_How the Benjamites were saved from extinction_ The Israelites had bound themselves by oath not to intermarry with the men of Benjamin; but the tribe had been nearly annihilated in the conflict, and unless wives could be found for the survivors it would become extinct. Plow was such a disaster to b... [ Continue Reading ]
_had sworn in Mizpah_ Probably, like Jephthah's vow (Judges 11:30 _n._), a religious oath made at the sanctuary (Judges 20:1). This solemn oath, which could neither be broken nor withdrawn, is an essential feature of both narratives (Judges 21:18_; Judges 21:22_A; 7 B); it created the problem for wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_came to Beth-el_ The characteristics of the B narrative reappear in this chapter: the resort to Beth-el _till even_cf. Judges 20:18; Judges 20:26; the weeping, intensified each time, cf. Judges 20:23; Judges 20:26; the offering of sacrifices Judges 21:4 cf. Judges 20:26; the post-exilic _congregati... [ Continue Reading ]
_one tribe lacking_ of the sacred number twelve. Contrast the expression of the similar sentiment in the older narrative, Judges 21:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_built there an altar_ But an altar must have existed in the sanctuary at Beth-el when the sacrifices were offered before, Judges 20:26. Either these words, or the whole verse, must be a gloss, due perhaps to a recollection of 2 Samuel 24:25 and _ch._Judges 20:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
The first half of the _v._anticipates Judges 21:8; while the second half is awkwardly expressed (lit. -the great oath was in respect of him that came not up" etc.). Like the previous _v._, this can only be regarded as a later addition; together they interrupt the natural connexion between Judges 21:... [ Continue Reading ]
_cut off cut_ DOWN; the figure is that of _hewing down_trees, cf. Isaiah 10:33; Isaiah 14:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
_wives for them that remain_ Cf. the parallel version in Judges 21:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jabesh-gilead_ This ancient city, Jabesh of G., is only mentioned again in connexion with the history of Saul, 1Sa 11:1 ff; 1 Samuel 31:11 ff., 2 Samuel 2:5 f., Judges 21:12 f. The name survives in the Wâdi el-Jâbis, about half way between the Yarmuk and the W. Zerḳâ (Jabbok); the city probably lay... [ Continue Reading ]
_were numbered_ Cf. Judges 20:15; Judges 20:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_twelve thousand men_ No doubt reckoning 1000 men from each tribe, cf. Numbers 31:4 f.; the writer forgot that Benjamin could not be counted.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this is the thing … do_ Similarly Judges 20:9. _ye shall utterly destroy_ The city and all its inhabitants were to become _ḥérem_, placed under the ban, for not taking part in the holy war against Benjamin; cf. Judges 20:48 _n._This episode is based upon Numbers 31:7; Numbers 31:17 f. (a late... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto the camp_ From the foregoing one would naturally conclude that the main body of the Israelites was at Beth-el. _to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan_ What can be the point of this remark? -which is in the land of Canaan," by way of contrast to the Israelite territory E. of the Jordan, is... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the rock of Rimmon_ Cf. Judges 20:45.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and yet so they sufficed them not_ i.e. the 400 virgins were not sufficient for the 600 Benjamite survivors; a prosaic attempt to harmonize with the old story in Judges 21:15, as though the rape at Shiloh were a supplementary device to bring the number of wives up to the total required; cf. Judges... [ Continue Reading ]
From the A narrative; sequel of Judges 21:1. _had made a breach_ Cf. 2 Samuel 6:8; 2 Samuel 5:20 and Exodus 19:22; Exodus 19:24 J. In early civilization it was felt to be a grave disaster if a family died out (hence the custom of the levirate marriage, Genesis 38:8; Deuteronomy 25:5 ff.), still more... [ Continue Reading ]
_the elders of the congregation_ See on Judges 20:1, and cf. Leviticus 4:15. That this half of the verse does not belong to the old story is further shewn by the reference to wives for the Benjamites who had not secured any of the 400 virgins from Jabesh; like the last words of Judges 21:14_; Judges... [ Continue Reading ]
_There must be an inheritance … of Benjamin_ The Hebr. has only _An inheritance of the escaped for_(or _of) Benjamin_, which yields no sense, and suggests corruption in the text. The problem is, how to prevent Benjamin from becoming extinct; if the survivors are not to die with no descendants to han... [ Continue Reading ]
_there is a feast_ THE _feast_(marg.). The word rendered _feast_(_ḥag_) strictly implies a pilgrimage to a sanctuary; the three chief _ḥaggim_were festivals at which every male Israelite was required to appear before Jehovah (Exodus 23:14-17); cf. also the Mohammedan _ḥaj_= the pilgrimage to Mecca.... [ Continue Reading ]
_to dance in the dances_ For the religious dance on occasions of joy cf. Exodus 32:19; 2 Samuel 6:14; Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4. _catch you every man his wife_ A legend of early Rome tells how Romulus demanded wives from the neighbouring cities for the men whom he had collected. When this was refu... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is difficult to understand owing to corruptions in the text. _to complain unto us_ Follow marg., and read _to_ STRIVE _with_ YOU (so LXX, Vulgate); the angry parents would naturally go to the captors with their grievance, rather than to the Israelites. When that happens, say the Israelite... [ Continue Reading ]
_took them wives … carried off_ Render CARRIED OFF _wives_… SEIZED. The expression _to take wives_in the sense of _marry_is found only in late writings; the reference here, however, is not to marriage, but to capture. This verse closes the narrative of A.... [ Continue Reading ]
_departed_ WENT THEIR WAYS, as the form of the verb implies, going in this direction and that, cf. Genesis 13:17; Joshua 18:4. The first _from thence_may mean from Shiloh, the second, from the tribal territory to each man's private property. Otherwise the two halves of the verse are doublets and com... [ Continue Reading ]
_there was no king in Israel_ Cf. Judges 17:6 _n._A suitable transition to the history of Samuel which relates the beginning of the monarchy.... [ Continue Reading ]