<ALIGN="CENTER" John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Judges 17:1
INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 17
This chapter relates the first rise of idolatry in Israel after the death of Joshua, which began in Mount Ephraim, occasioned by a sum of money stolen by a man from his mother, which being restored, part was converted to an idolatrous use; two images were made of it, Jud 17:1 and there being no king in Israel to take cognizance of it, the idolatry took place and continued, and afterwards spread, Jud 17:6, and this idolater not only made one of his sons a priest, but took a Levite for another, whom he hired by the year to serve him,
Jud 17:7.
Ver. 1. And there was a man of Mount Ephraim,.... This and the four following chapters contain an history of facts, which were done not after the death of Samson, as some have thought, and as they may seem at first sight, by the order in which they are laid; but long before his time, and indeed before any of the judges in Israel, when there was no king, judge, or supreme governor among them, as appears from
Jud 17:6 even between the death of Joshua and the elders, and the first judge of Israel, Othniel; and so Josephus {e} places them in his history, and the connection of them is with Jud 2:10 and so accounts for the rise of idolatry in Israel, how it got into the tribe of Dan, and spread itself over all the tribes of Israel, Jud 2:11 which brought on their servitude to Cushanrishathaim, in which time the Jewish chronology {f} places those events; but they were certainly before that, for the idolatry they fell into was the cause of it; yet could not be so early as the times of Joshua, and before his death; because in his days, and the days of the elders, Israel served the Lord; the reasons why they are postponed to the end of this book, and the account of them given here, are, according to Dr. Lightfoot {g}, that the reader observing how their state policy failed in the death of Samson, who was a Danite, might presently be showed God's justice in it, because their religion had first failed among the Danites; that when he observes that 1100 pieces of silver were given by every Philistine prince for the ruin of Samson, Jud 16:5 he might presently observe the 1100 pieces of silver that were given by Micah's mother for the making of an idol, which ruined religion in Samson's tribe; that the story of Micah, of the hill country of Ephraim, the first destroyer of religion, and the story of Samuel, of the hill country of Ephraim, the first reformer of religion, might be laid together somewhat near. That the facts after related were so early done as has been observed, appears from the following things; the priest of the idol Micah made was a grandson of Moses, Jud 18:30, the Danites' seeking to enlarge their possessions, related in the same chapter, was most probably as soon as they were driven into the mountains by the Amorites, Jud 1:34. Mahanah Dan, from whence they marched, and had its name from their expedition, Jud 18:12 is mentioned before in the history of Samson, Jud 13:25 and therefore the expedition must be before his time. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was alive at the battle of Gibeah, Jud 20:28 and Deborah speaks of the 40,000 Israelites slain by Benjamin at it, Jud 5:8. This man with whom the idolatry began was of the tribe of Ephraim, and dwelt in the mountainous part of it:
whose name was Micah; in the original it is Micajehu, with part of the name Jehovah affixed to it, as Dr. Lightfoot {h} remarks, till he set up his image, and thenceforward was called Micah; but, according to Abarbinel, the former was his name while he was a child, and in his youth, and with his mother, being a diminutive term, and when he became a man be was called Micah, Jud 17:5.
{e} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8, &c. {f} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 12. p. 33. {g} Works, vol. 1. p. 46. {h} Works, vol. 1. p. 45.
Judges 17:2
Ver. 2. And he said unto his mother,.... Who seems to have been a widow, and an ancient woman since Micah had sons, and one of them at age to become a priest:
the eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee: which were taken away by stealth from her, though it may be rendered "taken to thee" {i}; which she had taken to herself out of the rest of her substance, and had separated and devoted it to religious uses; but Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it as we do, and which seems to be the best sense; of the value of this sum, See Gill on "Jud 16:5" and because the like sum is there offered, and was given to Delilah, hence some have thought, as Jarchi relates, that this woman was Delilah; but, as he observes, it is a mistake; for this woman lived long before the times of Samson and Delilah:
about which thou cursedst; which when she perceived was stolen from her, she fell into a passion, and cursed and swore, cursed the thief that took it, whether of her own family or another; or adjured her son, that if he knew anything of it, that he would declare it, suspecting him of the robbery; some think this refers to the oath she had made, that she would devote the silver to a religious use:
and spakest of also in mine ears; of the sum how much it was, and of the use she had designed it for; or rather the curse was delivered in his hearing, and cut him to the heart, and wrought that conviction in him, that he could not retain the money any longer, not being able to bear his mother's curse; though Abarbinel connects this with the following clause, "behold, the silver is with me"; as if the sense was, that she spake in his ears, and charged him with the theft to his face; saying, verily the silver is with thee, thou hast certainly taken it; upon which he confessed it, "I took it"; but the former sense seems best, that not being willing to lie under his mother's curse, he owned that the money was in his hands, and he had taken it from her:
and his mother said, blessed be thou of the Lord, my son; she reversed the curse, and pronounced a blessing on him, or wished one to him, and that without reproving him for his sin, rejoicing to hear of her money again.
{i} Kl xql "captum est tibi", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius.
Judges 17:3
Ver. 3. And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother,.... The whole sum, having embezzled none of it:
his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand, for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; this she had done either before it was stolen, and it troubled her the more, and caused her the rather to curse the man that had taken it; or after it was stolen, that if it should be recovered again she would appropriate it to such an use; so Abarbinel; and by the Lord, or Jehovah, she doubtless meant the true God; for she had no intention to forsake him, but to worship him in and by these images, and which she designed for the use of her son and his family, that they might not go so far as Shiloh to worship at the tabernacle there:
therefore I will restore it unto thee; for that use, and so gave him the money again, to be laid out in images, or to make images of it.
Judges 17:4
Ver. 4. Yet he restored the money unto his mother,.... Gave it to her a second tithe, not as disapproving her idolatrous intention, as the sequel shows, but being desirous to be entirely free of it, and not have his mind disturbed with it as it had been, and that she might do with it as she thought fit:
and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image, and a molten image; the other nine hundred pieces she kept to herself, repenting of her vow, and being unwilling to part with so much money for such an use; or else they were laid out in an ephod, and teraphim, and what else were thought necessary for the idolatrous worship they were about to set up; though Kimchi is of opinion, that the two hundred shekels were what she gave the founder for making the images, and of the nine hundred the images were made; and indeed the images must be very small ones, if made out of two hundred shekels of silver only; some have thought there was but one image, called both molten and graven; because after the silver was melted, and cast into a mould, it was fashioned with a graving tool, as the golden calf was by Aaron; but they are manifestly distinguished and represented as two, Jud 18:17 and they were in the house of Micah; in an apartment in his house, peculiar for them, as appears by the next verse; here they were put and continued.
Judges 17:5
Ver. 5. And the man Micah had an house of gods,.... Having two images in it, besides teraphim, which were a sort of idols; and the Targum is, an house of images, or idols; though it may be rendered "an house of God"; a temple, a place for religious worship:
and made an ephod; a priestly garment, a linen one very probably, not so rich an one with a breastplate to it as the high priest had, which was very costly. Ben Melech interprets it a girdle, and there was a curious girdle of the ephod, with which it was girt; this may be here put for the rest of the priestly garments which Micah provided:
and teraphim; which were a sort of household gods, like the Lares and Penates of the Romans, and by which consultations were made;
See Gill on "Ho 3:3" see Gill on "Ho 3:4" see Gill on "Zec 10:2" Micah proposed to have an oracle in his house, whereby he might consult the Lord about future things, and not be at the trouble of going to the tabernacle, and consult there by Urim and Thummim; and the same some take the teraphim to be:
and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest; or, "filled the hand" {k} of one of them; that is, with offerings, as Ben Melech interprets it; in which way priests were initiated, and consecrated to their office; see Ex 28:41 or, as Kimchi expresses it, he offered his offerings by the hand of one of his sons, and appointed him to be a priest, very probably his eldest son.
{k} dy ta almyw "et implevit manum", Montanus, V. L.
Judges 17:6
Ver. 6. In those days there was no king in Israel,.... That is, no supreme magistrate, judge, or ruler, Joshua being dead and Caleb also, and the elders contemporary with them; for what the Samaritan Chronicle says {l} is without foundation, that Joshua a little before his death cast a lot in the presence of the congregation, to know who should govern after him, and the lot came to one Abel, of the tribe of Judah:
[but] every man did that which was right in his own eyes; which accounts for the idolatry of Micah, there being no supreme magistrate to take cognizance of his sin, and restrain him from it, or punish him for it according to the law of God.
{l} Apud Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 522.
Judges 17:7
Ver. 7. And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah,.... As there were two Bethlehems, one in the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:15 and another in the tribe of Judah, the place here designed, Judah is added to it, to distinguish it from the other:
of the family of Judah: which refers either to the young man, who was by his father's side a Levite, and by his mother's side, as Jarchi thinks, of the tribe of Judah, which seems very probable, though the genealogies of families were not reckoned from the mother; wherefore he might be so called because he had lived chiefly in the tribe of Judah, and particularly at Bethlehem; but Kimchi, and several other Jewish commentators, refer this to the city of Bethlehem, that was of the tribe of Judah, family being put for the tribe; or belonged to the children of Judah; though one would think there was no need to have added this, since it was fully expressed before by calling it Bethlehemjudah; the former sense therefore seems best:
who was a Levite; his father being, as before observed, of that tribe, though his mother might be of the tribe of Judah: and he sojourned there; that is, at Bethlehem; he was not a native, nor an inhabitant there, but a sojourner, it not being a Levitical city.
Judges 17:8
Ver. 8. And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah, to sojourn where he could find a place,.... Either being a man that had a rambling head, and of an unsettled mind, and could not easily fix any where; or else there being no supreme magistrate, to take care that the Levites had their due maintenance, for which there was a sufficient provision made by law; and the people being negligent of paying their tithes, there being none to oblige them to it, and they indifferent to the true worship of God, and prone to idolatry; this man was obliged to go abroad, and seek for a livelihood where he could get it, and sojourn in a place the most convenient for him:
and he came to Mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed: not with a design to stay there, but called by the way, having heard perhaps that Micah was both a wealthy and an hospitable man, and he also might have heard of the new form of worship he had set up in his house.
Judges 17:9
Ver. 9. And Micah said unto him, whence comest thou?.... For as he might ask for a meal, or for a night's lodging, it was but natural to put such a question to him, as from whence he came, and what was his business in these parts? or whither he was going?
and he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah; the tribe he was of was Levi, and so a Levite by tribe and office, and the place he came last from, and where he had sojourned awhile, was Bethlehem, a city in the tribe of Judah:
and I go to sojourn where I may find a place; the most convenient to abide in, where he could get a livelihood.
Judges 17:10
Ver. 10. And Micah said unto him, dwell with me,.... Hearing that he was a Levite, he thought him a fit man for his purpose, and would give some credit to, and put a better face upon his new form of worship, and therefore, without further inquiry after him and his character, invites him to make his abode with him:
and be unto me a father and a priest; a father to instruct him in the knowledge of divine things; so prophets were called fathers, and their disciples their sons; and a priest to offer sacrifices for him, and to consult before him by his teraphim upon occasion:
and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year; or yearly, which was but a small sum, a poor salary for a priest, at most amounting but to twenty five shillings, and scarce so much:
and a suit of apparel; or "an order of apparel" {m}; such as was fit for one of his rank and order as a priest to wear, so Jarchi and Abarbinel; or a couple of garments, as the Targum and Septuagint, a double suit of apparel, according to the order of the season, one for summer and another for winter, as Kimchi and Ben Melech:
and thy victuals; his meat and drink:
so thy Levite went in; into his house, and it looks as if the parley was made, and the bargain struck at the door, Micah being at it as the Levite passed by, or came to it upon his knocking at it; he went after his counsel and advice, as Jarchi, or to do his business, as Kimchi.
