Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” The people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely. They said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be one tribe lacking in Israel today?”
On the next day, the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up in the assembly to Yahweh?” For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn’t come up to Yahweh to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “There is one tribe cut off from Israel today. How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by Yahweh that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?” They said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up to Yahweh to Mizpah?” Behold, no one came from Jabesh Gilead to the camp to the assembly. For when the people were counted, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there. The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.” They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead. There still weren’t enough for them. The people grieved for Benjamin, because Yahweh had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. Then the elders of the congregation said, “How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. However, we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ” They said, “Behold, there is a feast of Yahweh from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’ ”
The children of Benjamin did so, and took wives for themselves according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them. The children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they each went out from there to his own inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 17, 19, 22, 23 This oath came of rashness, and not of judgment:…
This oath came of rashness, and not of judgment: for after they brake it, in showing secretly the means to marry with certain of their daughters.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–25 Jdg 21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn…
Jdg 21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
Ver. 1. Now the men of Israel had sworn.] Rashly and uncharitably, out of rage rather than right zeal The fiery spirited man hath mettle in him, but base and reprobate, that never received the image and impress of God’s Spirit. Men must swear in judgment; {Jer 4:2} and as Minerva is said to put a golden bridle upon Pegasus, that he should not fly too fast, in like sort our Minerva, that is, our Christian discretion, must put a golden bridle on our earnest zeal, lest it make us follow too fast.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 The men of Israel had sworn; in the beginning…
The men of Israel had sworn; in the beginning of this war, after the whole tribe had espoused the quarrel of the men of Gibeah, Jdg 21:13,14. They do not (as some suppose) here swear the utter extirpation of the tribe, which fell out beyond their expectation, Jdg 21:3,6, but only not to give their daughters to those men who should survive; justly esteeming them for their barbarous villany to be as bad as the worst of heathens, with whom they were forbidden to marry. In this case the Benjamites might have married among themselves, if any of their men and women were left alive.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 16 We may observe in these verses,
We may observe in these verses,
I. The ardent zeal which the Israelites had expressed against the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, as it was countenanced by the tribe of Benjamin. Occasion is here given to mention two instances of their zeal on this occasion, which we did not meet with before: - 1. While the general convention of the states was gathering together, and was waiting for a full house before they would proceed, they bound themselves with the great execration, which they called the Cherum, utterly to destroy all those cities that should not send in their representatives and their quota of men upon this occasion, or had sentenced those to that curse who should thus refuse (Jdg 21:5); for they would look upon such refusers as having no indignation at the crime committed, no concern for the securing of the nation from God's judgments by the administration of justice, nor any regard to the authority of a common consent, by which they were summoned to meet. 2. When they had met and heard the cause they made another solemn oath that none of all the thousands of Israel then present, nor any of those whom they represented (not intending to bind their posterity), should, if they could help it, marry a daughter to a Benjamite, Jdg 21:1. This was made an article of the war, not with any design to extirpate the tribe, but because in general they would treat those who were then actors and abettors of this villany in all respects as they treated the devoted nations of Canaan, whom they were not only obliged to destroy, but with whom they were forbidden to marry; and because, in particular, they judged those unworthy to match with a daughter of Israel that had been so very barbarous and abusive to one of the tender sex, than which nothing could be done more base and villainous, nor a more certain indication given of a mind perfectly lost to all honour and virtue. We may suppose that the Levite's sending the mangled pieces of his wife'[s body to the several tribes helped very much to inspire them with all this fury, and much more than a bare narrative of the fact, though ever so well attested, would have done, so much does the eye affect the heart.
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II. The deep concern which the Israelites did express for the destruction of the tribe of Benjamin when it was accomplished. Observe,
1. The tide of their anger at Benjamin's crime did not run so high and so strong before but the tide of their grief for Benjamin's destruction ran as high and as strong after: They repented for Benjamin their brother, Jdg 21:6, Jdg 21:15. They did not repent of their zeal against the sin; there is a holy indignation against sin, the fruit of godly sorrow, which is to salvation, not to be repented of, Co2 7:10, Co2 7:11. But they repented of the sad consequences of what they had done, that they had carried the matter further than was either just or necessary. It would have been enough to destroy all they found in arms; they needed not to have cut off the husbandmen and shepherds, the women and children. Note, (1.) There may be over-doing in well-doing. Great care must be taken in the government of our zeal, lest that which seemed supernatural in its causes prove unnatural in its effects. That is no good divinity which swallows up humanity. Many a war is ill ended which was well begun. (2.) Even necessary justice is to be done with compassion. God does not punish with delight, nor should men. (3.) Strong passions make work for repentance. What we say and do in a heat our calmer thoughts commonly wish undone again. (4.) In a civil war (according to the usage of the Romans) no victories ought to be celebrated with triumphs, because, which soever side gets, the community loses, as here there is a tribe cut off from Israel. What the better is the body for one member's crushing another? Now,
2. How did they express their concern? (1.) By their grief for the breach that was made. They came to the house of God, for thither they brought all their doubts, all their counsels, all their cares, and all their sorrows. There was to be heard on this occasion, not the voice of joy and praise, but only that of lamentation, and mourning, and woe: They lifted up their voices and wept sore (Jdg 21:2), not so much for the 40,000 whom they had lost (these would not be so much missed out of eleven tribes), but for the entire destruction of one whole tribe; for this was the complaint they poured out before God (Jdg 21:3): There is one tribe lacking. God had taken care of every tribe; their number twelve was that which they were known by; every tribe had his station appointed in the camp, and his stone in the high priest's breast-plate; every tribe had his blessing both from Jacob and Moses; and it would be an intolerable reproach to them if they should drop any out of this illustrious jury, and lose one out of twelve, especially Benjamin, the youngest, who was particularly dear to Jacob their common ancestor, and whom all the rest ought to have been in a particular manner tender of. Benjamin is not; what then will become of Jacob? Benjamin is become a Benoni, the son of the right hand a son of sorrow! In this trouble they built an altar, not in competition, but in communion with the appointed altar at the door of the tabernacle, which was not large enough to contain all the sacrifices they designed; for they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, to give thanks for their victory, yet to atone for their own folly in the pursuit of it, and to implore the divine favour in their present strait. Every thing that grieves us should bring us to God. (2.) By their amicable treaty with the poor distressed refugees that were hidden in the rock Rimmon, to whom they sent an act of indemnity, assuring them, upon the public faith, that they would now no longer treat them as enemies, but receive them as brethren, Jdg 21:13. The falling out of friends should thus be the renewing of friendship. Even those that have sinned, if at length they repent, must be forgiven and comforted, Co2 2:7. (3.) By the care they took to provide wives for them, that their tribe might be built up again, and the ruins of it repaired. Had the men of Israel sought themselves, they would have been secretly pleased with the extinguishing of the families of Benjamin, because then the land allotted to them would escheat to the rest of the tribes, ob defectum sanguinis - for want of heirs, and be easily seized for want of occupants; but those have not the spirit of Israelites who aim to raise themselves upon the ruins of their neighbours. They were so far from any design of this kind that all heads were at work to find out ways and means for the rebuilding of this tribe. All the women and children of Benjamin were