LET ME, I PRAY YOU, BRING THEM OUT UNTO YOU. From the praise of this man Lot we have come to his disgrace: he made every effort on behalf of his guests in order to save them because they came under the shadow of his roof, but he is ready to appease the men of the city by abandoning his daughters to prostitution! This bespeaks nothing but an evil heart for it shows that the matter of prostitution of women was not repugnant to him, and that in his opinion he would not be doing such great injustice to his daughters. It is for this reason that our Rabbis have said,⁠¹ "It is the custom of the world that a man fights to the death for the honor of his daughters and his wife, to slay or to be slain, but this man hands over his daughters for dishonor. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him, 'It is for yourself that you keep them.'"²
Now Lot was fearful [for the welfare of the angels] as he thought that they were men, but when they smote the men of the city with blindness and they said to him, For we will destroy this place… and the Eternal hath sent us,⁠³ then he recognized them and believed in doing whatever they commanded him.
Know and understand that the matter of the concubine of Gibeah,⁠⁴ even though it resembles this affair, does not attain the degree of evil of the inhabitants of Sodom. Those wicked ones of Gibeah had no intention of stopping people from coming among them. Rather, they were steeped in immorality and desired sexual relations with the wayfarer, and when he brought his concubine out to them, they were satisfied with her.⁠⁵ The old man [who had invited the wayfarer to his house] and who said to the men of Gibeah, Behold, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his concubine; I will bring them out now… and do with them what seemeth good unto you,⁠⁶ knew that they would not want his daughter and that they would not harm her. This was why they refused to listen to him. And when he finally turned his concubine alone outdoors to them, they ceased molesting him. Now the master of the house, as well as the guest, both wanted to save the man through his concubine, as a concubine does not have the status of a man's wife. Besides, she had already played the harlot against him.⁠⁷ In that breach, too, not all of the men of the city were involved as they were in Sodom, concerning which it is said, Both young and old, all the people from every quarter,⁠⁸ while of Gibeah it is said, Behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows⁹ — only some of them, those who were the rulers and strong men of the city, even as the man said in relating the incident, And the masters of Gibeah¹⁰ rose against me.⁠¹¹ This was why the others did not protest against them. Now the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel¹² wanted to erect a great guard in the matter of immorality by slaying them, as it is said, Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows that are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death.⁠¹³ It is clear that according to the law of the Torah they were not guilty of the death-penalty as they had done no deed exclusive of the torture of the concubine — harlot. They did not intend her death, nor did she die at their hands for they let her go at the approach of dawn,⁠¹⁴ and she walked from them to her master's house and after that she died,⁠¹⁵ weakened perhaps by her numerous violations, and chilled while lying at the door until it was light, and there she died. But because the men of Gibeah had wanted to do a shameful deed just as the men of Sodom, the tribes saw fit "to make a fence unto the Torah" so that this should never again happen or be contemplated in Israel, even as they said, And that we may put away evil from Israel.⁠¹⁶ This judgment has its origin in the principle which our Rabbis have stated:⁠¹⁷ "The Court may administer stripes and the death penalty which are not authorized by the Torah. However, they may not do this [with the intent of instituting a law which] transgresses the words of the Torah but only for the purpose of erecting a fence around the Torah.⁠"¹⁸ The tribe of Benjamin, however, did not consent to this¹⁹ as they were not guilty of the death-penalty for violating the concubine. Perhaps the Benjamites were also provoked by the fact that the tribes did not communicate with them first and reached a consensus without asking for their opinion.
