And this is the thing that ye shall do ,.... Which they gave them in charge to execute: ye shall utterly destroy every male ; without any reserve, young or old, married or unmarried: and every woman that hath lain by man ; whether lawfully or unlawfully, in a married or unmarried state. read more
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins ,.... Or damsel virgins F5 נערה בתולה "puellam viginem", Montanus; "puellas virgines", Pagninus, Tigurine version, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; damsels that were virgins: that had known no man by lying with any male: which was judged of by their age, and by their unmarried state, and by common report, unless it can be thought they were examined by matrons; but how it was that they were... read more
And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin ,.... Sent some messengers to them, to call them, and desire them to come to them: that were in the rock Rimmon ; the six hundred men who had hid themselves in a cave in it, of which the people of Israel were informed: and to call peaceably unto them ; to proclaim peace to them, and assure them of it, and to let them know that they had no ill design against them, that they might come safely to them, and would... read more
And Benjamin came again at that time ,.... The six hundred Benjaminites returned with the messengers at the same time to the people of Israel, putting confidence in the assurances they had given them of peace and safety: and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead ; in doing which they supposed they had not violated their oath, since though they had sworn that they would not give their own daughters, they had not sworn they would not give the... read more
And the people repented them for Benjamin ,.... That they had destroyed all their women, and that they had saved no more of the daughters of Jabeshgilead, not a sufficient number to be wives to the Benjaminites: because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel ; by almost destroying one of them; for though this was done by the Israelites, yet by the permission and according to the will of God, and through his overruling providence. read more
Now the men of Israel had sworn - Of this oath we had not heard before; but it appears they had commenced this war with a determination to destroy the Benjamites utterly, and that if any of them escaped the sword no man should be permitted to give him his daughter to wife. By these means the remnant of the tribe must soon have been annihilated. read more
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 they had done. read more
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 far, they endeavored to exterminate both man and beast, Judges 20:48 . read more
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 among them, and they did whatever appeared right in their own eyes. read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:10
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest ,.... That were in their army; in the Vulgate Latin version it is only 10,000; but the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and Josephus F3 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10.) , agree with the Hebrew text. This place, according to Bunting, to which this army was sent, was fifty two miles from Shiloh F4 Travels, &c.; p. 121. : and commanded them, saying ; these were the orders they... read more