slain: they had sworn not to marry their daughters to any of them; it was against the divine law that they should match with the Canaanites; to oblige them to that would be, in effect, to bid them go and serve other gods. What must they do then for wives for them? While the poor distressed Benjamites that were hidden in the rock feared their brethren were contriving to ruin them, they were at the same time upon a project to prefer them; and it was this: - [1.] There was a piece of necessary justice to be done upon the city of Jabesh-Gilead, which belonged to the tribe of Gad, on the other side Jordan. It was found upon looking over the muster-roll (which was taken, Jdg 20:2) that none appeared from that city upon the general summons (Jdg 21:8, Jdg 21:9), and it was then resolved, before it appeared who were absent, that whatever city of Israel should be guilty of such a contempt of the public authority and interest that city should be an anathema; Jabesh-Gilead lies under that severe sentence, which might by no means be dispensed with. Those that had spared the Canaanites in many places, who were devoted to destruction by the divine command, could not find in their hearts to spare their brethren that were devoted by their own curse. Why did they not now send men to root the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, to avoid whom the poor Levite had been forced to go to Gibeah? Jdg 19:11, Jdg 19:12. Men are commonly more zealous to support their own authority than God's. A detachment is therefore sent of 12,000 men, to execute the sentence upon Jabesh-Gilead. Having found that when the whole body of the army went against Gibeah the people were thought too many for God to deliver them into their hands, on this expedition they sent but a few, Jdg 21:10. Their commission is to put all to the sword, men, women, and children (Jdg 21:11), according to that law (Lev 27:29), Whatsoever is devoted of men, by those that have power to do it, shall surely be put to death. [2.] An expedient is hence formed for providing the Benjamites with wives. When Moses sent the same number of men to avenge the Lord on Midian, the same orders were given as here, that all married women should be slain with their husbands, as one with them, but that the virgins should be saved alive, Num 31:17, Num 31:18. That precedent was sufficient to support the distinction here made between a wife and a virgin, Jdg 21:11, Jdg 21:12. 400 virgins that were marriageable were found in Jabesh-Gilead, and these were married to so many of the surviving Benjamites, Jdg 21:14. Their fathers were not present when the vow was made not to marry with Benjamites, so that they were not under any colour of obligation by it: and besides, being a prey taken in war, they were at the disposal of the conquerors. Perhaps the alliance now contracted between Benjamin and Jabesh-Gilead made Saul, who was a Benjamite, the more concerned for that place (Sa1 11:4), though then inhabited by new families.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–25 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh,....…
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh,.... Where they were there convened, before the war began; after they had heard the account the Levite gave of the affair, which brought them thither; and after they had sent messengers to Benjamin to deliver up the men of Gibeah, that had committed the wickedness; and after they perceived that Benjamin did not hearken to their demand, but prepared to make war with them; then, as they resolved on the destruction of Gibeah, and of all the cities that sent out men against them, even all the inhabitants of them, men, women, and children, entered into an oath, that they would use those men that remained as Heathens, and not intermarry with them, as follows:
saying, there shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife; seeing those that used the wife of the Levite in such a base manner, and those that protected and defended them, deserved to have no wives.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 The lamentation of Israel over Benjamin, ver. 1-7. They…
The lamentation of Israel over Benjamin, ver. 1-7. They procure wives for the remaining Benjamites of the virgins of Jabesh-Gilead, ver. 8-15. And of the daughters of Shiloh, ver. 16- 25.
Had sworn - In the beginning of this war, after the whole tribe had espoused the quarrel of the men of Gibeah. Saying - They do not here swear the utter extirpation of the tribe, which fell out beyond their expectation, but only not to give their daughters to those men who should survive; justly esteeming them for their villainy, to be as bad as Heathens, with whom they were forbidden to marry.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 The Israelites mourn because of the desolation of Benjamin,…
CHAPTER XXI
The Israelites mourn because of the desolation of Benjamin, and
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consult the Lord, 1-4.
They inquire who of Israel had not come to this war, as they had
vowed that those who would not make this a common cause should
be put to death, 5, 6.
They consult how they shall procure wives for the six hundred
men who had fled to the rock Rimmon, 7.
Finding that the men of Jabesh-gilead had not come to the war,
they send twelve thousand men against them, smite them, and
bring off four hundred virgins, which they give for wives to
those who had taken refuge in Rimmon, 8-14.
To provide for the two hundred which remained, they propose to
carry off two hundred virgins of the daughters of Shiloh, who
might come to the annual feast of the Lord, held at that place,
15-22.
They take this counsel, and each carries away a virgin from the
feast, 23-25.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXI
Verse 1. Now the men of Israel had sworn] Of this oath we had not heard before; but it appears they had commenced this war with a determination to destroy the Benjamites utterly, and that if any of them escaped the sword no man should be permitted to give him his daughter to wife. By these means the remnant of the tribe must soon have been annihilated.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 Jdg 21:1. The men of Israel had sworn in…
Jdg 21:1. The men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh — When they first assembled there in the beginning of this war, after the whole tribe had espoused the quarrel of the men of Gibeah. Saying — They do not here swear the utter extirpation of the tribe, which fell out beyond their expectation, but only not to give their daughters to those men who should survive; justly esteeming them for their villany to be as bad as heathen, with whom they were forbidden to marry.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25 To the house of God - It should be,…
To the house of God - It should be, “to Bethel.” See Jdg 20:18.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24 Sworn, (juraverunt.) The mention of Maspha, seems to determine…
Sworn, (juraverunt.) The mention of Maspha, seems to determine that this oath was taken before the battle; though it would otherwise appear, that the Israelites engaged themselves to extirpate the tribe in the hear of their fury, and after they destroyed the women of Benjamin. If they could lawfully slay their brethren indiscriminately, as connected in the same wicked cause, (Haydock) they might surely refuse their daughters to any of those (Menochius) who might chance to make their escape. (Haydock) --- But they ought first to have consulted the Lord, as this was a matter of as great consequence as to know who was first to go to battle. They seem to have discovered the rashness of their proceedings, and to have repented when it was too late; and they ridiculously attempt to elude the obligation of the oath, which lay heavy on their consciences. (Salien) --- They think it sufficient to adhere to the letter, while they neglect the spirit of their oath. (Haydock) --- The ancients had a scrupulous regard for oaths, and did not allow themselves the liberty of interpreting them away, Genesis xxiv. 5., Josue ix. 15., and 1 Kings xiv. 24. (Calmet) --- But here the Israelites wish to keep and to evade the oath at the same time. (Haydock) --- Serarius, &c., declare that their oath was lawful, as they did not consider the inconveniences which would attend its execution. As soon as they perceived them, the obligation ceased; though, if their erroneous conscience dictated the contrary to them, they were obliged to follow it, (Tirinus) if they could not receive a more certain information. (Haydock) --- Tostat and others maintain that the oath was null, as being illegal, and consequently of no force. Grotius (Jur. ii. 2, 21,) lays it down as the right of nature, for people to marry with their neighbours, (Calmet) though an individual may refuse such connexions; (Haydock) and St. Augustine (de C.[City of God?] ii. 17.) allows, that he Romans had "a right, perhaps, to seize the Sabine women, in a war declared on account of the unjust refusal." We can excuse the Benjamites for taking the women of Silo, by force, on no other plea, (Calmet) unless the consent of the parents and of the virgins intervened. (Haydock) (Ver. 22.) --- If, therefore, the Israelites could not lawfully deny their daughters in marriage to the Benjamites, their oath was unjust, and nowise obligatory. (Calmet) --- They had not right to punish the innocent with the guilty, as they had received no order from God; (Salien) and therefore they ought not to have slain the unoffending females of Benjamin, or of Jabes, ver. 11. It is not necessary for us to defend the rash oaths or conduct of the Israelites in exterminating their fellow creatures, who were innocent; nor in the rape, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv1, 15 Israel bewails the desolation of Benjamin, and takes measures…
Israel bewails the desolation of Benjamin, and takes measures to preserve the tribe from extinction. Twelve thousand men are sent to punish Jabesh-Gilead for not joining in the war against Benjamin, and to take their daughters for wives for the remaining Benjamites.