{m} Mydgb Kre "irdinem vestimentorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Muuster, Vatablus; "demensum vestimentorum", Tigurine version.
Judges 17:11
Ver. 11. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man,.... To continue with him; after he had made trial for some time, he liked his service, and his wages, and way of living; it was all agreeable to him:
and the young man was unto him as one of his sons; as dearly beloved by him, and used as kindly and tenderly, as if he had been one of his own children; so strong were the affections of Micah to him, and so well pleased was he with his service.
Judges 17:12
Ver. 12. And Micah consecrated the Levite,.... Installed him into, and invested him with the priestly office; in like manner he had consecrated his son before, by filling his hand with sacrifices; see
Jud 17:5
and the young man became his priest; and did the work and office of one; this was a very daring piece of presumption in them both; in Micah, to take upon him to consecrate a priest, who was himself of the tribe of Ephraim; and in the young man, to suffer himself to be put into such an office, which did not belong to him, for though every priest was a Levite, or of the tribe of Levi, yet every Levite had not a right to be a priest, only those who were of the family of Aaron:
and was in the house of Micah; and continued there.
Judges 17:13
Ver. 13. Then said Micah,.... Within himself, pleased with what he had done, and with what he engaged in:
now know I that the Lord will do me good; that I shall enjoy his favour, be a happy man, and prosper; and by this it appears, that notwithstanding the idolatry he had fallen into, he had not utterly forsaken the Lord, but worshipped him in and by his images; there was a mixture of the worship of God, and of the worship of images:
seeing I have a Levite to my priest; who was of the same tribe the priests were, and so the nearest to them of any, and which he thought would be acceptable to God, and an omen of good to himself.
<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Judges 18:1
INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 18
This chapter relates how the Danites, being overcrowed in their inheritance, sent out spies to search the land, and see if they could find any proper place to add unto it, and enlarge it, Jud 18:1 who returned and reported Laish as such, and encouraged the Danites to go and possess it; for which purpose they sent six hundred men up to it,
Jud 18:7 and as they went, called at the house of Micah, and took away his priests and his gods, Jud 18:13 and having taken Laish, set up Micah's graven image there, Jud 18:28.
Ver. 1. In those days there was no king in Israel,.... No supreme magistrate, no judge, for it was before the time of the judges, after the death of Joshua and before Othniel the first judge; this is observed before, Jud 17:6 and here repeated to account for the evil things done by the Danites, their consulting Micah's oracle, taking away his priest and his gods, and setting up his graven image in Dan, by which means idolatry was spread in Israel, and brought on their servitude to Chushanrishathaim, from which Othniel the first judge was their deliverer:
and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; that is, a family of them, as in the next verse, not the whole tribe; for as a family is sometimes put for a tribe, Jos 7:17 so a tribe for a family, Jud 20:12
for unto that day [all their] inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel: we rightly supply the words "all their"; for otherwise an inheritance had fallen to them by lot, as the other tribes. Jos 19:40, but that was not only too little for them,
Jos 19:47 but all that was allotted to them did not come into their possession, but a part remained unsubdued; and some they had possession of they could not keep, either through the superior strength of the Amorites, or their own sloth and cowardice, or for want of the help of their brethren; see Jud 1:34.
Judges 18:2
Ver. 2. And the children of Dan sent of their family five men,.... According to Abarbinel one out of a family, as Moses sent one out of a tribe to spy the land; and so there must be five families concerned in this affair:
from their coasts, men of valour from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; these men were sent from the borders of the tribe, the extreme parts of it, as the word may signify, where perhaps they were the most pressed and overcrowded: Zorah and Eshtaol are particularly mentioned, and were the first cities in their lot, and were the coast of their inheritance, See Gill on "Jos 19:41" some take the phrase rendered "from their coasts" to signify persons of extreme meanness, men of the lowest class among them; but the above mentioned writers interpret it to a quite contrary sense, by "Katzinim", princes, such as Moses sent to spy the land; and this better agrees with the next clause, "men of valour": and the word used signifies not only magnanimity and fortitude of mind, but wealth and riches; and these were sent not to spy the land of Canaan, but such places as fell to this tribe, but were possessed by the Canaanites; and their errand was to observe in what condition they were, and whether fit for their purpose, and easy to obtain, and how they might get the possession of any of them:
and they said unto them, search the land; and see if some convenient place cannot be found out to enlarge their inheritance, and give them more room and liberty for their families, now pent up, and a pasturage for their flocks and herds:
who when they came to Mount Ephraim; which lay upon the borders of them:
to the house of Micah, they lodged there; that is, when they were come near to the house of Micah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, they took up their lodging in the neighbourhood of it, perhaps at a public house or inn; for the sense is not, that they lodged in Micah's house, for after this we read of their turning into it, as in the next verse. According to Bunting {r}, this place was twenty four miles from Zorah and Eshtaol, from whence these men came.
{r} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 112.
Judges 18:3
Ver. 3. When they were by the house of Micah,.... At their inn, which might be next to it, or as they were passing by it:
they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; who had been in their country, and they had been in his company and conversation, and they knew the tone of his voice when they heard it; a particular brogue he might have. Abarbinel conjectures, that he was singing to Micah's idol, or multiplying his prayers before him:
and they turned in thither; into Micah's house, and into the apartment where the young man was;
and said unto him, who brought thee hither? they knew he was of Bethlehemjudah; they inquire therefore how he came there, who sent for him, and by what means he was brought to that place:
and what makest thou in this place? they knew he was a Levite, and that such an one had no business to minister but at the tabernacle, and therefore they inquire what was his employment here: and what hast thou here? to support himself with, what he had for his maintenance, or how he lived.
Judges 18:4
Ver. 4. And he said unto them, thus and thus dealeth Micah with me,.... Told them the whole story, how he came to the door of Micah's house, how he inquired of him who he was, and from whence he came, and whither he was going, and then invited him into his house to stay with him:
and hath hired me; by the year, for ten shekels of silver, a suit of clothes, and meat and drink, and by this means he got a livelihood, and was supported:
and I am his priest; and that was his business to offer sacrifice for his family, and to consult his oracle for him, and for whomsoever should apply.
Judges 18:5
Ver. 5. And they said unto him, ask counsel, we pray thee, of God,.... They did not reprove him for assuming the priestly office, when they knew he was a Levite, such was the corruption of those times, and the great depravity and declensions they were fallen into; nor even for the idolatry he was guilty of, but encourage him in it, and thought they had got a fine opportunity, which they readily laid hold on, to have counsel asked for them of God, about the success of the errand they were sent about; to this they were led at sight of the ephod, which was like that in the tabernacle, and of the teraphim, images which, according to a notion that prevailed, when consulted, foretold future things; whether by God they meant the true God, who they thought would give an answer by these, or Micah's gods, is not certain; according to the Targum of Jonathan, they meant the true God, which paraphrases it,
"ask of the Word of the Lord:''
that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous or no; whether they should find out a proper place to dwell in, and be able to get possession of it.
Judges 18:6
Ver. 6. And the priest said to them, go in peace,.... After he had consulted the oracle, or had asked counsel by the ephod and teraphim; either of his own head, or by a voice he had heard, which Satan might be permitted of God to deliver, he very roundly told them that they might proceed on in their journey with their minds quite easy, and with full assurance of success:
before the Lord is your way wherein ye go; it is seen, observed, and taken notice of by him, and he approves of it; it is according to his will, and under his direction and protection, and success from him may be depended upon; though some observe that this answer is delivered in ambiguous terms, as generally the oracles of demons were, and might be taken in a good or bad sense, as the event should be; as that their way was before the Lord, and was seen by him either with pleasure or displeasure, with approbation or disapprobation, for their good, or for their harm: so that let it fall out as it might, the credit of the oracle was saved.
Judges 18:7
Ver. 7. And the five men departed,.... From Mount Ephraim, and Micah's house there:
and came to Laish; which, according to Bunting {s}, was one hundred and four miles from Mount Ephraim, and so many he makes it to be from Jerusalem; it lay at the furthest northern border of the land of Canaan, at the foot of Mount Lebanon, near the fountain of Jordan; it was four miles from Paneas, as Jerom says {t}, as you go to Tyre; it is the Caesarea Philippi of the New Testament, and the same that is called Leshem, See Gill on "Jos 19:47",
and saw the people that were therein; went into the city, and made their observations on the inhabitants of it, their number, strength, and manner of living:
how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; the inhabitants of Zidon, whose customs they might imitate, whose laws they might use, and might be under their government, since they are said to have no magistrate within themselves; and their carelessness and confidence might arise from their strong fortresses; or rather because they thought their city, and the land adjacent to it, did not belong to the land of Israel, and did not know that the Israelites made any pretensions to it, and therefore were quite easy, and in no fear of them; had no watchmen to guard their city, and did not take care to furnish themselves with weapons of war for their defence, even as the Zidonians; who, besides their city being a strong and fortified one, were in no fear of the Israelites, because their city was not in the land of Canaan, only the border of it reached to it:
and there was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in anything; to restrain them from vice, and punish them for it, or even to reprove and correct them, and so put them to shame; or put any mark of infamy and disgrace upon them in a public manner, that might shame them; hence they lived in a disorderly and dissolute manner, whereby they became the more easy prey to others: or the sense is, there was no king, nor an heir of the kingdom, as Kimchi interprets it, so that there were none to contest his right to the government of the place, or to accuse another, and put him to shame for taking it away from him. Jarchi takes the sense to be, that none needed to turn back his neighbour empty, when he asked anything of him for his relief, since there was no want of anything in the land, as after observed; but the first sense seems best:
and they were far from the Zidonians; who were the only people that could help them, being in friendship with them; and it may be they were under their government, as before observed; they are said {u} to be about eleven miles from them; Josephus {w} says, a day's journey:
and had no business with any man; no trade or commerce, but lived independent of others, and within themselves, their land affording them everything sufficient for them. Some understand it of their not being in any league or alliance with any other people, and so had none to call in to their assistance in case of any attack upon them.
{s} Ut supra. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 112.) {t} De loc. Heb. fol. 90. H. {u} Adrichom. Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 105. {w} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 3. sect. 1.
Judges 18:8
Ver. 8. And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol,.... After they had well viewed the city, and made their remarks on the inhabitants of it, the condition and circumstances in which they were, and took notice of the goodness of the land about it, they returned to their brethren that sent them, particularly those that dwelt at the two places mentioned:
and their brethren said unto them, what say ye? what tidings do you bring? what account of the place and country where you have been?
Judges 18:9
Ver. 9. And they said, arise, that me may go up against them,.... That is, prepare for war, and go up in an hostile manner against the present possessors of the land, not doubting of being masters of it easily:
for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good. Adrichomius {x} says it was very good pasture land, and fertile, abounding with fruits of all kinds; and the same is attested by Josephus {y}:
and are ye still? can ye sit still, and be easy, and not bestir yourselves to go up and possess so good a country, of which an easy conquest may be made? or, affirmatively, "ye are still or silent" {z}; ye make no answer to what we say, and seem careless and indifferent about the matter; or by way of exhortation, "be silent", either that the people may remain in their quiet, easy, careless state, and lest, on hearing designs against them, should prepare for their defence; or, as Abarbinel, lest any of the other tribes of Israel should hear of it, and go take it before them:
be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land; they suggest that there was scarce anything more to be done than to go and take possession, and that it would be altogether owing to their sloth and indolence if they did not.
{x} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 3. sect. 1.) {y} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 3. sect. 1.) {z} Myvxm Mta "vos autem desidetis", Tigurine version; "et vos quiescitis", Munster.
