Shoftim 20: Third Time's the Charm

Judges 20 parallels the story of the battle of Ai. After Jericho, the Israelites were overly confident. They battled Ai with a small force and were routed. They returned to Joshua distraught. God reveled that someone had stolen from the booty of Jericho. As a result, the army was doomed to failure. After the Israelites repented, God told them to go again to fight Ai and they would be victorious. They devise an ambush attack wherein one fighting force will draw out the army, and then a second group will enter the unprotected city. The signal there was a pillar of smoke rising up from the city. In chapter 20, the Israelites prepare to attack Benjamin. They approach God and ask who should go first. God responds that Judah should attack first. The Benjaminites defeat Judah despite having a much smaller fighting force. Licking their wounds, the Israelites return to God and ask, “shall we again attack the children of Benjamin our brother?” God responded yes. Once again, the Israelites are routed. The third time they “wept and sat before God and fasted that day until the evening and gave sacrifices before God.” וַיַּעֲלוּ כָל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכָל־הָעָם וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵית־אֵל וַיִּבְכּוּ וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם לִפְנֵי ה׳ וַיָּצוּמוּ בַיּוֹם־הַהוּא עַד־הָעָרֶב וַיַּעֲלוּ עֹלוֹת וּשְׁלָמִים לִפְנֵי ה׳ (verse 26). They ask again through Pinchas whether they should continue fighting Benjamin, and this time God says yes. They then use the same basic strategy that Joshua used against Ai: one force draws the enemy out, while another waits in ambush and attacks the exposed city. The plan works, which raises the obvious question: why does the Navi frame this civil war as a replay of Ai?Radak explains that the delay was not because God was uncertain, but because the people did not ask properly. They were not speaking to a prophet who could rebuke them, explain the situation, or give broader guidance. They were asking through the Urim V’Tumim, which answers only the question posed. The first time, they ask only which tribe should go first. The second time, they grasp more of the moral weight and ask whether they should attack “our brother Benjamin.” Only the third time do they fast, weep, bring offerings, and ask the full question: should they continue or stop? Only then do they receive the decisive answer.That is the key difference from Ai. After the first defeat at Ai, Joshua could fall before God, plead on behalf of the people, and receive a full explanation. Here, there is no Joshua. There is no national leader with that direct connection to God. The people are forced to communicate through a narrow, question-and-answer channel, almost like a broken telephone. Even their victory is depressing: they defeat Benjamin, but Benjamin is not Canaan. Benjamin is their brother. The Navi borrows the structure of Ai to show how far Israel has fallen. The same military pattern that once defeated an enemy city is now being used in a civil war, by a people who are victorious but leaderless.