Jdg_21:1-14.
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1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh [Mizpah], saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. 2And the people came to the house of God [Beth-el], and abode [sat] there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3And said, O Lord [Jehovah,] God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel? 4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings. 5And the children [sons] of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with [in] the congregation unto the Lord [Jehovah]? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the Lord [Jehovah] to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 6And the children [sons] of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord [Jehovah], that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the Lord [Jehovah]? and behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9For the people were numbered [mustered], and behold there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. 10And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the 11children. And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young [women,] virgins [,] that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children [sons] of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them [and offered (lit. called) peace to them]. 14And Benjamin came again [returned] at that time; and they gave them wives [the women] which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not [but they found not for them so many].1
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg_21:14.—ולֹא־מָצְאוּ לָהֶם כֵּן. Here, as in Exo_10:14, כֵּן means tot; and, in general, it answers to tantus, ***, tot, where “so” we add the appropriate adjective.
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
Jdg_21:1-4. Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah. Our author now informs us, by way of supplementing the preceding narrative, of two oaths taken by the congregation at the beginning of the war. All Israel promised, man by man (hence the expression אִישׁ יִשְׁרָאֵל), that they would not give their daughters as wives to any men of Benjamin. They abrogated the connubium (the right of intermarriage) with the tribe. They determined to treat Benjamin as a heathen people, or as heathen nations, in the absence of special treaties (ἐπιγαμία), were accustomed to look upon each other. There were instances of heathen tribes who did not at all intermix. Such cases were found among Germanic tribes also, until Christianity had fully conquered them. It was the church that brought East-Goths and West-Goths, Anglo-Saxons and Britons, Franks and Romans, to look upon each other as tribes of one Israel. Very great, therefore, must have been the indignation of the collective Israel, when they thus, as it were, cast Benjamin out of their marriage covenant. The Romans once (335 b. c.) punished certain rebellious Latin tribes by depriving them of the privileges of connubia, commercia, et concilia (Liv. viii. 14). The Latins were subject tribes: Benjamin, a brother-tribe with equal rights. It might be thought that such a resolve was of itself sufficient to punish Benjamin for its immorality. But is it not probable that in that case, the tribe, through its stubbornness, would have sunk altogether into heathenism? It must be admitted, however, that double punishment was too severe. For it was to punish the guilty, not to destroy a tribe, that Israel had taken the field. This they now perceive—but too late—after their passionate exasperation has subsided. They now sit before the altar of God in Bethel, weeping over the calamity that has taken place. The consequences of their unmeasured severity are now perceived. To what purpose this utter destruction by the sword of everything that pertained to the brother tribe? When Benjamin took to flight, would it not have sufficed then once more to demand of him the surrender of the guilty? Would he still have resisted, when, helpless, he sought the wilderness for refuge? To what purpose the slaughter of the flying? the indiscriminate use of sword and fagot in the cities? Israel has cause for weeping; for it feels the horrors of civil war. Humanity and kindness are frightened away when brethren war with brethren. The worst and most detestable crimes are committed against nations by themselves, under the influence of foolish self-deception, when they fall victims to internal strife. The exasperation of the feelings puts moral causes entirely out of sight. Leaders, says Tacitus, are then less valued than soldiers (Hist. ii. 29, Judges 6 : “civilibus bellis plus militibus, quam ducibus licere”). Israel may bewail itself before God, but it cannot accuse its leaders. The Urim and Thummim approved the punishment of Benjamin, but not the oaths and cruelty with which it was accompanied. However, if Israel in this war furnishes an illustrative instance of the results to which defiant obstinacy (on the side of Benjamin), and fanatical, self-exasperating zeal (on the side of the ten tribes), may lead, it is also instructive to note that it knows that such doings must be repented of. It builds an altar, and, as before the war, brings burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, the first expressive of penitence for the past, the other of vows for the future.