Judges 18:10
Ver. 10. When ye go, ye shall come to a people secure, and to a large land,.... For though it was but one city, the territories of it were large, and the villages belonging to it might be many; which, with the security of the people, might easily be surprised and taken, not being upon their guard, are the arguments used by the spies to encourage their countrymen to go up and take it, to which they add others:
for God hath given it into your hands; which they concluded from the state and condition they found the people in, thoughtless and defenceless; or it may be on account of the oracle in Micah's house they had consulted, and to which they gave credit; though some think their faith was grounded upon this place being given by lot to the tribe of Dan, but this does not appear:
a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth; in the land of Canaan; meaning, that there was nothing in the whole land but might be found there, as wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olives, and honey, with all other necessaries and conveniences of life.
Judges 18:11
Ver. 11. And there went from thence of the family of the Danites,.... Or families, the singular being put for the plural; for it can hardly be thought that such a number of men, as after mentioned, went out of one family:
out of Zorah, and out of Eshtaol; the two places the spies were sent from, and now had returned unto: and upon their report, and at their instigation, and by the encouragement they gave, there were
six hundred men appointed with weapons of war; that set out armed from the above places, on the expedition to take Laish.
Judges 18:12
Ver. 12. And they went up and pitched in Kirjathjearim in Judah,.... Of which place see Jos 15:9. According to Bunting {a} it was sixteen miles from Zorah and Eshtaol, and this was their first day's march:
wherefore they called the name of that place Mahanehdan unto this day; which signifies the camp of Dan, or of the Danites; so it was called in the times of Samson, Jud 13:25 and is a proof that this expedition was before his time; and it was so called, it seems, in the time of Samuel, the writer of this book:
behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim; to the west of it; for though they are said to pitch in that place, the meaning is, that they pitched near it, in the fields adjacent to it, which were the most proper and convenient for a camp.
{a} Ut supra. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 112.)
Judges 18:13
Ver. 13. And they passed thence unto Mount Ephraim,.... Steering their coast still northward; this, according to Bunting {b}, was eight miles from Kirjathjearim, or Mahanehdan, in which Micah's house was, for as yet they were not come to it, see Jud 18:15.
{b} Ibid. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 112.)
Judges 18:14
Ver. 14. Then they answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish,.... That were sent by their brethren, Jud 18:5 and, as it seems from hence, were sent particularly to Laish; they had some notion of that place as proper for them, and therefore sent those men to reconnoitre it; and now as they had passed this way before, when they came within sight of Micah's house, it put them in mind of what they had seen there; wherefore one in the name of the rest, and with their approbation, acquainted the company with it:
and said unto their brethren, do ye know that there is in those houses; in one of them, pointing to the houses of a village or town in sight:
an ephod and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? of which see Jud 17:4 and no doubt but they acquainted them, only that they had seen them, and so were certain but had consulted them, and that with success:
now therefore consider, say they,
what ye have to do; whether it may not be proper to consult them again, or rather to take them with us, to consult as occasion may require, and as tokens and pledges of God being with us, and so may the rather hope that everything will succeed to our wishes.
Judges 18:15
Ver. 15. And they turned thitherward,.... It seems as if the house lay a little out of their way, and therefore they turned on one hand to go unto it:
and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah; for the young man's house was only an apartment of Micah's, and lay very probably next to that in which the images, and oracle were; and they made up to the young man's apartment, rather than to Micah's, because the above things were under his care:
and saluted him; asked him of his welfare in a kind and obliging manner, the rather to ingratiate themselves unto him.
Judges 18:16
Ver. 16. And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war,.... Who were armed men, and marched with their armour about them:
which were of the children of Dan; for no other were concerned in this expedition: stood by the entering of the gate; not of Micah's house, but of the city in which his house was; here they stood while the five men went up to the house.
Judges 18:17
Ver. 17. And the five men that went out to spy the land went up and came thither,.... They first came to Micah's house, and saluted the young man, and after that salutation told him there was such a number of their brethren at the gate of the city, very probably, who would be glad to see him; and the young man being desirous also of seeing them, and paying his respects to them, went with them thither, and after they had introduced him, left him discoursing with them, and then returned to his apartment:
and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and brought them away with them; and from hence it appears plainly that there were two images, the one graven, and the other molten, since they are so manifestly distinguished, and the ephod and teraphim are spoken of between them:
and the priest stood in the entering of the gate, with the six hundred men that were appointed with the weapons of war; who kept him in talk, while the five men went and stole the above things.
Judges 18:18
Ver. 18. And these went into Micah's house,.... Into that part of it where his gods were; not the six hundred men last mentioned, but the five men who knew the house, and the chapel where the things were:
and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and brought them away in their hands to their brethren at the gate, where the priest also was: and when he saw them,
then said the priest to them, what do ye? what do you mean by this? is this your kindness to me, to take away what are my care and charge, and on which my livelihood depends? and do you consider the wickedness, the sin of sacrilege you are guilty of, to take away these sacred things, these objects of religious devotion?
Judges 18:19
Ver. 19. And they said unto him, hold thy peace,.... Be silent, make no disturbance, be quiet and easy:
lay thy hand upon thy mouth; as a token of silence; so the Egyptians used to paint Harpocrates, the god of silence, with his fingers pressing his lips:
and go with us; for they wanted him as well as his gods, not knowing well how to make use of them without him:
and be to us a father and a priest; to direct them, instruct them, perform acts of devotion for them, and ask counsel on their account; it seems as if it was common in those days to call a priest a father, see
Jud 17:10
is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? suggesting, that it must be much more honourable for him, and more to his advantage, to officiate as a priest to a body of people, that might be called a tribe, or to a family consisting of various houses, than in the house of a private person; this they left him to consider and judge of.
Judges 18:20
Ver. 20. And the priest's heart was glad,.... He rejoiced that such an opportunity offered; it suited well with his covetous, ambitious, rambling, and unsettled disposition of mind:
and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image; and no doubt the molten image also, out of the hands of the five men into his own, agreeing to go with them, and officiate for them:
and went in the midst of the people; the six hundred armed men, either for the security of himself, if Micah should raise his servants, and his neighbours, to pursue after him, and fetch him back, with his images; or, as others think, in imitation of the priests bearing the ark, who in journeying marched in the middle of the camp.
Judges 18:21
Ver. 21. So they turned and departed,.... Turned from the gate of the city where Micah dwelt, and marched forward to Laish:
and put the little ones, and the cattle, and the carriage, before them; partly for safety from Micah, and his friends and neighbours, and partly that they might not be overdriven: their wives, who doubtless were with them, though not mentioned, and their children, and also their flocks and herds, they brought with them from Zorah and Eshtaol, as never intending to return again thither, and being fully assured they should take Laish, and the country about, and settle there; and also all their wealth and substance, as the Targum renders the word for "carriage", whatever they were possessed of that was movable; their vessels, silver and gold, and other movables, as Kimchi interprets it, whatever was weighty, valuable and glorious, as the word signifies, or that was of any importance and worth.
Judges 18:22
Ver. 22. And when they were a good way from the house of Micah,.... For it might be some time before Micah knew that his gods were stolen, and his priest was decoyed from him; and it must take up more time still to get his servants and neighbours together to pursue after those that injured him:
the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together; no doubt at the request of Micah, who informed them of what had happened to him: and they being not only his neighbours, but deeply involved in the same superstition and idolatry, and closely addicted to it, and to whom it might in some respects be advantageous at it brought people from various parts to worship, or to consult the oracle: these being got together in a body, pursued
and overtook the children of Dan; who were obliged to move but slowly, because of their wives, little ones, and heavy substance they carried with them.
Judges 18:23
Ver. 23. And they cried unto the children of Dan,.... When they had got pretty near them, and in their hearing, they called to them aloud, and desired they would stop, having something to say to them:
and they turned their faces; that is, the Danites turned and looked at them, and stopped to hear what they had to say to them; these were they who were in the rear in marching:
and said unto Micah; who was at the head of them:
what aileth thee that thou comest with such a company? as if he intended to attack them in an hostile way, and therefore asks what should be the occasion of it? what affront had been given him, what injury had been done him, that had provoked him to come out and follow them in such a manner?
Judges 18:24
Ver. 24. And he said, ye have taken away my gods that I made,.... Meaning his graven and molten images, which he had made, or caused to be made, out of the silver his mother gave him, or however had paid for the making of; and though this might be an argument proving his right unto them, it was a very poor one in favour of their deity; and it is astonishing he should call them gods he knew the making of, and who could not save themselves from being stolen and carried off:
and the priest and ye are gone away; they had not only took away his gods, but the priest that sacrificed for him unto them, and assisted him in acts of devotion to them, or to God by them, and were gone off with both:
and what have I more? signifying, that all he had in the world, wife, children, and substance, were all nothing in comparison of these; there was nothing he so much valued as he did these, nor could he take any pleasure or comfort in anything, being deprived of them, so much was his heart set on them:
and what is this that ye say unto me, what aileth thee? what a question is this you ask, as if the injury done me was none at all, and that I had no reason to complain; that it was a trifling insignificant thing, worthy of no regard, when it was a matter of the greater moment and importance to him in life.
Judges 18:25
Ver. 25. And the children of Dan said unto him, let not thy voice be heard among us,.... Complaining of us as having done an unjust thing, charging and reproaching us with theft and sacrilege, insisting upon a restoration of the things taken, and abusing with odious names and characters:
lest angry fellows run upon thee: lest men of bitter and passionate spirits, provoked by ill language given them, should draw their swords and fall upon thee:
and thou lose thy life, and the life of thy household; the life of himself, his family, servants, tenants, and neighbours with him, which ought to have been more precious and valuable than his gods; of which there was great danger in demanding his gods, which by this they let him know they would not part with.
Judges 18:26
Ver. 26. And the children of Dan went their way,.... Went on their way, would not stay to have any further talk with him, as being an impertinent man, and unworthy of their regard, bidding him defiance, and do his worst, having nothing to fear from him:
and when Micah saw they were too strong for him; that he could not prevail upon them by words and arguments; to take up arms, and use them, he perceived it was to no purpose, since they were more numerous and more mighty than he and his neighbours:
he turned and went unto his own house; and if he returned from his idolatry to the true God, and the right worship of him, having lost his gods, it was well for him they were taken away.
Judges 18:27
Ver. 27. And they took the things which Micah had made,.... The ephod, teraphim, and the two images, the Danites took them, or having taken them kept them, and went on with them:
and the priest which he had; him also they took, and who was willing enough to go with them:
and came unto Laish, unto a people that were quiet and secure; having no sentinels placed at any distance to give them warning of an enemy, nor any watchmen on their walls to discover one; and perhaps their gates not shut, nor any guard at any of their passes and avenues, having no apprehension at all of being visited by an enemy, especially from Israel, not being apprized that they had any pretensions to their city, and the land about it:
and they smote them with the edge of the sword; entered their city, and fell on them suddenly, and cut them to pieces:
and burnt the city with fire; to strike terror to all about; or it may be only they set fire to some part of it, as they entered, only to frighten the inhabitants, and throw them into the greater confusion, that they might become a more easy prey to them; for their intention was to inhabit it, and it seems to be the same city still, though they rebuilt it, and called it by another name.
Judges 18:28
Ver. 28. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon,.... Under whose government and protection they seem to have been; and that city being at a distance from them, and the Danites coming upon them suddenly, there was no time to send to them for help, or any to come in to their assistance, and save them from their enemies, see
Jud 18:7
and they had no business with any man; that could have given them notice of the design of the children of Dan against them, nor to the Zidonians to come soon enough for their protection and defence; none there were in alliance with them except them:
and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob; which lay in the northern border of the land of Canaan, as you go to Hamath of Syria,
See Gill on "Nu 13:21".
and they built a city to dwell there; not a new one altogether, but they rebuilt and enlarged Laish, and made it convenient for them to dwell in.
