Judges, chapter 18
Judges 18:1 ¶ In those days
there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites
sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their
inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family
five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy
out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land:
who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
3 When they were by the house of
Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in
thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in
this place? and what hast thou here? 4
And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath
hired me, and I am his priest. 5 And
they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether
our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6
And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is
your way wherein ye go.
Now, at this point there is no central authority in Israel which
suggests there is no Judge operating making John Gill’s assertion likely, that
this is a flashback. Could this be not long after Joshua and when Chushanrishathaim
ruled them?
Judges 3:8 ¶ Therefore the
anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of
Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served
Chushanrishathaim eight years. 9 And
when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer
to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz,
Caleb’s younger brother.
These Danite scouts ask Micah’s priest if they will have success
and this priest assures them that they will. So far so good, huh?
Judges 18:7 ¶ Then the five
men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein,
how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure;
and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to
shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had
no business with any man. 8 And
they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said
unto them, What say ye? 9 And
they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land,
and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful
to go, and to enter to possess the land. 10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people
secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place
where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. 11 And there went from thence of the family of
the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with
weapons of war. 12 And they went up, and
pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan
unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim. 13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim,
and came unto the house of Micah.
The people of Laish apparently had a form of communal government
with no central authority and they considered themselves self-sufficient, not
having made allies with anyone for protection. This idyllic situation is not to
last very long.
The 600 men of war now go back to Micah’s house from when their
scouts/spies had just come.
Judges 18:14 ¶ Then
answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto
their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and
teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what
ye have to do. 15 And they turned
thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even
unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16
And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were
of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. 17 And the five men that went to spy out the
land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and
the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the
entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with
weapons of war. 18 And these went into
Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the
ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the
priest unto them, What do ye? 19 And
they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with
us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a
priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a
family in Israel? 20 And the priest’s
heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image,
and
went in the midst of the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the
little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. 22 And when they were a good way from the
house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house
were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And
they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest
with
such a company? 24 And he said,
Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away:
and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What
aileth thee? 25 And the children of Dan
said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon
thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. 26 And the children of Dan went their way: and
when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went
back unto his house.
To give themselves credibility and authority and a sense of unity
greater than their tribe affiliation they have now stolen a priest and all of
his statues and devices, even the false gods, and there is nothing that Micah
can do about it.
Judges 18:27 ¶ And they
took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and
came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they
smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer, because it
was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it
was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and
dwelt therein. 29 And they called the
name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto
Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30 And the children of Dan set up the graven
image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons
were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 And they set them up Micah’s graven
image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Laish is conquered, the men killed and the city burned, rebuilt,
and renamed Dan. Verse 31 establishes that this all happened while the
tabernacle, the house of God, was in Shiloh.
Joshua 18:1 ¶ And the whole
congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up
the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.
This Laish, according to Strong’s and the text in Joshua
19, was also called Leshem.
Joshua 19:40 ¶ And the
seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their
families. 41 And the coast of their
inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Irshemesh,
42 And Shaalabbin, and
Ajalon, and Jethlah, 43 And Elon, and
Thimnathah, and Ekron,
44 And Eltekeh, and
Gibbethon, and Baalath, 45 And Jehud,
and Beneberak, and Gathrimmon,
46 And Mejarkon, and
Rakkon, with the border before Japho. 47
And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them:
therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and
smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and
called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the
children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.
So this conquest resulted from the tribe of Dan feeling that they
needed more space in which to dwell. The setting up of the pagan gods and the
worship of God intermingled was the hallmark of Dan’s religion we see here.
Judges, chapter 19
Judges 19:1 ¶ And it came
to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was
a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a
concubine out of Bethlehemjudah. 2 And
his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her
father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months. 3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to
speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with
him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house: and
when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4 And his father in law, the damsel’s father,
retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and
lodged there. 5 And it came to pass on
the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to
depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart
with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. 6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both
of them together: for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I
pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. 7 And when the man rose up to depart, his
father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the
fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray
thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and
his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto
him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night:
behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry;
and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. 10 But the man would not tarry that night, but
he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is
Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also
was with him. 11 And when
they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his
master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites,
and lodge in it. 12 And his master said
unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is
not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. 13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let
us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
14 And they passed on and went their
way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth
to Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside
thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat
him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them
into his house to lodging.
