Judges 21:1

PROCURING WIVES IN ORDER TO SAVE THE WHOLE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN;

THE REMORSE OF ISRAEL (Judges 21:1-7)

The enormity of the disaster of that war finally sank into the minds and hearts of the leaders of Israel. Oh yes, they had done it all, they claimed, according to the will of God, but as Matthew Henry remarked:

"They who had spared the Canaanites in many places, who were devoted to destruction by Divine command (finding countless excuses for doing so), could not find in their hearts the willingness to spare their own brothers who had been devoted to destruction, not by God's command, but by their own rash and irresponsible oath. Men are commonly more zealous to support their own authority than that of God."[1]

The tribe of Benjamin had been almost exterminated, only 600 escapees to the rock of Rimmon remaining. There was the further fact of those two stupid and ridiculous oaths which they had sworn at Mizpah (Judges 20). In the details added here concerning that original meeting, there is another example of the Biblical method. There is another instance of the same thing in the `recapitulation' Judges 20:37-48, in which added details of the battle are supplied.

This common characteristic of Biblical writings was accurately described by Keil.

"The allegation (by critics) that Judges 20:36-46 are a different account of the battle overlooks this peculiarity in the Hebrew mode of writing history. The general result of any occurrence is given as early as possible, and then the details follow afterward."[2]

In our commentaries we have cited scores of examples of this peculiarity. We saw it in God's instructions to Noah and in the narrative of the Book of Jonah, etc.

"Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying; There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. And the people came to Bethel, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices and wept sore. And they said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel? And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose up early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah, saying; He shall surely be put to death. And the children of Israel repented there for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing that we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives."

The two ridiculous oaths that Israel had sworn at Mizpah are reported here:

(1) They would not give of their daughters to Benjamin for wives; and

(2) any part of Israel that had not responded to come to Mizpah would be destroyed.

"There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin" (Judges 21:1). God Himself had forbidden Israel to intermarry with the Canaanites, and this meant that no source whatever remained for procuring wives for the Benjamite survivors of the war.

"The people came to Bethel" (Judges 21:2). This occurred promptly after the war and before the ark, temporarily at Bethel, had been removed to its permanent location in Shiloh.

They lifted up their voices and wept sore" (Judges 21:2). All Israel engaged in this lamentation which was carried on with loud wails and cries of sorrow.

"O Jehovah, why has this come to pass?" (Judges 21:3). Why? They had gone far beyond the Word of God. God indeed had commanded that the offenders of Gibeah should be destroyed, but there was no Divine order to destroy one of the tribes of Israel. Their rash oaths full of sin and bitterness were the source of the calamity, not God.

"The people built there an altar" (Judges 21:4). Back in the previous chapter, it is recorded that the Israelites had offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings at Bethel, so why did they build another altar? There are two possible reasons:

(1) The great bronze altar that had been at Bethel had already been carried back to Shiloh, preparatory to the removal of the ark also.

(2) The number of the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings might have been so great that an additional altar was required.

We prefer the first of these reasons, and, if that is correct, the Israelites again violated God's law by building an altar to replace the true one.

"And the children of Israel said, Who is there of all the tribes of Israel that came not up ... to Mizpah?" (Judges 21:5). It is obvious that the Israelites, by this inquiry, were already on the way to what they hoped would be a means of getting wives for Benjamin.

"For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up ... that he should surely be put to death" (Judges 21:5). This is the second foolish oath of which Israel was guilty. It was, by no means, a Divine order for "all Israel" to come to Mizpah. That command rested absolutely upon the human authority of the elders of the congregation. How convenient that oath seemed to be here. By killing all of the Jabesh-Gileadites, except the virgin maidens, they might be able to get wives for Benjamin. The stupidity of this action demonstrates how foolish it is for people to solve their problems by the fallible wisdom of themselves instead of seeking the counsel of God. There is no record whatever of their asking God what they should have done.

"How shall we do for wives for Benjamin" (Judges 21:7). This question they asked of themselves, not of God.