Judges 20:45
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
Judges 20:45 belongs to the closing section of Judges, chapters 17-21, whose events occurred early in the period of the judges after the main narrative ending with chapter 16. Within that section it belongs to the account of the crime at Gibeah, the murder of the Levite's concubine, with which the tribe of Benjamin identified itself, and to the battle that followed that murder. It records Benjamin's punishment and near destruction in the resulting civil war: after Israel had twice been repulsed, the fleeing Benjaminites were pursued toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, with five thousand struck down in the highways and two thousand more slain in the pursuit to Gidom, nearly wiping out the tribe.
This record portrays the disgrace, punishment, and low state into which Israel had fallen through backsliding before the call of Samuel the prophet, showing that sin has no excuse. That low condition stands in mighty contrast to the miracles and teachings of Jesus recorded in Luke, yet both speak of the goodness and mercy of God.
Because Benjamin was left weak and nearly extinct, its later selection to provide Saul as king removed grounds for jealousy among the other tribes. Israel's ultimate prevailing after its earlier setbacks shows that an apparent defeat need not be final.