Judges 18:29
Ver. 29. And they called the name of the city Dan,.... The name of their tribe, and to show that though they were at the furthest part of the land northward, and at such a distance from their tribe, which lay to the southwest, yet they belonged to it:
after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel; one of the twelve sons of Jacob or Israel:
however, the name of the city was Laish at first; which signifies a "lion", and might be so called from its being infested with lions, which might come from the mountain of Lebanon, near to which it was, and whither Dan, as a lion's whelp, leaped, De 33:22 and now the prophecy had its accomplishment. This place was also called Leshem,
Jos 19:47 and it is remarkable that Leshem is the name of the precious stone in the high priest's breastplate, on which the name of Dan was engraved, which was done many years before this city fell into the hands of the Danites, though that might portend it.
Judges 18:30
Ver. 30. And the children of Dan set up the graven image,.... In their new city Dan, and very probably had a house built for it, peculiar to it, in the same place where Jeroboam, in later times, set up one of his golden calves. The Danites having succeeded, according to the oracle in Micah's house, they had a very great veneration for the images they brought away with them from thence, and set them up for religious worship in a proper place; for though only mention is made of the graven image, yet no doubt the molten image, and the teraphim, with the ephod, were all placed together for devotion and consultation:
and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan: not to the whole tribe, but to that part of it which resided in this city, called Dan; and this Jonathan seems to be no other than the Levite Micah took into his house, and made a priest of; and whom the Danites took with them to Laish, to be their priest, who is said to be the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh: now Gershom was the son of Moses, and this man is thought by some to be a grandson of his; and with this agrees the time in which he lived, for as Phinehas the grandson of Aaron was now living, Jud 20:28 so might a grandson of Moses; and though he is called a young man, he might be a younger son of Gershom's; nor is his being a Levite any objection, since it is a clear case that Moses made no provision for his family, so disinterested was he, which may be observed against the deists: and it is remarkable that the "nun", or "N" in Manasseh, is suspended over the other letters in our printed copies of the Hebrew Bible, and so without it may be read, Moses; and the Jews {c} have a notion, that this was done for the honour of Moses, and to observe that he was more like a son of Manasseh than of Moses; though rather this being the first letter of hvn, "to forget", may suggest, as Alting {d} observes, that he had forgot the virtues of his grandfather; and the Vulgate Latin version reads, the son of Moses; and some {e} are of opinion that this is the true reading of the text; though it may be that another Gershom than the son of Moses, and another Manasseh we know nothing of, are here intended, so Marcus Marinus {f}: however, this man, and his sons in succession after him, were priests in Dan,
until the day of the captivity of the land; not till the captivity of Sennacherib or Salmaneser, when Dan, with the rest of the ten tribes, were carried captives, as Jarchi; for this idolatry, and these idolatrous priests, can hardly be thought to be continued here through the times of Samuel, David, and Solomon: nor is it to be understood of the captivity of Israel by Jabin king of Canaan, as Ben Gersom; for as the other is too long a time, this is too short, since it is clear, by the next verse, that this idolatry continued all the time the house of God was at Shiloh; and which directs us to the captivity here spoken of, when the ark was carried captive by the Philistines, and the house of Shiloh was forsaken; which is the sense of Kimchi, R. Isaiah, and Abarbinel; and may be illustrated and confirmed by some passages in
Ps 78:58.
{c} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 109. 2. {d} Shiloh, l. 4. c. 28. p. 334. {e} See Dr. Kennicott's Dissertation 2. p. 51, &c. {f} Apud Glassium in Philolog. Sacr. l. 1. tract. 1. sect. 2.
Judges 18:31
Ver. 31. And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made,.... Which is repeated for the sake of the time of its continuance next expressed:
all the time the house of God was in Shiloh; which, according to some Jewish writers {g}, was three hundred and sixty years; that is, so long as the tabernacle was there, which was afterwards removed to Nob.
{g} Maimon. in Misn. Zebachim, c. 14. sect. 6. & Bartenora in ib. sect. 7.
<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Judges 19:1
INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 19
This chapter gives an account of a sad affair of a Levite and his concubine, and of the bad consequence of it, how that she played the whore, and went away from him to her father's house, whither he followed her, and where he was kindly entertained by her father several days, Jud 19:1 and then set out on his journey to his own country; and passing by Jebus or Jerusalem, he came to Gibeah, and could get no lodging, Jud 19:10, but at length was taken in by an old man, an Ephraimite, Jud 19:16 when the house where he was beset by some wicked men in Gibeah, with the same intent as the men of Sodom beset the house of Lot, Jud 19:22 and after some expostulation of the old man with them, the concubine was brought out to them and abused by them even unto death, Jud 19:25 upon which the Levite her husband cut her into twelve pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, which was shocking and surprising,
Jud 19:29 the consequence of which is related in the next chapter.
Ver. 1. And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel,.... The same is observed in Jud 17:6 and refers to the same times, the times before the judges, between them and the death of Joshua, during which time there was no supreme magistrate or ruler in Israel, which is meant; and this is observed, as before, to account for wickedness being committed with impunity, such as adultery, sodomy, murder, &c. afterwards related:
that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of Mount Ephraim; in a city that was on one side of that mountain; it seems not to have been a Levitical city, because he was only a sojourner in it; perhaps he chose to reside there, as being near to the tabernacle of Shiloh, which was in that tribe;
who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah; the same place from whence the wicked Levite came, spoken of in the preceding chapters, and who was the means of spreading idolatry in Israel; and here a wicked concubine of a Levite comes from the same, and was the cause of great effusion of blood in Israel; which two instances may seem to reflect dishonour and disgrace on Bethlehem, which were wiped off by the birth of some eminent persons in it, as Boaz, Jesse, David, and especially the Messiah. The woman the Levite took from hence is in the Hebrew called, "a wife, a concubine" {h}; for a concubine was a secondary wife, taken without espousals and a dowry: some think they were espoused, though there was no dowry, and were reckoned truly wives, though they had not all the honour and privilege as others; and that this woman was accounted the wife of the Levite, appears from his being called her husband frequently; and her father is said to be his father-in-law, and he his son-in-law; nor could she have been chargeable with adultery otherwise.
{h} So Pagninus, Tigurine version, Drusius.
Judges 19:2
Ver. 2. And his concubine played the whore against him,.... Was unfaithful to him and his bed, and broke the covenant and agreement between them; or "with him" {i}, while she was with him in the house; or "before him" {k}, of which he had knowledge and proof; though some think this is not to be understood of whoredom or adultery, but of her ill usage of him, and departure from him. The Targum is, she despised him; so Kimchi and Ben Gersom interpret it of her declining and turning aside from him, and returning to her father's house, as follows: and indeed, had she been guilty of such a crime, one would think he would never have sought after her to reconcile her, and take her again, since she not only deserved to be put away, but to be put to death according to the law of God:
and went away from him to her father's house to Bethlehemjudah; where she was received, as she knew she should, having a parent perhaps too indulgent, and which was an encouragement to her to leave her husband:
and was there some whole months or a year and four whole months, according to Ben Gersom; so Kimchi and Ben Melech observe the copulative "and" is wanting, which is expressed in 1Sa 27:7 and "yamim, days", is so the times used for a year, Jud 14:8.
{i} wyle "apud eum", Pagninus, Piscator; "cum eo", Junius & Tremellius. {k} "Conspectu ejus", Vatablus; "coram eo", Drusius.
Judges 19:3
Ver. 3. And her husband arose,.... From the place where he lived:
and went after her; to Bethlehemjudah, where her father lived:
to speak comfortably to her "or to her heart" {l}; having heard perhaps that she repented of her sin, or if it was only upon a quarrel between them, his anger might cool and subside, and therefore sought for a reconciliation; and which was the more commendable in him, as he did not put her away, but she departed from him: and
to bring her again; to his own city, and to his own house and bed, as before:
having his servant with him, and a couple of asses; one of them for her to ride upon, and the other to carry provisions on:
and she brought him into her father's house; it seems she met with him before he came thither, in the fields, or in the street; and by this it appears that she was glad to see him, and received him in a loving manner, and introduced him into her father's house, so that things looked well, and promised success:
and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him; having a good opinion of him, and perhaps understood, even by his daughter's story, that she was most in fault, and therefore was well pleased to see him come after her; though he ought before this time to have sent her home, or sought for a reconciliation of her to her husband.
{l} hbl le "ad cor", Pagninus.
Judges 19:4
Ver. 4. And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him,.... Prevailed upon him to stay some time with him:
and he abode with him three days; it seems as if he agreed to stay with him so long, and that time he stayed contentedly:
so they did eat and drink, and lodged there; the Levite and his servant were very handsomely entertained, and had everything provided for them convenient for meat, drink, and lodging.
Judges 19:5
Ver. 5. And it came to pass on the fourth day,.... The time the Levite had agreed to stay being up:
when they arose early in the morning the Levite, his concubine and servant, in order to set out on their journey: that he arose to depart; the Levite rose up from his seat to take his leave of his father-in-law, and depart from his house, and proceed on his way homeward; for rising out of his bed is before expressed:
and the damsel's father said to his son in law, comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread; take a breakfast first, that he might be fitter for his journey, for bread comforts or strengthens men's hearts, Ps 104:15 though here it may be put for any and all sorts of provisions, whatever might be proper to take early in a morning, and before setting out on a journey: and afterwards go your way; he seemed as if he was willing he should set forward, after he had refreshed him with a meal.
Judges 19:6
Ver. 6. And they sat down,.... Not only sat down upon their seats again, the Levite having rose up in order to go away, but sat down at table:
and did eat and drink both of them together; both the Levite and his father-in-law; and it appears by this, and what follows, that the Levite did not take only a short repast, or breakfast with him, but stayed and dined with him, when they ate a plentiful meal, and drank freely after dinner:
for the damsel's father had said to the man, be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry; let us spend a pleasant evening together, in drinking freely, though not to excess, in cheerful conversation, and innocent mirth. This he proposed to him, and hoped he would agree to it.
Judges 19:7
Ver. 7. And when the man rose up to depart,.... Rose up from table, having ate and drank sufficiently, in order to depart the house, and proceed on his journey:
his father in law urged him; with much entreaty, and earnest solicitations, that he would stay all night with him:
therefore he lodged there again; another night, being prevailed upon through his father's importunity.
Judges 19:8
Ver. 8. And he rose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart,.... With a full intention to take his leave of his father, and be gone:
and the damsel's father said, comfort thine heart, I pray thee; with a meal's meat, with a breakfast, before he set out on his journey, that he might be heartier and stronger for it:
and they tarried until afternoon; or "until the decline of the day" {m}, when the sun had passed the meridian, and was declining, as it immediately does when noon is past:
and they did eat both of them; the man stayed and took a dinner with his father-in-law; and though no mention is made of the concubine, neither in this, nor in the other instances, no doubt she ate with them.
{m} Mwyh twjn de "usque ad declinare diem", Montanus; to the same purpose Pagninus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Judges 19:9
Ver. 9. And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine, and his servant,.... Rose up from table, having comfortably refreshed themselves:
his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, behold, now the day draweth towards evening; or is "remiss", or "weak" {n}; that is, the heat, light, and strength of the sun abated, and became weaker and more remiss, as it does the more it declines, and is nearer setting:
I pray you tarry all night; suggesting, it was a very improper time to set out in on a journey:
behold, the day groweth to an end; or "behold, it is the encampment of the day" {o}, when the day or sun seems to be pitching its tent, and going to rest; or it being the time when an army on the march stops and pitches their tents, in order to continue all night; or when men go to their tents and habitations, and lie down and take their rest:
lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and let us have another pleasant evening together, which cannot be had in an inn upon the road; you cannot be comfortable there, as here, and therefore be persuaded to stay, since it is not possible to get home tonight:
and tomorrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home; to thy city, as the Targum; signifying, that he should not insist upon their staying any longer, and then they might set out on their journey as soon as they pleased.
