Judges 19 - Introduction

Appendix II. Chs. 19 21 The war against Benjamin

The First Appendix deals with the early fortunes of Dan, the Second with an episode in the history of Benjamin. In consequence of an abominable outrage committed by the Benjamites of Gibeah, all Israel determines to take vengeance on the offending tribe. A vast army assembles at Mizpah; in the battles which follow the Israelites at first suffer heavily, but in the end the Benjamites are defeated and nearly exterminated. Such a disaster, however, as the total loss of one of the twelve tribes was not to be thought of; in a revulsion of feeling the Israelites recommend a plan for saving Benjamin from its fate.

In parts these Chapter s bear obvious marks of antiquity: (a) the account of the outrage ch. 19, and (b) the account of the rape Judges 21:15-23 remind us of chs. 17 and 18, both by the vivid style of the narrative and by the state of manners and religion which comes to light. On the other hand, (c) the account of the vengeance 20, Judges 21:2-14, though parts of ch. 20 are ancient, contradicts what we know from elsewhere about the history of this period. Instead of the tribes acting independently, and local chiefs rousing their own clans and allies, here we have all Israel acting together, without any head or leader, as one man(Judges 20:1; Judges 20:8), under a common impulse. Israel in fact has become a religious community (note the congregationJudges 20:1; Judges 21:13, the eldersJudges 21:16 a), filled with holy zeal against sin, dutifully dependent upon Jehovah, and jealous for the sacred unity of the Twelve Tribes. The whole conception is foreign to the life of old Israel as described in the historical books from Judges to Kings; it represents the ideal of a much later time, after the Priestly Code had come into operation. Then again, the numbers are clearly exaggerated; the mere sending round of the gruesome summons is enough to bring 400,000 men from Dan to Beer-sheba and from the land of Gilead; 26,700 Benjamites gather to meet them; on the first day 22,000 Israelites are killed, 18,000 on the second; on the third, the Benjamites themselves lose 25,100 (Judges 20:35), leaving 600 survivors (ib.47). This fondness for large numbers is characteristic of the Chronicler; moreover, certain features of style and language connect this part of the narrative with the Priestly Code, Chronicles, and the later literature (see notes on Judges 20:1; Judges 20:6; Judges 20:13; Judges 20:15; Judges 20:33; Judges 21:11-12; Judges 21:23). The war of vengeance against the Midianites in Numbers 31 (from a late stratum of P) may be regarded as a narrative of the same character as this. We may conclude, therefore, that an ancient story has been enlarged and recast at a period long after the age of the events. Generations of story-tellers may have heightened the original facts; more probably, perhaps, a writer belonging to the school of the Chronicler created out of them a midrash or instructive tale. There is no reason, however, to doubt that a basis of fact underlies the story. The expression -in those days there was no king in Israel," which forms a link between the two Appendices (Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1; Judges 21:25), must come from a writer who lived before the exile; and it is noteworthy that the expression occurs in connexion with those parts of the story, chs. 19 and Judges 21:15-23, which on other grounds appear to be ancient. When these events took place we are not told: Judges 20:27 b, Judges 20:28 a is a manifest gloss; probably the episode belonged to the early stage of Israel's occupation of Canaan, and this is the period in which Josephus places it (Ant.Judges 19:2; Judges 19:8-12). The older element in the story seems to consist of ch. 19, (with additions here and there); Judges 20:1 a, d, Judges 20:3-8; Judges 20:14; Judges 20:19; Judges 20:29; Judges 20:36 b, Judges 20:37 a, Judges 20:38-41; Judges 20:44 a, Judges 20:47; Judges 21:1; Judges 21:15-23 (in the main). The early narrative itself is thought to betray signs of composite structure, especially in Judges 19:6-15; but the analysis is difficult and uncertain.