CHAPTER XX _The heads of the eleven tribes come before the Lord in Mizpeh,_ _and examine the Levite relative to the murder of his wife, who_ _gives a simple narrative of the whole affair_, 1-7. _They unanimously resolve to avenge the wrong, and make provision_ _for a campaign against the Benjam... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:2. _THE CHIEF OF ALL THE PEOPLE_] The _corners_ פנות pinnoth; for as the _corner-stones_ are the _strength_ of the walls, so are the _chiefs_ the strength of the people. Hence Christ is called the _chief corner-stone_. _IN THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD_] The Septuagint translate... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:3. _TELL_ US, _HOW WAS THIS WICKEDNESS?_] They had heard before, by the messengers he sent with the fragments of his wife's body; but they wish to hear it, in full council, from himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:8. _WE WILL NOT ANY_ OF US _GO TO HIS TENT_] We will have satisfaction for this wickedness before we return home.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:10. _TEN MEN OF A HUNDRED_] Expecting that they might have a long contest, they provide suttlers for the camp; and it is probable that they chose these tenths by lot.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:13. _DELIVER_ US _THE MEN_] Nothing could be fairer than this. They wish only to make the murderers answerable for their guilt. _BENJAMIN WOULD NOT HEARKEN_] Thus making their whole tribe partakers of the guilt of the men of Gibeah. By not delivering up those bad men, they in effect... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:15. _TWENTY AND SIX THOUSAND_] Some copies of the _Septuagint_ have twenty-three thousand, others twenty-five thousand. The _Vulgate_ has this latter number; the _Complutensian_ Polyglot and Josephus have the same.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:16. _LEFT-HANDED_] They were _ambidexters _- could use the right hand and the left with equal ease and effect. Judges 1:3, :15. _COULD SLING STONES AT A HAIR - AND NOT MISS_] ולא יחטא _velo_ _yachati, and not sin_: και ουκ εξαμαρτανοντες; _Sept_. Here we have the true import of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:18. _WENT UP TO THE HOUSE OF GOD_] Some think that a deputation was sent from _Shiloh_, where Phinehas the high priest was, to inquire, not concerning the _expediency_ of the war, nor of its _success_, but which of the tribes should begin the attack. Having so much right on their sid... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:21. _DESTROYED DOWN TO THE GROUND - TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND MEN._] That is, so many were left dead on the field of battle.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:23. _GO UP AGAINST HIM._] It appears most evident that the Israelites did not seek the protection of God. They trusted in the _goodness of their cause_ and in the _multitude of their army_. God humbled them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and showed them that the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:26. _AND WEPT_] Had they humbled themselves, fasted, and prayed, and offered sacrifices at first, they had not been discomfited. _AND FASTED THAT DAY UNTIL EVEN_] This is the first place where _fasting_ is mentioned as a religious ceremony, or as a means of obtaining help from God.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:28. _PHINEHAS, THE SON OF ELEAZAR_] This was the same Phinehas who is mentioned Numbers 25:7, and consequently these transactions must have taken place shortly after the death of Joshua.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:29. _ISRAEL SET LIERS IN WAIT_] Though God had promised them success, they knew they could expect it only in the use of the proper means. They used all prudent precaution, and employed all their military skill.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:32. _LET US - DRAW THEM FROM THE CITY_] They had two reasons for this: 1. They had placed an ambuscade behind Gibeah, which was to enter and burn the city as soon as the Benjamites had left it. 2. It would seem that the slingers, by being within the city and its fortifications, had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:33. _PUT THEMSELVES IN ARRAY AT BAAL-TAMAR_] The Israelites seem to have divided their army into three divisions; one was at Baal-tamar, a second behind the city in ambush, and the third skirmished with the Benjamites _before_ Gibeah.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:35. _TWENTY AND FIVE THOUSAND AND A HUNDRED_] As the Benjamites consisted only of twenty-six thousand and seven hundred slingers; or, as the Vulgate, Septuagint, and others read, twenty-five thousand, which is most probably the true reading; then the whole of the Benjamites were cut... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:38. _NOW THERE WAS AN APPOINTED SIGN_] From this verse to the end of the chapter we have the _details_ of the same operations which are mentioned, in a general way, in the preceding part of the chapter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 20:45. _UNTO THE ROCK OF RIMMON_] This was some strong place, but where situated is not known. Here they maintained themselves four months, and it was by these alone that the tribe of Benjamin was preserved from utter extermination. See the Judges 21. IT is scarcely possible to imagin... [ Continue Reading ]