Jdg_21:5 ff.. For they had made a great oath concerning whoever came not up to Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death. Israel here also again clearly shows in its history, what every man may observe in his own experience: that repentance and vows, with reference to past precipitate sin, have scarcely been expressed, before the same thing is done again, and frequently with the same blind zeal which was just before lamented. At that time, when indignation at the outrage in Gibeah filled all hearts, an oath was also taken that every city in Israel that did not send its messengers to the national assembly, consequently took no part in the general proceeding against Benjamin, which was the cause of God, should be devoted to destruction. Such a city was considered to make itself, to a certain extent, an ally of Benjamin, and to be not sufficiently disturbed by the outrageous misdeed, to give assurance that it did not half approve of it. Amid the terrible events of the war, it had been neglected to ascertain whether all cities had sent messengers; it is only now, when the question how to help Benjamin up again without violating the oath, is considered, that the absence of messengers from Jabesh-Gilead is brought to light. And what is it proposed to do? To deal with that city as they have just lamented to have dealt with Benjamin. In order to restore broken Benjamin, another and in any view far less guilty city is now to be crushed. The reconciliation of breaches made by wrath is to be made by means of wrath. The people lament that they have sworn an untimely oath, and instead of penitently seeking to be absolved from it before God, undertake to make it good by executing another, equally hard and severe, and that after “Jehovah” has smitten the rebellious (Jdg_20:35), and peace has been restored. Jabesh-Gilead was a valiant city, full of men of courage, as all Gileadites were. According to Eusebius, it lay six miles from Pella. Robinson searched for its site along the Wady which still bears the name Yâbis, and thought it probably that now occupied by some ruins, and called ed-Deir (Bibl. Res. iii. 319). The city must have been one of importance in Gilead. This is indicated by the fact that the Ammonite king Nahash selects it as his point of attack (1 Samuel 11). In the history of Jephthah its name does not occur. When king Saul hears of the danger threatened the city by Nahash, he cuts a yoke of oxen into pieces, which he sends throughout all Israel with a summons to march to the relief of Jabesh-Gilead, and obtains a splendid victory. These historical notices suggest some noteworthy connections. Against Jabesh the Israelites now undertake the execution of a severe vow, in order to assist Benjamin. At a later date, Saul of Benjamin collects Israel around him, in order to deliver Jabesh. Jabesh does not come when summoned against Benjamin, by the pieces of the slain woman. Under Saul, Benjamin summons the whole people for Jabesh, by the pieces of a sacrificial animal.
Israel sends 12,000 valiant warriors against Jabesh-Gilead—a duly proportioned number, if 40,000 proceeded against Benjamin. The commander of these troops is instructed to destroy everything in Jabesh, except the virgin women, who are to be brought away, in order to be given to Benjamin. It may be assumed, however, that these instructions are to be so taken as that the army was to compel Jabesh to deliver up its virgin daughters as an expiation for its guilt, under threat of being proceeded with, in case of refusal, according to its proper deserts.2 For it is not stated that the destruction was carried out; and, on the other hand, under Saul, Jabesh is again, to all appearances, the chief city of Gilead. The four hundred virgins are then, so to speak, the expiatory sacrifice for the guilty in Gilead. As such, and because the Gileadites were forced to surrender them, they could be given to Benjamin, notwithstanding the oath, which contemplated a voluntary giving. The words in Jdg_21:14, “which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-Gilead,” do not imply that the others were actually killed, but indicate that these were those who in any event were to be permitted to live for the sake of Benjamin, and who by their life—not as frequently among the heathen, by their death—helped to preserve the existence both of the Gileadites, from whom they were taken, and of the Benjamites, to whom they were given.3 Inasmuch as they were preserved alive when it was possible to kill them, they were no longer considered to be such as ought not be given to Benjamin. How instructive is all this! Israel will not break its oath, but evades it after all! If Gilead had deserved death, then its virgin women could not be allowed to live. If these may be saved alive, why should the children die? The Gileadites may not give their daughters voluntarily, but do not the Israelites give them for them? The surrender of these maidens is indeed a violent solution of the dilemma in which Israel finds itself, but the solution is only formal, not natural. The Greeks also, in cases of oaths thoughtlessly made, whose performance was maliciously insisted on, had recourse to formal exegesis, which avoided the real execution (cf. Herod. iv. 154; Nägelsbach, Nachhom. Theol., p. 244). For the sake of kindness to Benjamin, Israel here thought itself justified in adopting a similar course; for in order not to weaken the sanctity of oaths, they evaded that which they had sworn by a formal compliance. They soon found occasion to repeat the process; for the four hundred Gileaditish maidens were not sufficient.
Footnotes:
[1]Jdg_21:14.—ולֹא־מָצְאוּ לָהֶם כֵּן. Here, as in Exo_10:14, כֵּן means tot; and, in general, it answers to tantus, ***, tot, where “so” we add the appropriate adjective.
[2]The Athenian Ionians, according to Herodotus (i. 146), stole Carian women for themselves, and killed their fathers. Hence, he says, the Milesian custom which did not permit women to eat with their husbands, or to call them by their names.
[3][Unfortunately, this exegesis has not a particle of support in the text. To use a favorite phrase of the Germans on such occasions, it is entirely aus der Luft gegriffen.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 16, 17, 19, 21 There is one tribe cut off from Israel this…
There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day--that is, in danger of becoming extinct; for, as it appears from Jdg 21:7, they had massacred all the women and children of Benjamin, and six hundred men alone survived of the whole tribe. The prospect of such a blank in the catalogue of the twelve tribes, such a gap in the national arrangements, was too painful to contemplate, and immediate measures must be taken to prevent this great catastrophe.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 THE REMNANT OF BENJAMIN PRESERVED, Jdg_21:1-25.
THE REMNANT OF BENJAMIN PRESERVED, Jdg_21:1-25.
1. Israel had sworn — This fact, not recorded before, shows up the impetuous zeal and fury with which Israel had been inspired, and during the whole conflict feelings of personal revenge held too much sway on both sides.
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Not… give his daughter unto Benjamin — They meant to treat Benjamin as one of the heathen nations among whom they were forbidden to marry. Deu_7:3.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 1. had sworn in Mizpah] Probably, like Jephthah’s vow…
1. had sworn in Mizpah] Probably, like Jephthah’s vow (Jdg_11:30 n.), a religious oath made at the sanctuary (Jdg_20:1). This solemn oath, which could neither be broken nor withdrawn, is an essential feature of both narratives (Jdg_21:18; Jdg_21:22 A; 7 B); it created the problem for which some solution had to be found.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 25 (1) Had sworn.—The circumstance has not been mentioned in…
(1) Had sworn.—The circumstance has not been mentioned in the account of the proceedings at Mizpeh. It is clear from the sequel (Jdg_21:18) that the oath was not only an oath but “a vow under a curse,” as in Act_23:14.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Now the men of Israel, etc. A circumstance not…
Now the men of Israel, etc. A circumstance not mentioned before is now brought forward, as is another in ver. 5, on which the events about to be narrated in this chapter depend, viz, that the men of Israel had taken two solemn oaths at Mizpeh (Jud_1:20:1) the one that no Israelite would give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite; the other that whosoever did not come up to the national assembly there should be put to death.
Vers. 1-25. War.