{n} hpr "debilitata est", Pagninus, Vatablus; "remissus est", Junius & Tremellius. {o} Mwyh twnh "castrametatio diei", Drusius.
Judges 19:10
Ver. 10. But the man would not tarry that night,.... He was determined upon his journey; he perceived there was no end of the solicitations of his father-in-law, and did not know how long he intended to detain him, and therefore was resolved not to hearken to him any longer:
but he rose up and departed; rose up from his seat, took his leave of his father-in-law, and proceeded on his journey:
and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; which was then called Jebus, because inhabited by the Jebusites, as appears from the following verse; this was about six miles from Bethlehem {p}; so far they were come on in their journey homewards:
and there were with him two asses saddled; which he brought with him when he came to Bethlehem, Jud 19:3 now said to be "saddled", either for him and his concubine to ride on; or they were bound or girt, as the word signifies, being loaded with bread, and wine, and provender; or it may be one of them was for him and his concubine to ride on by turns, and the other to carry the provisions:
and his concubine also was with him; matters being now made up between them, she had agreed to go with him, and did, which was the end of his coming to her father's house; and therefore this is observed on that account, as well as for what follows in the tragical part of this history.
{p} Hieron. de loc. Heb. fol. 89. E.
Judges 19:11
Ver. 11. And when they were by Jebus the day was far spent,.... Or "was gone down very much" {q}, the sun was going down apace, and near setting:
and the servant said unto his master, come, I pray thee: he proposed it to him in a submissive manner, and might use some entreaty for his master's good and safety:
and let us turn in unto this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it; for though that part of the city which belonged to the tribe of Judah was taken by them after the death of Joshua, yet that which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, part of it was still possessed by the Jebusites, whom the Benjamites could not expel, Jud 1:21 and Ben Gersom thinks, that this affair of this Levite, and his concubine, was before the men of Judah fought against it, and took it; which not unlikely, seeing it is called here a city of the Jebusites, and because the Levite objected going into it on that account; whereas there would not have been much in his objection, if one part or it was in the session of the men of Judah, and the other in the hands of the tribe of Benjamin, though they had some Jebusites dwelling among them.
{q} dam dr "descenderat valde", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version.
Judges 19:12
Ver. 12. And his master said unto him, we will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger,.... A city of the children of the Gentiles, as the Targum, as the Jebusites were, being one of the seven nations of the land of Canaan, who were to be dispossessed and destroyed; and which, one would think, he would not have so called, had it been inhabited, though but in part, by the children of Judah and Benjamin: by this it appears, that this Levite was a good man, and conscientious, and shunned all appearance of evil, and the company of wicked men, as became his character and profession: and it is added,
that is not of the children of Israel; which further confirms the above conjecture, that this city was not as yet at all in the hands of the Israelites; or if it had been, was retaken, and now in the hands of the Jebusites:
we will pass over to Gibeah; which was in the tribe of Benjamin, and inhabited by men of that tribe, and so more agreeable to this Levite, though it proved fatal to him; this was, as Josephus says {r} thirty furlongs, or near four miles from Jebus or Jerusalem; and though it was near sun setting, he chose rather to proceed on to this place, than to lodge at Jebus, and the rather it may be, as it was a Levitical city,
Jos 21:17.
{r} De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 1.
Judges 19:13
Ver. 13. And he said to his servant, come, and let us draw near,.... And get on as fast as we can:
to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah; which were both in the tribe of Benjamin, and he left it to his servant to go to either, to that which was most convenient, because of the time of the day, it being near sun setting; now, as before observed, Gibeah was not quite four miles from Jerusalem; whereas, according to Jerom {s}, Ramah was six miles, and therefore we find they took up at Gibeah, as being nearest of these two places; See Gill on "Jos 18:24" see Gill on "Jos 18:25" see Gill on "Ho 5:8"
{s} De loc. Heb. fol. 94. B.
Judges 19:14
Ver. 14. And they passed on, and went their way,.... Proceeded on in their journey from Jebus or Jerusalem, near to which they were:
and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin; which is added, to distinguish it from another Gibeah in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:57 when they were come pretty near to this place, on the side of it, as it seems, the sun was just setting, which determined them to take up their lodging here, as follows.
Judges 19:15
Ver. 15. And they turned aside thither to go in and lodge in Gibeah,.... Instead of going right forward, and passing by Gibeah, over against which they were, they turned out of their road, and went into the city to seek a lodging in it:
and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city; to see whether any person would invite him into any of their houses, as was usual in those hospitable times and countries, and where there were few inns for the entertainment of travellers and strangers, or none at all, and especially in cities; if any where, they were upon the public road:
for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging; the spirit of hospitality being greatly declined, and even gone from among them; or as some think, those that had such a spirit, and were willing to receive strangers, were afraid, because of their wicked neighbours, who would beset their houses to abuse strangers, as the sequel of this history shows.
Judges 19:16
Ver. 16. And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even,.... Which is the time that men come from their labour, and take their rest; and this man, though a man in years, and of some substance, as appears by what follows, yet attended the business of his calling, which was very commendable in him:
which was also of Mount Ephraim; as the Levite was, which when the old man understood, he was the more ready no doubt to receive him into his house:
and he sojourned in Gibeah; he was not a native of the place, and yet more kind to strangers than such as were; nor does he appear to be a Levite, though it was a Levitical city; on what account he sojourned here is not manifest:
but the men of the place were Benjamites: for as yet the number of Levites were not large, others dwelt in the cities besides them, even such as were of the tribe to which they belonged.
Judges 19:17
Ver. 17. And when he had lifted up his eyes,.... For it may be, as he came out of the field, he was musing and meditating with his eyes downwards directed, but coming into the city looked up:
he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city; whom he supposed to be a traveller and a stranger by his dress, and other circumstances, having never seen him before, and knowing pretty well the inhabitants of the place:
and the old man said, whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? the meaning of the questions is, what place he was travelling to, and from whence he came last.
Judges 19:18
Ver. 18. And he said unto him, we are passing from Bethlehemjudah,.... He answers to his last question first, for this was the place from whence they came:
towards the side of Mount Ephraim: thither they were going, which is an answer to the first question: and then adds, which is more than what was requested,
from thence am I; that is, he was an inhabitant of a city on one side of Mount Ephraim, but what that city was, he says not, nor is it elsewhere said:
and I went to Bethlehemjudah; on what account he does not declare, but the above narrative clearly shows for what reason he went thither:
but I am now going to the house of the Lord; that is, the tabernacle in Shiloh, there he proposed to go first to offer sacrifice for the success of his journey, and for the reconciliation of his wife to him, and to pray to God for happiness in his family yet to come, and where some think his habitation was; but rather it was at some distance, not far from Mount Ephraim, and on the side of it, whither he should return when he had performed those acts of religion and devotion, which he judged were his duty:
and there is no man that receiveth me to house: that had invited him to his house to take a lodging there, as was common to do to travellers, as the instances of Abraham, Lot, Job, and others, show. It was a law with the Lucani (a people in Italy), that if a stranger came at sun setting, and was desirous of coming under the roof of anyone, if such an one did not receive him, he was to be fined, and suffer the punishment of inhospitality {t}.
{t} Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 4. c. 1.
Judges 19:19
Ver. 19. Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses,.... Straw to litter them with, and provender to feed them with, which he had brought with him on them:
and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thine handmaid; meaning himself and his concubine; there were enough for them both, which were packed up, and carried by the asses:
and for the young man which is with thy servants; the supplement, which is, seems quite needless, and even impertinent; for as yet the young man, by whom he means his servant, was not as yet in company with the servants of the old man; but the sense is, that there was not only provisions with him for himself, and his wife, and also for his servant, but even enough for the servants of the old man, whether maid or manservants: there is no want of anything; and therefore none needed to be shy of taking them in, since they should not be burdensome to any upon any account; all they wanted was a lodging.
Judges 19:20
Ver. 20. And the old man said, peace be with you,.... All happiness attend thee, particularly ease and tranquillity of mind, let nothing disturb or distress thee:
howsoever, let all thy wants lie upon me; signifying, that if he had neither bread nor wine for himself, his wife, and his servant, nor any litter nor provender for his asses, he was welcome to all from him; and whatever his wants were, he would supply them, which was nobly and generously said:
only lodge not in the street: that I cannot bear to think of, as if he should say; for a stranger, an Israelite, one of my own country, a good man, a Levite going to the house of God, to take up a lodging in the streets, let it not be said.
Judges 19:21
Ver. 21. So he brought him into his house,.... Showed him the way to it, and in a kind and friendly manner introduced him, and bid him welcome:
and gave provender unto the asses; this is mentioned first, it being then perhaps, as now, the first thing that a careful man is concerned for, to see that his cattle is taken care of, and then himself; and such a method this ancient good man took with his guest:
and they washed their feet; which was commonly done to strangers in those hot countries, and was very refreshing, see Ge 18:4
and did eat and drink; sat down at table and supped with him.
Judges 19:22
Ver. 22. Now as they were making their hearts merry,.... With a glass of wine after supper, and conversing together in a cheerful manner about their country and friends:
behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial; very wicked, lawless, ungovernable, worthless, and unprofitable creatures, men under the influence of Satan, and their own lusts:
beset the house round about: that none might escape out of it, especially the Levite, his wife and servant:
and beat at the door; to get entrance, either by those within opening to them, or by breaking it open:
and spake to the master of the house, the old man; who, upon this noise and clamour made, came to the door, to inquire what was the meaning of all this: to whom they replied, saying,
bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him; not what manner of person he was, of what country and profession, whither he was going, and what business he had here; but that they might have carnal knowledge of him in an unnatural way, or commit that sin with him which is commonly called sodomy; and the men of Sodom expressed their lust by the same word, Ge 19:5.
Judges 19:23
Ver. 23. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them,.... Opened the door, and went out to converse with them, and talked them after this manner:
and said unto them, nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; it is plain he understood them in such sense, that they meant not bare knowledge of the man, as who he was, &c. but to commit wickedness the most abominable; so great, that it cannot be well said how great it is; and to dissuade from it, he uses the most tender language, and the most earnest entreaties:
seeing this man is come into my house, do not this folly; he argues from the law of hospitality, which ought not to be infringed; a man being obliged to protect a stranger under his roof; and from the nature of the crime, which was folly, stupidity, and what was abominable to the last degree.
Judges 19:24
Ver. 24. Behold, here is my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine,.... His own daughter, a virgin, and the concubine of the Levite his guest:
them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you; those he proposed to bring out, and deliver to them, to lie with, to do with as they pleased to gratify their raging lust, which to do was more than he ought, or had power to do: he had no right to prostitute his own daughter, and much less the concubine or wife of another man, though perhaps it might be with the consent of the Levite; but all this he said in a hurry and surprise, in a fright and terror, and of two evils choosing the least, and perhaps in imitation of Lot, whose case might come to remembrance:
but unto this man do not so vile a thing; as he apprehended that to be which they were desirous of, whether to kill him, as he himself says,
Jud 20:5 or to commit the unnatural sin, and which, rather than comply with, he should have chosen to have been slain.
Judges 19:25
Ver. 25. But the men would not hearken to him,.... Especially with respect to his daughter, whom they knew very well, and had no affection for, perhaps was not handsome enough for them:
so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; that is, not the old man, but the Levite took his own wife or concubine, and put her forth to them, very probably with her consent, to try if that would pacify them, she being a fair and beautiful woman, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel suggest; and Josephus {u} intimates, that some young men of the city had seen her in the street, and were captivated with her beauty, and came on purpose for her, and would not be satisfied unless she was delivered to them; and upon which her husband, perceiving this, laid hold on her by main strength, as the word signifies, and brought her out whether she would or not, as Kimchi notes:
and they knew her, and abused her all night until the morning; had carnal knowledge of her, and used her in a most shocking manner one after another, all the night long, until the morning appeared:
and when the day began to spring; at break of day, when the light dawned: they let her go; their works being works of darkness, and would not bear the light.
