. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender to the asses, - and they bathed their feet, and did eat and drink. They, were gladdening their heart, when lo! men of the city, men of the sons of the Abandoned One, beset the house round about, beating violently against the door, - and they spake unto the old man the owner of the house, saying, Bring forth the man that hath entered into thy house, that we may know him. And the man, the owner of the house, went forth unto them, and said unto them, Do not, my brethren, do not act vilely, I pray you, - after this man hath entered into my house, do not commit this impiety. Lo, my virgin daughter, and his concubine, I must needs now bring, them, forth, and ye must humble, them, and do, unto them, what seemeth good in your own eyes, - but, unto this man, must ye not do this impious thing! But the men would not hearken unto him, so the man laid hold on his concubine, and brought her forth unto them, outside, - and they knew, her, and abused her all the night, until the morning, and let her go at the uprisings of the dawn. So the woman came in at the turnings of the morning, - and fell down at the entrance of the man's house where her lord was, and lay there till it was light. So then her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went forth, to go on his journey, - when lo! the woman, his concubine, fallen at the entrance of the house, with her hands upon the threshold. And he said unto her - Up! and let us be going. But there was no answer. So he took her up on the ass, and the man rose up, and went his way to his own place. And, when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, - and sent her throughout all the bounds of Israel. And so it was, that every one who beheld said - There hath not happened, nor been seen the like of this, from the day when the sons of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt, until this day: Put it to yourselves contemning it, take counsel and speak!