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Who can think of the flourishing tribe of Benjamin reduced to a handful of 600 men, clinging for life to an inaccessible rock, but having to mourn the loss of wives and daughters, and sisters and children, all ruthlessly slaughtered with the edge of the sword, and not shudder at the horrors of war? It is a distressing picture to bring before the mind, but the picture must be looked at in its details if we would form a right judgment on the subject. Well, then, in war there is first the snapping asunder of the bonds of neighbourhood and friendship which once existed between the parties. There is the exchange of hatred, and ill-will, and the desire to injure and destroy, for amity and kindness and benevolence. The word "the enemy" takes the place of that of "friend," and the change of conduct corresponds to the change of name; for there soon follow the acts of destruction and vengeance. Precious life, that mysterious gift of God, is spilt like water on the ground. The bleeding wounds, the mangled limbs, the lifeless corpse, take the place of the buoyant spirits, the active frame, and the healthful vigour, of youth and manhood. The happy home where affection and social mirth and bright hopes and schemes made happiness and light, becomes the house of mourning where all hope is put out. The husband, the betrothed, the brother, the darling son, is laid low in dust and blood; and what is life any longer to the wife, to the expecting bride, to the sister, to the bereaved mother? And in such a war as this with Benjamin there are still more revolting images to be contemplated. The ground strewed with innocent babes and little children unconscious of wrong, and unsuspicious of harm. Merry youths and laughing maidens cut down in the spring-time of their life. Homesteads, orchards, gardens, whole streets, whole cities, reduced to heaps of rubbish and ashes. All the works of men"s hands, the fruit of their labours, the product of their skill, the ornament, the comfort, the very shelter and food needful for human life, spoiled, wasted, and destroyed; human progress thrown back for a century, and seeds of hatred sown to bring forth a crop of bitterness in times to come. Thank God, war has been shorn in our days of its savage cruelty. Soldiers no longer slaughter women and children and defenceless men, nor destroy in the mere wantonness of power. Most true also is it that in war some of the noblest qualities of men are developed, and that kindness, mercy, and generosity, are the frequent companions of daring courage, resolute endurance, and inflexible will. The brave leader of men is deserving of all the gratitude and all the enthusiasm of his fellow-men; and as long as war is a necessity, he who conducts it to a successful end for his country"s good will always merit his country"s praise. But for all that, it must be acknowledged that war, even in its mitigated form, is a blight upon humanity, and that its continuance is a blot upon civilisation, and still more upon the national profession of Christianity. He would indeed be a benefactor of the human race who could discover and establish the machinery by which national quarrels and disagreements could be settled by some other arbitrament than that of the sword. Viewed even in an economic point of view, how great would the gain be to nations if the half million or the million of men in the prime of life who are now supported in industrial idleness at the expense of their countrymen were, instead, contributing their own quota to the production and to the wealth of the country! And if the vast sums of money now spent on a single war were devoted to useful works and to great social improvements, how greatly would the world be benefited, instead of being, as now, impoverished and made desolate! How to get rid of war, and at the same time maintain the national dignity and not compromise the national safety, is indeed a problem difficult to solve. The existence of force may be necessary for the maintenance of right. But for all that, the discovery of the means by which bloody wars might be exchanged for some binding code of national law, to which the strongest as well as the weakest should be subject, would be a signal blessing to mankind. The subject is welt worth the consideration of every Christian philanthropist. Surely, too, we are encouraged to hope for success by the glowing words of prophecy. A day will come, we know, when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more". (Isa_2:4) The Psalmist saw a blessed vision of a time when there shall be "abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth". (Psa_72:7) The Holy Ghost speaks of a time when "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea". (Isa_11:9) And, even if in no other way we can hope to succeed, let us, at least, use our utmost endeavour to spread that knowledge of the Prince of peace at home and abroad which is the surest guarantee of peace. We know not when or how the kingdom of righteousness and peace shall be established. But we know that in proportion as the gospel of peace influences men"s hearts, controls their passions, and incites them to brotherly love, the motives to war will be diminished, the motives to harmony and union will be strengthened. May the time come quickly when in the love of Christ, whether present in glory, or still dwelling in the heavens, the love of man to man shall so abound that in the family, in the nation, and in the world, there may be only PEACE!
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR. Ver. 1. "There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
A rule of justice, morality, and prudence. Benjamin represents the libertine, a character too common]n our own day. Here is a method of dealing with such men that ought to commend itself to every parent.
I PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY IN SANCTIONING MARRIAGE.
II THE CONSIDERATIONS THAT OUGHT TO GOVERN IT. The welfare of the child; the possibility of greater happiness and usefulness: and provision for the future. Moral soundness ought therefore to be a sine qua non in all aspirants to the hand of a Christian man"s daughter. What security can there be for the wife of a licentious man, even if he be as wealthy as Croesus? Righteousness of life and a Christian character should be the first and indispensable qualifications of a son-in-law.
III ADVANTAGES OF SUCH A COURSE AS THIS. If parents would exclude from their homes, their drawing-rooms, and the society of their children persons known to be licentious, it would exert great influence
1. In checking such conduct.
2. In preventing society from thinking lightly of it. M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 The men of Israel had sworn.
Jdg_21:1-25
The men of Israel had sworn.
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An unreasonable oath
1. It was an oath that flowed from rash rage rather than from real zeal. Men must swear in judgment (Jer_4:2), not when transported with passion, as Israel was now against Benjamin; their fiery spirits stood now in more need of a bridle than of a spur.
2. It was an uncharitable oath, as it was against the repairing of a perishing tribe, which the law of charity bound them to support, and not to see it perish out of the land through the want of their helping hand.
3. It appears unlawful, as it crossed the revealed will of God in Jacobs prophetical blessing upon this tribe (Gen_49:27), and that of Moses also (Deu_33:12), both which prophecies had been spoiled had this one of the twelve tribes been extinguished.
4. The performance of this unreasonable oath was likewise bloody and barbarous, for by virtue of their oath their blind zeal transported them to destroy many persons in all those cities of Benjamin who had no hand in that foul act of the men of Gibeah. (C. Ness.)
One tribe lacking.
One lacking
This inquiry represents the spirit of the whole Bible; that is all that I have to say. It is indeed not so much an inquiry as a wail, a burst of sorrow, a realised disunion, a shattered kinship. Israel was meant to be foursquare--twelve, without flaw, at every point a noble integer. Benjamin is threatened with extinction, Benjamin is not in the house of God, Bethel, a city literally, but a sanctuary spiritually, and Benjamin is outside. Men should not take these facts with indifference. I have no faith in your indifferent piety, in your piety that can allow any man to be outside, and never ask a question about him or send a message to him. That is not Christianity. From the first Benjamin was a little one, having only some thirty or forty thousand fighting men, a figure that went for nothing in the numbering of old Israel, and over a very delicate and difficult question he came into collision with the rest of Israel. He was alone, and after an almost superhuman resistance he was overborne, all but extirpated, and he went away and hid himself some four months in the rock Rimmon, the inviolable rock of the pomegranate, and there he took account of himself. How many am I? Thousands fell and thousands more; eighteen thousand fell, all men of valour, over against Gibeah towards the sun rising, and we are now dwindled into some six hundred men, and nobody cares for us, and nobody seeks us out. Wait a moment. Perhaps at that very time all Israel was saying, Are we all here? All but Benjamin. And why is Benjamin not here? O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel? But you are eleven! Yes. What of one? What of one? What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and one of them being gone astray, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go alter the one that is lost, until he find it? Thrice repeated--that is the way of the dear old Scriptures. Whenever the proper name is repeated, the repetition is the sign of concern, solicitude, anxiety. Martha, Martha; Simon, Simon; O Jerusalem, Jerusalem--the same pathos. O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel? We see from Bethel what we never saw from the battlefield. Until you have seen the world from the house of God you have never seen it. You have never seen man till you have seen him from the Cross. Keep up the Church. That is the specular tower that is the point of vision. Until you have seen the world religiously you have not seen it, you twaddling, tinkering, niggling reformer. Now you can look at this text as a sentiment, as a discipline, as an encouragement.