{u} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8.
Judges 19:26
Ver. 26. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day,.... When those wicked wretches who had abused her had left her, having had her from place to place, at some distance from the house out of which she was put, and to which she got again, as well as she could:
and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was; her husband, so called, not because she had been his servant, but because she was his wife; and at the door of the old man's house, where he was, which she knew, and had found out by one means or another; she fell down, either purposely for her ease, and to lie and wait there, until the time of opening the door in the morning; or rather through weakness, not being able to stand, nor so much as to knock at the door to get admittance: and there she lay
till it was light; broad daylight.
Judges 19:27
Ver. 27. And her lord rose up in the morning,.... Very early no doubt, and it is scarcely reasonable to think he should sleep quietly after such a riot, and his concubine or wife delivered up to the lust of such brutish creatures:
and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; either in search of her, or rather to make the best of his way on his journey, to preserve his own life, having given her up for lost:
and, behold the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold; in a posture that persons are when they fall, stretching out their hands to save themselves what they can; or of such who lay themselves down to sleep with their hands under their heads, and which her husband thought was her case, by what follows.
Judges 19:28
Ver. 28. And he said unto her, up, and let us be going,.... He spoke to her as supposing her asleep, in order to awake her, and prepare for their journey with all the haste they could, lest greater mischief should befall them:
but none answered; for she was dead; and her death was occasioned, as Josephus {w} says, partly through grief at what she had suffered, and partly through shame, not daring to come into the sight of her husband; but chiefly through the injuries done her by the number of persons that had lain with her: so it is reported {x} of the Thessalonians, when they took Phocis, many women were destroyed through the abundance of rapes committed upon them. To these Abarbinel adds, the cold of the night, being without her clothes, or anything to cover her:
then the man took her up upon an ass; and carried off her dead body, without making any remonstrance to the inhabitants, from whom he could not expect that any justice would be done him:
and the man rose up, and got him unto his place; to his city on one side Mount Ephraim, to which he made as much haste as he could, instead of going to the house of God at Shiloh, as he proposed; for now the circumstances of things were changed with him, and instead of sacrificing and giving praise to God in his house, his business was to seek for justice from the tribes of Israel.
{w} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8.) {x} Herodot. Urania, sive, l. 8. c. 33.
Judges 19:29
Ver. 29. And when he was come into his house,.... Having taken the dead body of his wife from off the ass, and brought it in thither, and laid it in a proper place and order:
he took a knife; a carving knife, such as food is cut with, as the word signifies; the Targum is, a sword:
and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces; cut off her limbs at the joints of her bones, and made twelve pieces of them, according to the number of the tribes of Israel:
and sent her into all the coasts of Israel; that is, to every tribe, as Josephus says {y}: there was now no supreme magistrate to apply unto for justice, nor the court of seventy elders, and therefore he took this strange and unheard of method to acquaint each of the tribes with the fact committed; this he did not out of disrespect to his wife, but to express the vehement passion he was in on account of her death, in the way it was, and to raise their indignation at the perpetrators of it. Ben Gersom thinks he did not send to the tribe of Benjamin, where the evil was done; but Abarbinel is of another mind, and as Levi was not a tribe that lay together in one part of the land, but was scattered in it, pieces might be sent to the two half tribes of Manasseh, as the one lay on the one side Jordan, and the other on the other, and so there were twelve for the twelve pieces to be sent unto. So Ptolemy king of Egypt killed his eldest son, and divided his members, and put them in a box, and sent them to his mother on his birthday {z}. Chytraeus {a} writes, that about A. C. 140, a citizen of Vicentia, his daughter being ravished by the governor Carrarius, and cut to pieces, who had refused to send her to him, being sent back again, he put up the carcass in a vessel, and sent it to the senate of Venice, and invited them to punish the governor, and seize upon the city.
{y} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8.) {z} Justia. e Trogo, l. 38. c. 8. {a} Apud Quistorp. in loc.
Judges 19:30
Ver. 30. And it was so, that all that saw it,.... The dismembered pieces of the dead body, and were made acquainted with the cause of it; for so Josephus {b} says, he gave the messengers a command to declare what was the cause of her death:
said, there was no such deed done nor seen, from the day that the children of Israel came out of Egypt, unto this day; meaning not so much the cutting in pieces the dead body, and sending it to different parts; though that was awful and shocking, as the complicated wickedness committed at Gibeah, which was the cause of it, to which reference is had, Ho 9:9 this is an observation of the writer of this book, Samuel; but what follows are the words either of those the Levite sent, who were bid to deliver them to those to whom the pieces were sent, or else of the persons present at the time of the delivery of the pieces to them, or whom they got together to disclose the matter to:
consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds; well weigh and think of the matter within yourselves, consult with one another what is proper to be done, and give your opinion freely without any reserve.
{b} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8.)
<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Judges 20:1
INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 20
This chapter relates, how that there was an assembly of the children of Israel at Mizpeh, upon what had happened to the concubine of the Levite, where he appeared and related the whole affair to them,
Jud 20:1 upon which they unanimously agreed to chastise the inhabitants of Gibeah for what they had done, Jud 20:8, and in order to do that sent to the tribe of Benjamin to deliver the guilty, but instead of that they took to their arms, and prepared for battle in defence of them, Jud 20:12 and two battles ensued on this, in which the Israelites, who were on the right side of the question, were worsted,
Jud 20:18 but upon their seeking the Lord again, and their humiliation before him, they engaged a third time in battle, and got an entire victory over the Benjaminites, and destroyed them all excepting six hundred men, Jud 20:26.
Ver. 1. Then all the children of Israel went out,.... Of their tribes, cities, habitations, not every individual of them, but some of the chief of them, with a select company with them:
and the congregation was gathered together as one man; with as much unanimity and ease met together in one place, at the same time, as if only one man had been pitched upon and deputed for that purpose:
from Dan even to Beersheba, from the city Dan, lately built, which was in the most northern parts of the land of Canaan, to Beersheba, a city in the most southern part, which included all the tribes in the land of Canaan, who all, excepting Benjamin, assembled:
with the land of Gilead; which lay on the other side Jordan, inhabited by the two tribes of Reuben and Dan, and the half tribe of Manasseh, who also came on this occasion:
unto the Lord in Mizpeh; a city which lay upon the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and is therefore assigned to them both, Jos 15:38 for this was not Mizpeh in the land of Gilead, but a city near to Shiloh; and, according to Fuller {b}, eight miles from Gibeah, and so was a convenient place to meet at: it is not to be thought the tribes met here, by a secret impulse upon their minds, but by a summons of some principal persons in one of the tribes, very probably in the tribe of Ephraim, where the Levite dwelt, and in which was the tabernacle of the Lord, and of which the last supreme magistrate was, namely, Joshua; and all having notice of the occasion of it, met very readily; and because they assembled in the name and fear of God, and it was in the cause of God, and as a solemn assembly, a judicial one, in which God was usually present, they are said to be gathered unto him, and the rather, as they sought for direction and counsel from him in the affair before them.
{b} Pisah-Sight, B. 2. c. 12. p. 259.
Judges 20:2
Ver. 2. And the chief of all the people,.... The princes of the tribes and heads of families, rulers of thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens; or the "corners" {c}, who were like the corner stones in a building, which are not only the most valuable and ornamental, but the strength of the building, which cement it, and support it, and hold it together; though Abarbinel thinks this intends the division and separation of each tribe, which encamped in a separate corner and side by itself: but the former sense seems best, and the meaning is, that the principal men of them,
even of all the tribes of Israel; excepting the tribe of Benjamin:
presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God; now gathered together: which assembly consisted, besides the heads of them, of
four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword; or were armed men; there were 600,000 or more in Israel able to bear arms; but as now the wars in Canaan were pretty much at an end, the militia of the nation was not so regularly kept up, and many were employed in tilling the ground, and dressing the vines, and the like; and besides, as there were none of the tribe of Benjamin present, it need not be wondered at there should be no more, but rather that so many should be gathered together on such an occasion.
{c} twnp "anguli", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Drusius, Tigurine version.
Judges 20:3
Ver. 3. Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh,.... Having no doubt the same notice the rest of the tribes had; but the thing complained of being done in their tribe, and by some of it, they might be willing to screen the delinquents, or were careless about and indifferent to the case, and secure and easy, as imagining their brethren would never go to war with them about it; or were proud and haughty, and would pay no regard to the summons given them:
then said the children of Israel, tell us, how was this wickedness? proclamation was made in the assembly, that if any person there knew anything of this shocking affair, and horrid iniquity, which was the occasion of their meeting together, that they would rise up and declare what was the cause of it, how it came about, and by whom it was done; or they addressed themselves particularly to the Levite, and his host, and his servant, who might all be upon the spot to bear witness in this case, as it is certain the former of them was, who upon this stood up, and spoke as follows.
Judges 20:4
Ver. 4. And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered, and said,.... He rose up, and, in answer to their request, declared the whole affair as follows: and none so proper as he, who was upon the spot when it was done, and so near a relation of the deceased, and had a right to demand justice to be done; for from hence it appears that she was his lawful wife, though called a concubine:
I came into Gibeah, that belongeth to Benjamin; which he so particularly describes, to distinguish it from another of the same name in the tribe of Judah, lest any mistake should be made, and an innocent people should suffer in their reputation, or otherwise; and which also would account for the tribe of Benjamin not being present at this convention:
I and my concubine, to lodge; thither they came, not with an intention to stay, to sojourn there, and much less to do them any injury, or to infringe any of their rights and privileges; nor in the least to be burdensome to them, having brought all necessary provisions with them for themselves, servants, and cattle, only to get a night's lodging with them.
Judges 20:5
Ver. 5. And the men of Gibeah rose against me,.... Not all of them, but some that dwelt in that city; he forbears giving them the character they justly deserved, sons of Belial. These came in a tumultuous and violent manner,
and beset the house round about upon me by night; that he might not make his escape, resolving if possible to get him into their hands, and do with him according to their will:
and thought to have slain me; their first intention was to commit the unnatural sin on him, and, if he resisted, to slay him; but this he modestly conceals, as being a sin not to be named in an assembly of saints; and besides he might say this, because he himself chose rather to be slain than to submit to their lust, which he knew must be the case upon his refusal and resistance; and even if he had yielded, being overpowered, this would have been the consequence, that he should have been abused even unto death, as his wife was:
and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead; or "afflicted", or "humbled" {d} her; which is a modest expression for carnal knowledge of her, and which they had to such excess that she died through it.
{d} wne "afflixerunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.
Judges 20:6
Ver. 6. And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces,.... Lest it should be thought that these barbarous creatures, after they had used her in such a manner that occasioned her death, that they had committed this fact also; the Levite takes it to himself, and owns that he did that:
and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; to alarm them, and excite their attention to what had passed, and to raise their indignation against it:
for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel; being guilty of adultery and murder, and would have committed the unnatural crime, if they could have had an opportunity of doing it.
Judges 20:7
Ver. 7. Behold, ye are all children of Israel,.... The descendants of one man that feared the Lord; were of one nation, and of one religion, men professing godliness, and therefore ought to bear testimony against sin and wickedness of every sort, and especially such crying abominations as these:
give your advice and counsel: in this place, being assembled together on this occasion; consult what is best to be done, and let every man speak his mind freely what step he thinks should be taken for the glory of God, and honour of religion, and to bring such persons to justice who had committed so foul a fact.
