士師記 21:19-23 JCB

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 21:16-25

We have here the method that was taken to provide the 200 Benjamites that remained with wives. And, though the tribe was reduced to a small number, they were only in care to provide each man with one wife, not with more under pretence of multiplying them the faster. They may not bestow their daughters upon them, but to save their oath, and yet marry some of their daughters to them, they put them into a way of taking them by surprise, and marrying them, which should be ratified by their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:19

Then they said ,.... Some of the elders that sat in council debating this matter, and considering of ways and means to assist their brethren the Benjaminites, and preserve their tribe from being lost: behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly ; where the tabernacle then was, and before which the males of Israel were obliged to appear three times of the year; and this was one of them, as is clear by its being called a feast of the Lord; and therefore cannot design any civil... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:20

Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin ,.... The two hundred men of the tribe that wanted wives; they ordered them as follows, and which they spake with authority, being the elders of the congregation, Judges 21:16 . saying, go and lie in wait in the vineyards ; which might belong to Shiloh, or it may be to Lebonah, which perhaps is the same with Bethlaban, famous for its wine with the Misnic writers; who say F7 Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 6. the second places for wine... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:21

And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances ,.... As they used to do at this festival, not along with men, but by themselves; and so might the more easily be taken and carried off; and though only males were obliged to appear from all parts at this feast, yet females might come if they would; and, no doubt, from neighbouring places, at least many did; however, the daughters of Shiloh, who dwelt where the tabernacle was, these always attended the feast with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:22

And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain ,.... Of this rape of their daughters or sisters, or to bring an action against them, and desire they might be summoned before them, the elders of the people, and be tried and judged according to law for what they had done; or to put them upon going to war with them again for such treatment of them: that we will say unto them, be favourable unto them for our sakes ; for the sake of the elders, who advised them... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:23

And the children of Benjamin did so ,.... Went and laid wait in the vineyards, and when the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance, they rushed upon them: and took them wives according to their number ; two hundred of them, each man a wife, and no more; for though polygamy was in use in those times, and if at any time necessary, and could be excused, it might seem now; yet it was not indulged to, neither by the elders, nor by the children of Benjamin: of them that danced whom they... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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; therefore the Benjamites might easily conceal themselves in the vineyards; and the circumstances will answer to any of those feasts. On the east side of the highway , etc. - I can see no... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 21:22

Be favorable 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 reading of the Vulgate is very remarkable: Miseremini eorum, non enim rapuerunt eas jure bellantium atque victorum, sed rogantibus ut acciperent non dedistis, et a vestra parte peccatum est .... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 21:23

They went and returned unto their inheritance - It appears that the Benjamites acted in the most honorable 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 that any part of the lands of the Benjamites was alienated from them, and the six hundred men in question shared, for the present, the inheritance of many thousands. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 21:16-25

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:19

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:20

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:23

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 21:19

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 21:21

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 21:22

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 21:23

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