I. A sentiment. Why? Is not this the human aspect of the solicitude of Gods heart? In this respect as well as in others is man made after the image and likeness of God. In all such emotion there is a suggestion infinite in scope and tenderness, a suggestion of humility, family completeness, absolute unselfishness, redemption, forgiveness, reconstruction, everlasting joy, the gathered fractions consolidated into an everlasting integer. But you will have that lost man. And Paul, that marvellous compound of Moses and Christ, honouring the majesty of the law as he always did, yet feeling its weakness in the presence of sin, did he not tremble under the same emotion? He says, I am in continual sorrow. Great heavens! what is the matter? It is not enough for him that the forces of the Gentiles are moving towards the Cross, that from Midian, Ephraim, and Sheba men are rising to show forth the praises of the Lord. Not enough; what more do you want? I could wish myself accursed; anathema from Christ and my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. My hearts desire and prayer to God is that Israel might be saved. For see how the doves are flocking to the windows! I know, I know: beautiful! Thank God for it, but--and who is it that speaks thus?--I would know this man. I am of the seed of Israel. What tribe? Ah, what tribe? Hush! You want music now--not the blare of the organ but the whisper of the harp. Of the tribe of Benjamin. Why, that is the tribe that is lacking in the text. Yes. Thus history rolls round in ennobled and amplified repetition and variety--evolution unimaginable in vastness and variety. He is of the tribe of Benjamin. In Judges all Israel mourns that Benjamin was lacking. In the Romans Benjamin mourns that all Israel is away. If you have lost your tears, you have lost your Christianity. The Bible varies a good deal in historical and even moral colour, but it never varies in pity, love, and mercy. From the first God loved man with atoning and redeeming love. We want all the genius, all the poetry, all the letters; we want them and welcome them all if they will be servants in the house of God, and help us in the expression of an inexpressible pity--a contradiction in words, a harmony in experience. I challenge you--graciously and lovingly--and I think you will not find one bare place in all the area of the Book. Let us try it. In Eden there is a promise; in the wilderness there is a tabernacle--a mercy-seat. In Genesis there is a covenant. In Malachi there is a book of remembrance. In Exodus the Lord keeps mercy for thousands, and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. In Numbers there will be nothing! Yes, in Numbers the Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Why, what more could He do on Calvary? And that in Numbers, which you thought a bare place. In Judges, the Lord is grieved for the memory of Israel. In Samuel, when the avenging angel had gone forth He recalled the angel, and let the lifted thunder drop. But Chronicles--they will be all details, annals, and a field for the higher critics rather to pull to pieces. There will be nothing, I think, in the Chronicles. Will there not? In the Chronicles, God says, If His people will seek His face and turn away from their wicked ways, He will hear them from heaven. He will forgive their sins. He will heal their land. And as for the Psalms. What need we say of them, or of Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel? They are golden with the love of God. In Hosea God heals the backsliding of His people, and loves them freely. Even James, a man without poetry, a church without a spire, wrote his letter to the twelve tribes--twelve. They were scattered abroad--but no scattering can kill the household of faith. Now is it possible for any tribe to be lacking, to become extinct? Where, for example, is the tribe of Dan? It disappeared beyond record in the 1st Chronicles, and is not named in the Apocalypse, but its few thousand members amalgamated with some other tribe, say, with this very tribe of Benjamin. Yet even in the Apocalypse the number of the tribes is twelve, twelve foundations, and twelve gates of twelve pearls. And we may be absentees, but Gods house shall be filled. Now that is the text as a sentiment. A great moan, a most tender, passionate, evangelistic feeling.
II. This high feeling has also a disciplinary aspect, and therefore there is a whole field of complete and ardent loyalty. When Deborah sang her triumphant song she disclosed the sterner aspect of this case. She mentioned the absentees by name, and consigned them to the withered immortality of oblivion. Why should there? said that mother heart, why should there have been one tribe lacking on that day of the battle? Why? Reuben remained among the sheepfolds and listened to the bleatings of his flock when he ought to have answered the call of the trumpet, and helped to repulse the nine hundred chariots of Sisera. The Lord will have hold of him yet. Why was he lacking on that day? Oh, he was preoccupied; he sent promises, but he remained at home among the flocks when he ought to have been serving with the army. And some are criticising the sermon who ought to be out saving sinners. Oh, these prior engagements, these domestic excuses, these parliament and council and other engagements that prevent our being at the war. And Gilead abode beyond Jordan, and Dan was concealed in ships, and Asher peered from behind the creeks and wondered how the war was going on. Is it not so with you? Do not hinder your fellow-soldiers if you cannot help them. Any fool can do mischief. Stupidity can sneer at enthusiasm, and we may remain away from the battle. Do you think that is going to interfere with the success of these great evangelistic movements and missionary movements? There is another variety, oh, very singular indeed! There is a lacking, or an absence, which affects great indignation because it has not been sent for. Do you know nothing about that? You do! They stand back for a space, that they may see whether they will be missed. You have heard of these men? They say, We are just waiting to see whether a circular will be sent to us. One has been sent next door, and we are simply waiting to see. You are not! You are grieving the Spirit of God. Now, there was a band in old Israel who tried this trick in three instances, but I think the third was the last. Once Gideon overthrew the Midianites, and held in his one hand the head of Prince Oreb and in his other hand the head of Prince Zeeb. The Ephraimites chided him severely because they were not sent for--they would have been very glad to have held somebodys dead head in their hands. It was the trick of Ephraim. They tried it once upon the son of the harlot of Gilead. Ephraim said to Jephthah, When thou passedst over to fight against the children of Ammon, why didst thou not call on us to go with thee? One can be fully valorous the day after the fight, and when all is dead and gone they say, Why were not we sent fort And Jephthah was a bold and plain-spoken man--base-born, but he could not help that--but the Spirit of the Lord was in him, and the wrath of the Divine fire burned in his bones, and he said I will tell you. Ephraim, hear me; I did once send for you, and you did not come. You did not come, and now that you are trying this stale trick upon others I will put an end to you, at least to a considerable extent, and that day he choked the passages of the Jordan with the carcases of forty-two thousand Ephraimites. So there are two kinds of lacking--a lacking that excites pity and emotion and compassion, and a lacking that excites indignation. Find opportunities. Be on the alert for chances. Watch; thou knowest not when the enemy may come, or the Lord. Be faithful. Remember that Christianity is a battlefield as well as a contemplation and doctrine. Is the whole fighting strength of the Church on the field? Are any enjoying delights of civilisation who ought to be taking part in the war?