Judges 20:8
Ver. 8. And all the people arose as one man,.... Either the heads of the people assembled in council, all agreed unanimously in one vote or resolution, or all the 400,000 men were of the same mind, when the case was reported to them:
saying, we will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house; that is, they would not return home, to take one nights rest in their houses, or attend to the business of their callings or to any affair of life, however urgent, till satisfaction was made for the evil committed.
Judges 20:9
Ver. 9. But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah,.... Where the fact was done; what follows was proposed by some, and unanimously agreed to by all:
we will go up by lot against it; cast lots who shall go up to it and demand satisfaction for the offence committed; and if denied, to act in an hostile manner against it.
Judges 20:10
Ver. 10. And we will take ten men of an hundred, throughout all the tribes of Israel,.... Excepting that of Benjamin which was not with them, not any of them:
and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand; in all 40,000, out of the 400,000:
to fetch victual for the people; ten men were to provide food for ninety, and one hundred men for nine hundred, and 1000 men for 9000, in all 40,000, for 360,000; these were either to go to their own tribes and habitations, or to the towns and cities adjacent, to procure food for this large army; for they came from their homes without any provision, not knowing that the affair would keep them long; but perceiving that it would require time before it could be determined, they judged it the wisest method for some to be appointed to take care of provision for the army, that it might not be scattered about on that account, but pursue the war with vigour till satisfaction was obtained:
that they might do, when they came to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel; punish with death the delinquents, and chastise the inhabitants, and especially the magistrates, for their connivance at such wicked persons among them, and negligence of doing their duty.
Judges 20:11
Ver. 11. So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city,.... Of Gibeah, even 360,000 men:
knit together as one man; went heart and hand together, united in their sentiments and resolutions, determining to have justice done, or lose their lives in this cause: according to the Jews {e}, this was on the twenty third of Shebet, which answers to part of January and part of February, on which day a fast was kept on this account.
{e} Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 580. sect. 2.
Judges 20:12
Ver. 12. And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribes of Benjamin,.... Meaning the families of Benjamin; for as sometimes a tribe is called a family, Jos 7:17 so a family is called a tribe; and there were ten families in the tribe of Benjamin, according to the number of his sons, the fathers of these families. Ge 46:21, which being numerous and powerful, and consisting of men of courage, and expert in war, thought themselves a match for the ten tribes of Israel now assembled, who sent one out of each tribe, very probably ten in all, upon this errand; for they judged it most advisable, before they went to war with them, to try to get the offenders, delivered up to justice, and so prevent the shedding of blood of either side; and the rather, as there were none of the tribe of Benjamin at this assembly, and which indeed might give them reason to suspect they meant not to join with them in an amicable manner in this affair: however, they were willing to try peaceable methods first:
saying, what wickedness is this that is done among you? not that they were sent to inquire what the crime was that was committed, that was fully known; but by putting the question in this manner, their design was to aggravate it, and to put the men of Benjamin on considering how great it was, what an enormous sin it was that was committed, and that among them; and therefore it lay upon them, either to punish the perpetrators of it themselves or deliver them up to them to be punished according to the common law of Israel.
Judges 20:13
Ver. 13. Now, therefore, deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah,.... Those wicked men that were the authors of that abominable wickedness there committed:
that we may put them to death; as they deserved, since they were guilty both of adultery and murder; their meaning is, that they in conjunction with the tribe of Benjamin might condemn them to death and punish them with it, as their crime deserved:
and put away evil from Israel; prevent both the spread of such a sinful evil in the nation, encouraged by such examples, and the evil of punishment coming upon them from God, should they let such wickedness pass with impunity:
but the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel; they refused to give up the men of Gibeah, that had been guilty of such great wickedness; reckoning it a reproach, as Josephus {f} says, to obey the commands of others, for fear of war, and unwilling to yield to any in arms, neither on account of multitude nor courage.
{f} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 9.
Judges 20:14
Ver. 14. But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah,.... To protect and defend it against the other tribes, being a city of theirs and where the persons charged with the crime lived; these got together thither out of the several cities of the tribe of Benjamin, as many as could bear arms:
to go out to battle against the children of Israel; they neither denied the fact, nor attempted to palliate and excuse it, nor sought for peace but at once betook themselves to arms; which showed not only want of prudence but pride, passion and self-confidence, and that they were sadly depraved in their morals to rise up in defence of such wicked men; and a strange infatuation to expect success against such vastly superior numbers, and in so bad a cause.
Judges 20:15
Ver. 15. And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities,.... All that they could muster up, and gather together out of their several cities, were no more man than
twenty and six thousand men that drew the sword able bodied men fit for war, and expert in it:
beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men young, stout, and strong, and in all but 26,700; and what are these to an army of 400,000 men, or however 360,000 that came up against Gibeah, while 40,000 were employed in getting provisions for them? Josephus {g} makes the number of the Benjaminites still less, no more than 25,600, led thereunto by an later account, that 25,000 Benjaminites were slain in the third and last battle, and only six hundred escaped to a rock for safety, not considering that 1000 men may well be supposed to be lost in the two first battles; for it would be strange indeed that they should lose none in two engagement with so large an army; the same error is committed in the Vulgate Latin version, which makes them no more than 25,000; with which agrees the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint version: though that, according to the Vatican exemplar, has but 23,000. The numbers in the Hebrew text are no doubt the right.
{g} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10.
Judges 20:16
Ver. 16. Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded,.... According to Ben Gersom, these were the seven hundred men of Gibeah; but this does not appear from the text, but, on the contrary, that these were among all the people; or there were so many to be selected out of them all, who were lefthanded men; nor is it likely that all the inhabitants of one place should be such. Benjamin signifies a son of the right hand, yet this tribe had a great number of lefthanded men in it, see Jud 3:15. Josephus {h} wrongly reduces the number to five hundred:
everyone could sling stones at an hair's breadth, and not miss: the mark they slung the stone at, so very expert were they at it; and perhaps their having such a number of skilful men in this art made them more confident of success, and emboldened them in this daring undertaking, to point to which this circumstance seems to be mentioned. There were a people that inhabited the islands, now called Majorca and Minorca, anciently Baleares, from their skilfulness in slinging stones, to which they brought up from their childhood, as it is related various writers, Strabo {i}, Diodorus Siculus {k}, Floras {l} and others {m}; that their mothers used to set their breakfast on a beam or post, or some such thing, at a distance, which they were not to have, unless they could strike it off; and the first of these writers says, that they exercised this art from the time that the Phoenicians held these islands; and, according to Pliny {n}, the Phoenicians, the old inhabitants of Canaan, were the first inventors of slings, and from these the Benjaminites might learn it. The Indians are said {o} to be very expert in slinging stones to an hair's breadth.
{h} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10. {i} Geograph l. 3. p. 116. {k} Bibliothec. l. 5. p. 298. {l} Roman Cost. l. 3. c. 8. {m} Vid. Barthii Ammadv. ad Claudian. in 3 Consul. Honor. ver. 50. {n} Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. {o} Philoetrat. Vit. Apollon. l. 2. c. 12.
Judges 20:17
Ver. 17. And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin,.... Who did not join them in this affair, but opposed them,
were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: see
Jud 20:9
all these were men of war; inured to it, skilful and courageous.
Judges 20:18
Ver. 18. And the children of Israel arose,.... From Mizpeh, where they were assembled, having heard that the Benjaminites were gathered together to defend the men of Gibeah:
and went up to the house of God; to the tabernacle which was in Shiloh,
Jud 18:31, see Jos 18:1 though the Targum takes Bethel for the name of a place so called; and so do Ben Gersom and Josephus {p}, which was near Shiloh, for Shiloh is said to be on the north side of Bethel,
Jud 21:19 but as there is no reason to believe the tabernacle was now removed from Shiloh thither, so it is not likely they would go to any other place but where the tabernacle ark, and high priest were:
and asked counsel of God; before Phinehas the high priest, according to the judgment of Urim and Thummim, Jud 20:28
and said which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? there being no supreme magistrate, judge, or general, to lead them; they did not ask whether they should go to war or no with their brethren; they made no doubt of that, taking it for granted they had sufficient reason for so doing, and that it was according to the will of God; nor did they inquire whether they should be victorious or not, they made no doubt of being victorious, both from their superior numbers, and the justness of their cause; they only inquire who should lead them on, having no general; and this they might do, to prevent any contentions among them about being precedence:
and the Lord said, Judah shall go up first: which tribe pitched their standard first about the tabernacle, and marched first in their journeys in the wilderness, and was ordered to go up first and fight the Canaanites, being a powerful and warlike tribe.
{p} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10.)
Judges 20:19
Ver. 19. And the children of Israel rose up in the morning,.... After they had had counsel at Shiloh, and which perhaps was by a deputation sent thither:
and encamped against Gibeah: formed a camp near Gibeah of 360,000 men, enough to have stormed and taken that city at once, one would think.
Judges 20:20
Ver. 20. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin,.... From the place where they were encamped:
and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah; not only against the inhabitants of Gibeah, but the children of Benjamin, that came to the defence of them; they formed, themselves in a line of battle, and prepared for an action.
Judges 20:21
Ver. 21. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah,.... Which was their place of rendezvous, and which they came to defend; and in and about which they had stationed their whole army of 26,000 men:
and destroyed down to the ground: killed dead upon the spot:
of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men; wanting but 4000 of their whole number, excepting the men of Gibeah, which was such a rebuff the Israelites did not expect, being engaged in so just a cause, and having such a numerous army. Several Jewish, writers {q} think this was on account of their idolatry, that though they were very zealous to revenge corporeal adultery in the case of the Levite's concubine, and to remove such iniquity from Israel; yet were not zealous to revenge and put away spiritual adultery or idolatry in the case of the Danites, who had set up the image of Micah, and so had spread idolatry not only in their own tribe, but throughout Israel; and therefore God took this opportunity to avenge his own quarrel, and rebuke them for their sin; and now did Benjamin raven as a wolf, according to Jacob's prophecy, Ge 49:27.
{q} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 103. 2. Pirke Eliezer, c. 28. Jarchi & Kimchi in loc.
Judges 20:22
Ver. 22. And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves,.... That though they had lost a great number of men, yet still their forces were large and greatly superior to those of Benjamin, and above all their cause was good:
and set their battle again in array formed a line of battle again facing their enemy, inviting to another battle, and bidding defiance:
and in the place where they put themselves in array the first day; by which it seems they kept the field of battle; though they lost so many men, they did not flee before the children of Benjamin, but stood their ground; nor were they so superstitious as to fancy the place unlucky; nor was it a bad situation they were in, to which their want of success was owing, for then they would have changed it.
Judges 20:23
Ver. 23. And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even,.... The evening of the day in which the battle was fought; not that the whole army went up to Shiloh to the house of God there, but a deputation of them, who lamented their defeat, and the loss of so many lives, but not their sins and transgressions, and particularly the idolatry they had been guilty of:
and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, shall we go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? they seemed to have some doubt, by the loss they sustained, whether they were right in going to war with Benjamin, especially as he was their brother; and therefore the question now is, not who should go up first, which was already determined, but whether they should go at all; and still they do not ask any help of God in battle, nor success, but were depending on their numbers, and the justness of their cause, and therefore neither is promised to them, only they have an answer to their question:
and the Lord said, go up against him; for Benjamin was certainly in the wrong, and therefore the Israelites are directed to go against him, and they also were not sufficiently chastised, nor thoroughly humbled.
Judges 20:24
Ver. 24. And the children of Israel came near,.... To the city of Gibeah, drew nigh to battle:
against the children of Benjamin the second day; for the two battles were fought two days successively.
