CHAPTER XXI _The Israelites mourn because of the desolation of Benjamin, and_ _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 procu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:2. _THE PEOPLE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF GOD_] Literally, _the_ _people came_ בית־אל to Bethel; this is considered as the name of a _place_ by the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Septuagint. _AND WEPT SORE_] Their revenge was satisfied, and now reflection brings them to contrition for what... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:3. _WHY IS THIS COME TO PASS_] This was a very impertinent question. They knew well enough _how_ it came to pass. It was right that the men of Gibeah should be punished, and it was right that they who vindicated them should share in that punishment; but they carried their revenge too... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:4. _BUILT THERE AN ALTAR_] This affords some evidence that this was not a _regular_ place of worship, else an altar would have been found in the place; and their act was not according to the law, as may be seen in several places of the Pentateuch. But there was neither king nor law a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:7. _HOW SHALL WE DO FOR WIVES FOR THEM_] From this it appears that they had destroyed all the Benjamitish _women_ and children! They had set out with the purpose of exterminating the whole tribe, and therefore they massacred the _women_, that if any of the men escaped, they might nei... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:8. _THERE CAME NONE TO THE CAMP FROM JABESH-GILEAD_] As they had sworn to destroy those who would not assist in this war, Judges 21:5, they determined to destroy the men of Jabesh, and to leave none alive except the _virgins_, and to give these to the six hundred Benjamites that had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:13. _AND TO CALL PEACEABLY UNTO THEM._] To _proclaim peace_ to them; to assure them that the enmity was all over, and that they might with safety leave their strong hold.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:14. _YET SO THEY SUFFICED THEM NOT._] There were six hundred men at Rimmon, and all the young women they saved from Jabesh were only four hundred; therefore, there were two hundred still wanting.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:19. _THERE IS A FEAST OF THE LORD_] What this feast was is not known: it might be either the passover, pentecost, or the feast of tabernacles, or indeed some other peculiar to this place. All the above feasts were celebrated at that time of the year when the vines were in full _leaf_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:21. _AND CATCH YOU EVERY MAN HIS WIFE_] That is, Let each man of the two hundred Benjamites seize and carry off a _woman_, whom he is, from that hour, to consider as his _wife_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:22. _BE FAVOURABLE UNTO THEM_] They promise to use their influence with the men of Shiloh to induce them to consent to a connection thus fraudulently obtained, and which the necessity of the case appeared to them to justify. _WE RESERVED NOT TO EACH MAN HIS WIFE IN THE WAR_] The re... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:23. _THEY WENT AND RETURNED UNTO THEIR INHERITANCE_] It appears that the Benjamites acted in the most honourable way by the women whom they had thus violently carried off; and we may rest assured they took them to an inheritance at least equal to their own, for it does not appear tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:24. _EVERY MAN TO HIS TRIBE_] Though this must have been _four months_ after the war with Benjamin, Judges 20:47; yet it appears the armies did not disband till they had got the remnant of Benjamin settled, as is here related.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 21:25. _IN THOSE DAYS_ THERE WAS _NO KING IN ISRAEL_] Let no one suppose that the sacred writer, by relating the atrocities in this and the preceding chapters, justifies the actions themselves; by no means. Indeed, they cannot be justified; and the writer by relating them gives the stro... [ Continue Reading ]