III. Now, we are looking at it as a discipline, but we may look at it next and finally as an encouragement. Some are no longer in the battle, yet they are not lacking in the sense of the text. They are not here--they are here. Even the mighty David waxed faint. He was but seventy when he died. When I say but seventy do I not speak carelessly? What a seventy! When he tottered under his weakness in one of his closing battles he nearly fell. In one of his closing battles there was a Philistine who had a sword and was pressing the king most heavily, and it was going badly with King David. The Philistine was hard upon him; hard upon him who slew the lion and the bear and the giant of Gath; hard upon him who made Jerusalem rich with the golden shields of Hadad; and the royal captains rushed to falling David and got around him and said, Thou shalt go out with us no more to the battle, that they quench not the light of Israel, and they stood up as iron might stand, and to the foe they said, God save the king, and to David they said--they whispered--You shall not go with us any more to the battle, that they quench not the light of Israel. Henceforth he was to be lacking, yet not lacking. My dear old septuagenarian or octogenarian, or whatever your age may be, no more to the battle. We would not say that to the enemy; but you shall go out to no more wars; you shall still be with us; you shall pray for us and help us in the Council Chamber, and give us the benefit of your rich experience; but no more to the battle. No, my old friends, we still have you, you are with us as reminiscences, examples, memories, inspirations. I look round my table, says one and says another; my boys are not with me as they used to be. I miss them. They used to go with me to the village chapel, but they are lacking now. O Lord God of Israel, why is my son lacking? He is taken up with a language I do not understand. I was trained very simply, believingly, in the great redeeming truths of the gospel, but he talks to me now in a language I cannot understand, and he no more sings the old hymns and goes to the dear old house of prayer. Lacking! Have you brought no word for me this morning? Yes, I have a word for you. He may return. He is going through a very difficult process now; you know your son is a very prosperous man, and prosperity takes a good deal of chastening in order to remain pious. But he may return. I will tell you how he may return. He will have a little child, and she will be the delight of his heart, and when she is about five or six she will sicken, and in the deep dark night she will say to him, Father, give me one long, long kiss, and she will pass away; and he will look round for some of his books. They will have nothing to say to him, and he will alight upon an old, old book, and he will read, And Jesus called unto Him a little child; and he will read, Suffer little children to come unto Me; and in secret and in darkness he will drop on his knees at the bedside, and angels will say, Behold he prayeth. Adversity will do what prosperity cannot do. Loss will be gain. So he may return. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.--
Confusion and misery through want of orders
A visitor was once standing at a friends door. He knocked, and knocked; but there was nobody to open. Perhaps no one was at home? Oh, yes; there was a noise within, which plainly showed that more than one or two or three were there. Again he knocked, and waited; then at last a servant came. She was very sorry, but she had been with the children who were all quarrelling. This, then, explained the noise. Sounds of crying and anger were now heard from a room upstairs, while a little fellow ran forward to welcome the visitor. Why, whats the matter? Oh, sir, father and mother are both out, and it is so miserable! How so? Why, we are all left to do as we like; there is nobody to manage us! This was strange, was it not? Doing as they liked seemed to bring nothing but disorder and misery until father came home again! Now, I do not know whether those parents were wise and careful or not, or whether they could have done better with their family than to leave it so. But I know that at one time the people of God, dwelling in the promised land, were left by Him very much as those children were left. This was perhaps partly a punishment for their wilfulness and sin. They had thought they could manage for themselves very well, and now God let them try. Then there was wisdom and kindness, too, in thus showing them that they needed the care and power of a wiser, mightier One than they. (S. G. Green, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1
A GREAT CALAMITY PREVENTED
(Jdg_21:1-25.)
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HOMILETICS
1. Zeal is always right in denouncing sin.
It would have showed a lamentable lack of the reverence due to the God of Israel, if such a hideous revelation of evil as that which was discovered at Gibeah, had not met with a loud and emphatic protest on the part of His covenant people. The Church at Ephesus was commended because they “could not bear them that were evil.” In the present case, tolerance to Benjamin would have been treason to Jehovah—a principle too often forgotten. Paul at Athens (Jud_1:3; Num_25:7-12). Want of zeal against sin condemned (1Sa_3:13; Rev_2:14-15; Rev_2:20).
2. The evils of rash oath-making (Jdg_21:1). Compare with rash vowing—see pp. 455, 457, 464.
In their calm moments the men of Israel found that their zeal was not according to knowledge, for they practically shut themselves up to exterminate the tribe of Benjamin. Hence a backwave of great sorrow (Jdg_21:2-3). “There may be over-doing in well-doing. That is not good divinity which swallows up humanity.”—Henry.
3. It is a promising sign when people bring their difficulties to God to have them settled (Jdg_21:2-3).
It was doubtless, He who suggested to them the question in Jdg_21:5, the answer to which led to a solution of the dilemma that now stood before them. The number 12 was something sacred in the estimation of an Israelite. It was mixed up with the promises of God, and with the whole history of the sacred people.
4. Great rigour characterised the expedients of Old Testament times. (Jdg_21:10-12.)
There was blood-shedding in the punishment of the sins of Gibeah. Not only on one town did the sword of justice fall, but from Dan to Beersheba all the tribes of Israel were gathered in vast numbers on the field of battle. In three great battles did the blood flow till 65,000 men had fallen, and one whole tribe, the children of the youngest brother, was left in desolation before the deadly strokes of the children of the elder brothers. And now more blood must flow, because of the excess of blood which has already been shed. The men of Jabesh-Gilead must die with their wives and children, in order that the young women may be got for wives to the sons of Benjamin that are yet spared. We might almost say with Jeremiah (Jer_9:1-2), But why were not the virgins in Benjamin itself not spared? This whole history is a specimen of the spirit that characterised the days, when as yet the true atonement had not been made, and God had not yet become the “God of peace.”
5. The great evils which flow from men taking the vindication of God’s honour into their own hands.
The instinct of every true man of God would say—Let God Himself speak in this matter, and say what should be done. Man is not fit to judge for the great Jehovah. This was the great error of the Israelites in this tragedy. They decided first what the course should be, and then asked God to sanction it. And what a mess they did make of it! They well nigh extinguished the name of their brother Benjamin, and when they discovered that deplorable mistake, how much rough soldering work did they go through to put matters right! Of this, the manner in which they tried to find wives for the few men that were left of the desolate tribe is a melancholy illustration! There is no safety but in ever asking counsel at the mouth of the Lord. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Wives are given to the Benjamite Survivors
Wives are given to the Benjamite Survivors
1-6. The lamentation for Benjamin.
