The Days of Gibeah

Gibeah, meaning “hill,” was a small town belonging to the tribe of Benjamin’s allotted territory, located about twelve miles north of Jerusalem (Judges 19:12, 14). Because a ruffian from this town disgraced and killed a Levite’s concubine, whom he had brought back from her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah, the other tribes of Israel were enraged. They united as one, gathered, and attacked the city of Gibeah. The Benjaminites, in turn, came out from their various towns to fight against the Israelites, and were almost completely annihilated, with only six hundred men remaining (Judges 19 entire chapter, 20 entire chapter).

The prophet Hosea said: “They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins” (Hosea 9:9). The central meaning here is that what the Israelites were doing at the time was just as heinous as the terrible crime committed in the days of Gibeah in the past. Such an event had not happened or been seen since the Israelites came out of Egypt (Judges 19:30), and it resulted in the near extinction of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 21:3). God would surely punish their wickedness, and the day of reckoning was about to come upon them (Hosea 9:7; 10:9).