All the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn to his house.
By casting lots to see how they should proceed against Benjamin (Judges 20:9), the tribes were dealing with Benjamin as they had dealt with the Canaanite towns they had attacked. God did not tell them to deal with their fellow Israelites this way (cf. Deuteronomy 13:12-18). They were now battling their brethren as they had engaged their enemies (Judges 20:18; cf. Leviticus 19:18).