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1. Had sworn] see on Jdg_17:2. All the women and children in Benjamin have been massacred: cp. Jdg_21:16.
2. House of God] RV 'Bethel,' as in Jdg_20:26, Jdg_20:31.
4. Burnt offerings and peace offerings] see on Jdg_20:26.
5. Lit. 'the great curse had been pronounced upon,' etc.
6. Repented them] see on Jdg_2:18.
7-25. The Benjamites provided with wives.
8. Jabesh-gilead] i.e. Jabesh in Gilead; cp. 1 Samuel 11; 1Sa_31:11-13. Probably about 10 m. SE. of Beth-shean or Beisan.
12. Shiloh] see on Jdg_18:31. Hitherto, Bethel had been the headquarters.
13. Call peaceably] RV 'proclaim peace.'
14. 200 survivors were still left unprovided for.
19. Shechem] see on Jdg_9:1. Lebonah] 3 m. NW. of Shiloh. Shiloh thus lies off the main road, and soon loses its early importance.
21. To dance] see on Jdg_9:27 also 2Sa_6:14. The act, like the whole feast, was regarded as religious.
22. No clear sense can be obtained from the Heb. The general meaning must be, 'allow the men to keep these girls, since we did not find wives for them in Jabesh-gilead; and as your daughters were taken from you by force, you have not broken your oath.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv3, 6 There is here no mourning for sin, no humbling…
tribe
There is here no mourning for sin, no humbling because of national transgression, no return to Jehovah. Accordingly, no word from Jehovah comes to them. They act wholly in self-will (Jdg 21:10). CF.; 21:10; Dan 9:3-13.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 CHAPTER 21 The Repentance About Benjamin
CHAPTER 21 The Repentance About Benjamin
1. Sorrow of the people and Jabesh-Gilead smitten (Jdg 21:1-15)
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2. The restoration of Benjamin (Jdg 21:16-25)
A tribe of the nation was almost entirely exterminated. Then the oath they had made not to give their daughters to wife to the Benjamites left assured the complete extinction of the tribe. The dreadful work they had done dawned suddenly upon them and weeping before Jehovah they said, “Why is this come to pass in Israel that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?” The answer surely was, it came to pass on account of their departure from God and their sins. Thus people ask when they behold the scenes of bloodshed and war, as we see in our times, why is this? and are even ready to blame God, instead of thinking of sin and its curse. Then once more they acted themselves and committed another deed of violence. Jabesh-Gilead is destroyed; only four hundred virgins are saved. These were given to the Benjamites. But what hypocrisy they showed in having a feast of Jehovah and commanding the Benjamites to steal the daughters of Shiloh! Failure and decline is written in this book. God’s faithfulness towards His people whom He loves is not less prominent.
“This is Israel, the people of God: infirm and wavering where good is to be accomplished; quick and decisive where patience and forbearance would become them; tolerant of what is only of themselves; scrupulously keeping an insane oath, yet managing to evade it by a jesuitry that deceives no one. Such is the people of God, and such is Christendom today; and such it has been. Let us search our hearts as we read the record,--not given as a record without purpose in it. How solemn is the repetition at the end of what has been the text of these closing chapters: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what was right in his own eyes’“ (Numerical Bible).
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 15 The Expedition Against Jabesh-Gilead
The Expedition Against Jabesh-Gilead
v. 1. Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, at the time of the great assembly, Jdg 20:1, when the embittered feeling against Benjamin ran high, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin, to any member of that tribe, to wife, man for man they had promised that.
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v. 2. And the people, after the close of the war of vengeance, came to the house of God, to Bethel, where the Ark of the Covenant remained till the end of the campaign, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore, realizing the extent of their passionate outburst and its effects, for it had been to punish the guilty, not to destroy a tribe, that Israel had taken the field;
v. 3. and said, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel? The fierceness of civil war had had its usual consequences, but the complaint of the people included, at the same time, the prayer that God might show them ways and means of averting the entire destruction of the tribe of Benjamin.
v. 4. And it came to pass on the morrow that the people rose early, and built there an altar, large enough for their purpose, and offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings, for they realized that the plans which they had could not be realized without a full reconciliation with the Lord, which meant, of course, a full return to the fellowship of His mercy.
v. 5. And the children of Israel said, realizing that there might be a way out of their difficulty, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the Lord, to take part in this campaign of vengeance? For they had made a great oath, which included the threat of death upon every one that did not appear, concerning him that came not up to the Lord at Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
v. 6. And the children of Israel (had) repented them, they had been filled with deep sympathy and care for the rebuilding of the tribe of Benjamin, for Benjamin, their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
v. 7. How shall we do for wives for them that remain, whence and how could wives be provided for them, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? These two factors, that of the oath and that of the possible non-appearance of some part of the tribes, having been set forth, the author continues his narrative.
v. 8. And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that come not up to Mizpeh to the Lord? And, behold, when they made careful inquiry, a thing which they had neglected to do in their first indignation and zeal, there came, had come, none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, a city of the valley east of Jordan, about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, to the assembly.
v. 9. For the people were numbered, to make sure that this report was true, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
v. 10. And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, especially renowned among men known for their valor, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, as a punishment for their neglect in joining the congregation of the Lord in this important enterprise, with the women and the children.
v. 11. And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man, in carnal intercourse.
v. 12. And they, the men of the expedition, found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male; and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, where it had been removed, now that the campaign had been brought to a close, which is in the land of Canaan, to distinguish it from Jabesh in Gilead.
v. 13. And the whole congregation sent some, envoys, to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them, to assure them of their peaceful intentions.
v. 14. And Benjamin came again at that time, the six hundred men that had escaped returned to the land of their inheritance; and they, the congregation gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, the four hundred virgins; and yet so they sufficed them not, for there were still two hundred men to be supplied. One step had been taken for the restoration of the tribe, but there was still more to be done.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25 Now the men of Israel had made a promise…
Now the men of Israel had made a promise ... marry a Benjamite."
This background information tells the reader about the promise that the Israelites made before the battle with the Benjamites. (See: Background Information)
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Benjamite
This is the name of the descendants of Benjamin. See how you translated this in Judges 3:15.
Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has this happened to Israel, that one of our tribes should be missing today?
The people of Israel used this rhetorical question to express their deep sadness. This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "Oh Yahweh, we are so sad that one of the tribes of Israel has been completely destroyed." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
Israel
promise
Mizpah
Benjamin
Bethel
God
Yahweh
tribe
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.