Judging by the first verse we still seem to be in the time were
things were a bit out of control, in a time before Judges ruled as princes and
deliverers. This Levite takes a concubine out of the Bethlehem in Judah.
A concubine was a sort of a secondary wife who did have some
rights and here her father is referred to as the Levite’s father-in-law. This unfaithful
concubine and the Levite wind up in the city of Gibeah in Benjamin’s territory
on their way to Shiloh.
As this story unfolds the seemingly barbaric and misogynist
demands of Ancient Near Eastern hospitality confuse us. In Genesis Lot offered
his daughters to prevent a gang from raping his two male visitors who were
actually angels sent to deliver Lot and his family.
Internal evidence in this passage shows that Judges was written
when Jerusalem was still a Jebusite stronghold, before David had conquered it.
Judges 19:16 ¶ And, behold,
there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was
also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were
Benjamites. 17 And when he had lifted up
his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man
said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 18 And he said unto him, We are passing
from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I:
and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the
LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. 19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our
asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for
the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any
thing. 20 And the old man said, Peace be
with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge
not in the street. 21 So he brought him
into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet,
and did eat and drink.
Now comes a kindly old man who takes pity on the traveler. His
main concern is that the Levite and his concubine not spend the night in the
street. We will soon find out why. A provocation that means something in
history, in our timeline, is about to take place.
Judges 19:22 ¶ Now
as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain
sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and
spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that
came into thine house, that we may know him. 23
And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto
them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly;
seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden,
and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with
them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
25 But the men would not hearken to him:
so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew
her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to
spring, they let her go. 26
Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door
of the man’s house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and
opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the
woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her
hands were upon the threshold. 28
And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none
answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man
rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29
And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on
his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve
pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said,
There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel
came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice,
and speak your minds.
A son of Belial is a troublesome fellow, a
wicked man. See cross-references that suggest this.
1Samuel 2:12 Now the sons
of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.
1Samuel 25:17 Now therefore
know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master,
and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man
cannot speak to him.
2Chronicles 13:7 And there
are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened
themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and
tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.
We must understand
that this world’s religious and social system was fraught with sexuality and
power/domination rituals such as gang rape to enforce the power of a group of
people over even a stranger passing through. This is also prevalent in some
cultures today. Rape as an expression of power is the standard and homosexual
gang rape is prevalent in certain situations even in our modern world and its
not just in badly run prisons either. Sometimes it is in ghetto and mountain
rural communities where civilization is barely a whispering influence. We
remember how things went with Lot and the two angels who delivered him back in
Genesis.
As I have said
repeatedly before God does not create human culture. He does direct it and
changes it but there are many cultural practices of these people we cannot even
imagine. Here it is revealed that the status of women is so low that the man
offers his daughter and the Levite’s concubine as sacrifices to the bestial
urges of the mob.
It is amazing and
disgusting to us that manners of hospitality was more important that the lives
of these women. But, God reports it. This is what happened and it argues the
point that just because something is reported in the Bible doesn’t mean that
God approves it. For instance, God is not telling us that our Constitution is
wrong when He reports how Joseph ran Egypt. That is not our example just
because it is in the Bible. Neither do we tell young men to find a woman who
will offer to water their camels when seeking a wife.
I don’t know what
is worse, the sons of Belial or the Levite who sends his concubine out to
suffer at their hands. See the grisly way he alerts Israel to the wrong done,
not to her, but to him. This calls to mind how Dinah’s brothers in Genesis were
concerned about the afront done to the family by her rape not the injury done
to her. This kind of sexual violence marked the depths that Israel had
descended since leaving Egypt. The apostasy is only getting worse.
Judges, chapter 20
Judges 20:1 ¶ Then all the
children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one
man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in
Mizpeh. 2 And the chief of all the
people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented
themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred
thousand footmen that drew sword. 3 (Now
the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to
Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
4 And the Levite, the husband of the
woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth
to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. 5
And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about
upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have
they forced, that she is dead. 6 And I
took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the
country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and
folly in Israel. 7 Behold, ye are
all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. 8 And 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 into his house. 9 But now this shall
be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot
against it; 10 And we will take ten men
of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a
thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people,
that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the
folly that they have wrought in Israel. 11
So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together
as one man.
This is planned revenge against Gibeah but the tribe of Benjamin does
not appear to have joined the assembly even though they knew about it as all
tribes were to meet.
