Judges21chapter 21

Judges 21:8

“But it appears (Jud 21:11) that, besides acting in fulfilment of their oath, the Israelites had the additional object by this raid of supplying wives to the Benjamite remnant.”

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 (c), agree with the Hebrew text.”

Judges 21:12

“To Shiloh - Whither, as the usual place of meeting for the national assembly, the Israelites had moved from Bethel (a distance of about 10 miles), during the expedition of the 12,000 to Jabesh-Gilead.”

Judges 21:13

“While the poor distressed Benjamites that were hidden in the rock feared their brethren were contriving to ruin them, they were at the same time upon a project to prefer them; and it was this:-- [1.] There was a piece of necessary justice to be done upon the city of Jabesh-Gilead, which belonged to the tribe of Gad, on the other side Jordan.”

Judges 21:14

“Yet so they sufficed them not - There were six hundred men at Rimmon, and all the young women they saved from Jabesh were only four hundred; therefore, there were two hundred still wanting.”

Judges 21:17

“There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin--As they were the only rightful owners of the territory, provision must be made for transmitting it to their legitimate heirs, and a new act of violence was meditated (Jud 21:19); the opportunity for which was afforded by the approaching festival--a feast generally supposed to be the feast of tabernacles.”

Judges 21:18

“For the children of Israel have sworn - See Jdg 21:1. Compare Saul’s rash oath 1Sa 14:24, and his breach of the oath made to the Gideonites 2Sa 21:2. For the guilt of a broken oath, see Eze 17:15-20; Exo 20:7.”

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 festival or fair kept for trade and commerce.”

Judges 21:19

“The Feast was probably the Passover, or one of the three great Jewish Feasts. In these unsettled times men went up to Shiloh (Seilun) only once a year 1Sa 1:3 instead of thrice; only the males kept the Feasts, and therefore the virgins of Shiloh would naturally be the only maidens present, and the public festival would be a likely occasion for their festive dances. It is, however, possible that some particular feast unique to Shiloh is meant, like the yearly sacrifice of David’s family in Bethlehem 1Sa 20:29.”

Judges 21:21

“21, 22. daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances--The dance was anciently a part of the religious observance. It was done on festive occasions, as it is still in the East, not in town, but in the open air, in some adjoining field, the women being by themselves.”

Judges 21:22

“In strictness it was not a breach of their vow; they had sworn not to give them their daughters, but they had not sworn to fetch them back if they were forcibly taken, so that if there was any fault the elders must be responsible, not the parents. And Quod fieri non debuit, factum valet -- That which ought not to have been done is yet valid when it is done.”

Judges 21:23

“Compare the very similar account of the rape of the Sabine women by the Romero youths at the festival of the Consualia, as related by Livy.”

Judges 21:24

“Every man to his tribe - Though this must have been four months after the war with Benjamin, Jdg 20:47; yet it appears the armies did not disband till they had got the remnant of Benjamin settled, as is here related.”

Judges 21:25

After a long time spent in this state of indecision and while I was still busily searching for the cause I have mentioned, there came to my mind the book of Judges, which tells how each man did what was right in his own eyes and gives the reason for this in these words: "In those days there was no king in Israel."

Judges 21:25

“The repetition of this characteristic phrase (compare Jdg 17:6; Jdg 18:1; Jdg 19:1) is probably intended to impress upon us the idea that these disorders arose from the want of a sufficient authority to suppress them. The preservation of such a story, of which the Israelites must have been ashamed, is a striking evidence of the divine superintendence and direction as regards the Holy Scriptures.”