In my opinion, this [failure to consult Benjamin] caused Israel's punishment which resulted in their being routed at first since the war was done not in accordance with the law. The obligation of making "the fence"²⁰ lay upon the tribe of Benjamin, and not upon them, as it is the tribe itself that is obligated to judge its constituents.⁠²¹
Thus both parties were deserving of punishment. Benjamin sinned by not bothering to punish the wicked ones or even rebuke them. Israel sinned by making war not in accordance with the law, and they asked not counsel at the mouth of the Eternal²² on this matter. Instead they questioned G-d and said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?²³ They themselves had decided to do battle in any case. Similarly, they did not inquire concerning the outcome of the battle, "If Thou wilt give them into my hand,⁠" since they relied on their man-power which was exceedingly great as they were now more than ten times [as numerous as the Benjamites].⁠²⁴ All they asked was, Who shall go up for us first,⁠²⁵ this being like casting lots among them. Perhaps each tribe was saying, "I will not go up first,⁠" or each tribe was saying, "I will be first.⁠"²⁶ And the Holy One, blessed be He, answered in accordance with their question: Judah first,⁠²⁷ meaning Judah is always first, For He hath chosen Judah to be prince.⁠²⁸ This was why He did not say, "Judah shall go up,⁠" as in other places,⁠²⁹ for He did not give them permission. However, He did not stop them, and neither did he tell them, Go not up, neither fight,⁠³⁰ because of the merited punishment of the Benjamites. Thus did G-d walk with both of them by chance, leaving them to natural circumstances. Accordingly, the Benjamites, who were valiant men and whose cities were well fortified, destroyed the Israelites who had "made flesh their arm of strength.⁠"³¹ But now the Benjamites compounded their merited punishment. It would have been sufficient for them to drive the Israelites away from Gibeah. Instead, they killed them, seeking to destroy them by a perpetual hatred,⁠³² and they slew the mighty number of twenty-two thousand of their people.⁠³³ Now when the Israelites suffered such a great defeat they became aware of their error, namely, that they did battle with their brethren without receiving Divine permission and engaged in a battle which was not in accordance with the law of the Torah. Therefore, on the second day they asked, shall I again draw nigh to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?³⁴ Now they mentioned the brotherhood among them, asking whether He forbids them to do battle. But now on the second day, G-d permitted them, saying, Go up against him,⁠³⁵ as it was now permissible for them to avenge the spilled blood of their brethren.⁠³⁶ However, they did not ask whether they will be victorious because they were still relying upon their superior numbers to bring victory under all circumstances. But since G-d had explained to them only that the battle was permissible to them, and since their first sin had not yet been atoned for, there fell among them also on the second day eighteen thousand.⁠³⁷ On the third day they decreed a fast, and they fasted and they wept… before the Eternal,⁠³⁸ and they offered burnt-offerings to atone for their sinful thoughts³⁹ through which they relied upon the strength of their arm. They also offered peace-offerings,⁠⁴⁰ which were Thanksgiving peace-offerings, since they considered themselves as if they had all escaped from the sword of Benjamin. This indeed is the law of all who are delivered from danger: they are to bring a thanks-offering, just as it is said, And let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with singing,⁠⁴¹ and it is further written, And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me; and I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices with trumpet-sound; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Eternal.⁠⁴²
Now the number of dead among the Israelites during the two days was forty thousand, and in the end twenty-five thousand⁴³ of Benjamin's warriors fell, besides those that were put to the sword from the whole city and all that they found.⁠⁴⁴ It is possible that among the men, women and children they totalled fifteen thousand additional casualties, thus making the punishment of the two groups equal.
And how significant are the words of our Rabbis⁴⁵ who said that the anger of G-d at that time was due to the idol of Micah!⁠⁴⁶ "Said the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Concerning My honor, which was violated by those guilty of death and those who raised their hand against the principle of religion, namely, the unity of G-d, you did not protest; but for the honor of a mortal you did protest, to an extent which exceeded the limits of justice!⁠"
Therefore He confounded the counsel of the two groups and made their hearts stubborn, and they remembered not the brotherly covenant.⁠⁴⁷ But after the affair they had regrets, just as it is said, And the people came to Beth-eland sat there till evening before G-d, and lifted up their voice, and wept bitterly. And they said: O Eternal, G-d of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?⁴⁸ For now they realized their mistakes and punishment.
We have thus incidentally explained a concealed matter which is not clear [with a cursory reading of the text], and we have mentioned the cause thereof.