Judges 20:12 ¶ And the
tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What
wickedness is this that is done among you? 13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the
children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death,
and put away evil
from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the
voice of their brethren the children of Israel: 14 But the children of Benjamin gathered
themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against
the children of Israel. 15 And the
children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities
twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah,
which were numbered seven hundred chosen men. 16 Among all this people there were seven
hundred chosen men
lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth,
and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel,
beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all
these were men of war.
Benjamin rallies around its people of Gibeah against all of Israel
in spite of the wickedness of these men of Gibeah in their insult to the Levite
in the gang rape and murder of his concubine.
Judges 20:18 ¶ And the
children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of
God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children
of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first. 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the
morning, and encamped against Gibeah. 20
And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men
of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out
of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty
and two thousand men. 22 And the people
the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in
the place where they put themselves in array the first day. 23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept
before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go
up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD
said, Go up against him.) 24 And the
children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25 And Benjamin went forth against them
out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children
of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.
God will bring the first king of Israel out of Benjamin and Paul,
the great evangelist of the Christian faith, but first He is going to allow
some pruning to go on as well as a lesson to the tribes of Israel.
God keeps telling them to go to battle and they keep being
defeated. What’s going on here?
Judges 20:26 ¶ Then all the
children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of
God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even,
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 And the children of
Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was
there in those days, 28 And Phinehas,
the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying,
Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother,
or
shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will
deliver them into thine hand. 29 And
Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 30
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on
the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.
31 And the children of Benjamin went out
against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to
smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of
which one goeth up to the house of God, and the
other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are
smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let
us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways. 33 And all the men of Israel rose
up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baaltamar:
and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out
of the meadows of Gibeah. 34 And there
came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle
was sore:
but they knew not that evil was near them. 35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel:
and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five
thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword. 36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they
were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they
trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. 37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon
Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote
all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now there was an appointed sign between the
men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke
rise up out of the city. 39 And when the
men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of
the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten
down before us, as in the first battle. 40 But when the flame began to arise up out of
the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and,
behold, the
flame of the city ascended up to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the
men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs
before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle
overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in
the midst of them. 43 Thus they
inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode
them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising. 44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand
men; all these were men of valour. 45
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon:
and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard
after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. 46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin
were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were
men of valour. 47 But six hundred men
turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock
Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of
Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge
of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that
came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.
Here we see the need, not for presumption and willfulness, but of
seeking God’s will in tears and repentance. Phinehas’ presence indicates the
time in which this took place as I noted before was before many of the events
in Judges. Remember, John Gill noted that from Judges 17 onward the account is
a flashback to the early days of Israel taking the land. But God does promise
that this time He will give Benjamin into their hand and they again go to
battle but with a stratagem. We find out next that they clearly did more than
just destroy the cities as they left Benjamin without women. This was a grisly
civil war.
Judges, chapter 21
Judges 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. 2 And
the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and
lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3
And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that
there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? 4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the
people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings. 5 And the children of
Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not
up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath
concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely
be put to death. 6 And the children of
Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe
cut off from Israel this day. 7 How
shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD
that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8 And they said, What one is there of
the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there
came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly. 9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there
were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. 10 And the congregation sent thither twelve
thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the
inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the
children. 11 And this is the
thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman
that hath lain by man. 12 And they found
among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young 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. 13 And the whole congregation sent some
to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and
to call peaceably unto them. 14 And
Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved
alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. 15 And the people repented them for Benjamin,
because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
The way that the rest of the tribes chose to provide wives for the
small number of men they left of Benjamin strikes us as pretty bizarre. The
Lord did not require this but He records it here for us.
Judges 21:16 ¶ Then the
elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that
remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? 17 And they said, There must be an
inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed
out of Israel. 18 Howbeit we may not
give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn,
saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. 19 Then they said, Behold, there is a
feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the
north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel
to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. 20
Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in
wait in the vineyards; 21 And see, and,
behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye
out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of
Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22
And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to
complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes:
because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give
unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. 23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took
them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they
caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the
cities, and dwelt in them. 24 And the
children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to
his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in
Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Here is reinforced the absolute chaos that results from every man
doing right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6), from civil war, to rape and murder.
This is the situation before the Judges delivered Israel and this is the
groundwork that is laid for the establishment of a monarchy because the people
of Israel followed God only when they felt it was convenient for them and were
easily pulled into the ways of the land of Canaan.
No comments:
Post a Comment