Overview
Lebonah was a small town in the hill country of Ephraim, located north of Bethel and south of Shiloh in ancient Israel. The name appears only once in Scripture during the post-civil war period of the judges, when the Israelites sought to restore the tribe of Benjamin after near-total destruction.
Key Scriptures
"Then they said, 'Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh from year to year in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah'" (Judges 21:19, NASB).
This geographical description helped the Benjamites identify where young women would gather, enabling the restoration of their tribe through marriage (Judges 21:19-23).
Application
Lebonah reminds us that God's Word preserves detailed historical accounts to demonstrate His sovereignty in restoring His people even through human weakness and sin.