Judges 20:25
Ver. 25. And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day,.... Flushed with the victory they had obtained the day before:
and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men, all these drew the sword, were armed men; this, with the 22,000 slain the day preceding, made 40,000; the same number singled out from among them by lot to provide food for them, and is thought by some to be the case Deborah refers to, Jud 5:8 and is what is certainly intended in Ho 10:9.
Judges 20:26
Ver. 26. Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came unto the house of God,.... This looks as if the whole body of the army, with other people from parts adjacent, went up to the tabernacle of God in Shiloh:
and wept and sat there before the Lord; not only wept, but continued weeping, and that not merely for their defeat, but for their sins, since it follows:
and fasted that day until even; afflicted their bodies with fasting, which was a token of the humiliation of their souls for their sins:
and offered burnt offering's and peace offerings before the Lord, to make atonement for their sins, and to implore success on their arms.
Judges 20:27
Ver. 27. And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord,.... By the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, and which has the same expression in
Jud 20:18 for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days; in Shiloh, where the tabernacle was.
Judges 20:28
Ver. 28. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,.... Before the ark, ministering before the Lord, which shows that this affair was long before the times of Samson, though placed after them; or otherwise Phinehas must have been more than three hundred years of age, which is not probable {r}. Phinehas's standing before the ark was the posture of the priest when he inquired of the Lord for any by Urim and Thummim; the person that inquired stood before him that was inquired of, as Kimchi observes, and he that was inquired of stood before the Shechinah, or the presence of the divine Majesty, of which the ark was a symbol:
saying, shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? in which the question is put in somewhat different manner than before, not only desiring to know whether it was the will of God they should renew the battle or not, since Benjamin was their brother, but whether they should have success or not; intimating, that if the Lord would bless and help them, they were willing to go up, but if not they chose to desist; for they were fully convinced now they were wrong in depending on their numbers, or the justness of their cause; whereas success depended wholly on the will and pleasure of God, to which they desired to submit:
and the Lord said, go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand; now they are not only directed to go up to the battle, but are promised victory.
{r} Vid. Rainold. de lib. Apocryph. Praelect. 149, 150. p. 345, 353, 354.
Judges 20:29
Ver. 29. And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. For though they were assured of success and victory, yet they thought proper to make use of means: and though their numbers were very great, they had recourse to art and stratagem, and set an ambush in divers places, much in like manner as Israel did for the men of Ai; the two cases being pretty much similar; this ambush was set in the night, as Josephus says {s},
{s} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2.) sect. 11.
Judges 20:30
Ver. 30. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day,.... Not the day following the second battle, since it would take more time to go to Shiloh, and fast and offer sacrifices there, but on the third day from the second battle:
and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times; as they had done on the first and second days of battle.
Judges 20:31
Ver. 31. And the children of Benjamin went out against the people,.... Sallied out of Gibeah upon them, where they had put themselves in array against them:
and were drawn away from the city; the Israelites retreating, and dissembling a flight, which drew the Benjaminites to pursue after them, by which means they were drawn off to a greater distance from the city of Gibeah:
and they began to smite the people, and kill as at other times; at the other two battles;
in the highways; where it seems two ways met:
of which one goeth up to the house of God; to Bethel, as the Targum {t}; or rather to Shiloh, where the house or tabernacle of God was, and was two miles from Gibeah, as Bunting {u} says:
and the other to Gibeah in the field; so called, to distinguish it from the other Gibeah situated on an hill:
about thirty men of Israel; which were killed in this running fight; and it seems as if one part of the army of Israel took one road, and the other the other road, and so divided the army of the Benjaminites that pursued after them.
{t} So the Septuagint, and Noldius, p. 69. No. 345. {u} Travels, &c. p. 121.
Judges 20:32
Ver. 32. And the children of Benjamin said, they are smitten down before us, as at first,.... At the first battle, which gave them great spirit, and they concluded they should have victory, as before:
but the children of Israel said, let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways; pretending to be afraid of them, and not able to face them, and therefore made as if they fled through fear and cowardice, which inspired the Benjaminites with fresh ardour to pursue them closely, and so were drawn from the city to the highways, as expressed in the preceding verse.
Judges 20:33
Ver. 33. And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place,.... The main body of the army, which fled before Benjamin, when they were come to a proper place, stopped, and rose up out of it, and stood in their own defence:
and put themselves in array at Baaltamar; drew up in a line of battle at that place, facing their enemies, in order to engage with them: this place the Targum calls the plains of Jericho, that being the city of palm trees, which Tamar signifies; and so Jarchi interprets it; but these are too far off; it must be some place near Gibeah. Jerom {w} speaks of a little village in his time in those parts, called Bethamari, and may be thought to be this same place; perhaps in the times of the old Canaanites here was a grove of palm trees, in which Baal was worshipped, from whence it had its name:
and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah; or plain of Gibeah, as the Targum; for as the city was built on a hill, at the bottom of it were a plain and fine meadows of grass, and here an ambush was placed at some little distance from the city; and when the army of the Benjaminites were drawn off from it, in pursuit of Israel, these came forth and placed themselves between them and the city.
{w} De loc. Heb. fol. 89. I.
Judges 20:34
Ver. 34. And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel,.... Which, according to Ben Gersom, were the liers in wait; and came from the south, as the Targum says:
and the battle was sore; not between those liers in wait, and the Benjaminites, but between those at Baaltamar, and them who set themselves in battle array against them, and they fought stoutly on both sides:
but they knew not that evil was near them; that there was an ambush laid, by which they were in great danger; they knew nothing of the 10,000 men that were now come out against Gibeah, and were between them and that.
Judges 20:35
Ver. 35. And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel,.... Gave Israel the victory over them at Baaltamar; for notwithstanding all the art and stratagem they used, their numbers and their valour, victory was of the Lord, and to him it is ascribed; for until now Benjamin, though fewer in number, had been always victorious; and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjaminites that day 25,100; which is the total sum of all that were slain of them that day, the particulars of which are afterwards given:
all these drew the sword; were armed men.
Judges 20:36
Ver. 36. So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten,.... Their forces broken and worsted, many being killed:
for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjaminites; at first, and made as if they were afraid of them, and so fled before them, which was only to decoy them to a greater distance from the city Gibeah:
because they trusted unto the liers in wait, which they had set beside Gibeah; that these would not only enter the city, and burn it, but meet the Benjaminites fleeing back to it, when they should turn upon them and smite them, and so cut off all that remained of them.
Judges 20:37
Ver. 37. And the liers in wait hasted,.... When the time was come agreed upon for them to rise out of their ambush:
and rushed upon Gibeah; at unawares, with great force and violence entered the city, and took possession of it; or "extended" {x}, or spread themselves unto it; before they lay close in a narrow compass, but now they put themselves in a regular order, and marched rank and file, and reached from the meadows in which they were, Jud 20:33, to the city:
and the liers in wait drew themselves along; along the city, in every part of it, spread themselves all over it, and made themselves masters of every corner of it; or "made a long sound" {y} with a trumpet, protracted that to a great length, which was done to terrify the inhabitants, or to let the Israelites know they were possessed of the city:
and smote all the city with the edge of the sword; old men, women, and children, who were not able to bear arms.
{x} wjvpy "extenderunt se", Tigurine version. {y} Kvmy "pertraxerunt buccinae sonitum", Paguninus; so Jarchi and Limchi.
Judges 20:38
Ver. 38. Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait,.... Or an appointed time {z} as the Targum; so Kimchi and Abarbinel. There was a time fixed, at which the men of Israel proposed to be at Baaltamar, exactly when the Benjaminites would be drawn at a proper distance from the city, and then the liers in wait were to break forth, and rush upon it, and enter it:
and that they should make a great flame with smoke to rise up out of the city; set it on fire, and cause the fire to burn fiercely, that there might be a large ascent of flame and smoke to be seen afar off; which, when the men of Israel saw, they would know the city was taken.
{z} dewmh "tempus constitutum", Panginus, Montanus, Junius et Tremellius, Piscator.
Judges 20:39
Ver. 39. And when the men of Israel retired in the battle,.... Which is before expressed by their fleeing, and giving place to the Benjaminites, and was only an artifice of theirs, to draw them off from the city:
Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; which was done in the highways leading to Shiloh and Gibeah in the field, Jud 20:31
for they said, surely they are smitten down before us as in the first battle; when the greater number of the Israelites were slain by them.
Judges 20:40
Ver. 40. But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke,.... Fire being set to it by the liers in wait, who had entered it, and who made a large fire, which caused a vast pillar of flame and smoke to arise, which might be seen a great way off:
the Benjamites looked behind them; perhaps at hearing the blowing of the trumpet, and the long sound of that:
and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven; went upwards, and reached to a great height.
Judges 20:41
Ver. 41. And when the men of Israel turned again,.... Turned their faces to the Benjaminites, on whom they had turned their backs; and which they did on hearing the sound of the trumpet, or seeing the flame of the city, or both, and that in order to fight the Benjaminites, and smite them, as now was their opportunity:
the men of Benjamin were amazed; at this strange and sudden change of things, at the sight of the flame of their city behind them, and at the Israelites turning back to fight them, when they thought themselves sure of victory, as at other times:
for they saw that evil was come upon them; that they were in the utmost danger, between two fires, as we usually say, liers in wait behind them, which had seized their city and burnt it, and the army of Israel turning upon them with great spirit and resolution.
Judges 20:42
Ver. 42. Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel,.... And fled from them:
unto the way of the wilderness; what wilderness is not certain, perhaps the wilderness of Judah; they did not turn directly back towards Gibeah, perceiving that was taken, and in the hands of a body of men that would meet them, and therefore they turned on one side towards the wilderness, if happily they could make their escape thither, and shelter themselves:
but the battle overtook them; that is, they that made war, as the Targum, the Israelites that were engaged in battle with them pursued them, and overtook them:
and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them; either the Israelites that came out of their cities to assist their brethren destroyed the Benjaminites as they fled, or the Benjaminites who came out of other cities to Gibeah, these were destroyed in the midst of it with the inhabitants, by the liers in wait, when they entered it.
Judges 20:43
Ver. 43. Thus they enclosed the Benjaminites round about,.... Surrounded them on all sides, the army of Israel being posted in different places, and people coming out of all the cities to their assistance. Josephus {a} says, they were forced into, and cooped up, in a hollow place in a valley, so that they could not escape:
and chased them; or "caused to pursue" {b}; calling after them a pursuit, crying to one another as they went along, saying, pursue them, pursue them; so Jarchi and Kimchi; which cry, as it inspired the pursuers with zeal, so they pursued with terror:
and trod them down with ease; they making no resistance, being quite dispirited; the Targrim is,
"from the house of their rest,''
where they took up their rest, and designed to rest that night, but could not, being so closely pursued, and diligently sought after. Some take "menuchah", rendered "ease", to be the name of a place, from or unto which they were pursued and trodden down, see 1Ch 2:52 and so the Septuagint seems to take it for the name of a place, rendering it, "from Noua":
over against Gibeah, towards the sunrising; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, to the east of Gibeah, there was this overthrow and slaughter made.
{a} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 10.) {b} whpydrh "persequi fecerunt eum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "vel eos", Vatablus.
Judges 20:44
Ver. 44. And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men,.... Just the number they had slain of Israel in the second battle. This is the number of them that were slain when Israel turned upon them, and by that time they got to the east of Gibeah; afterwards 5000 more were slain on the highways, and 2000 near Gidom, as after related:
all these were men of valour; as appears by three times facing and engaging with the army of Israel, so vastly superior to them, and twice beating them.
Judges 20:45
Ver. 45. And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon,.... Which signifies pomegranate; perhaps it was in the form of one, and may be the same as in 1Sa 14:2 where Saul is said to be under a pomegranate tree, or under Rimmon, the rock Rimmon, for that is said to be near Gibeah, as this was. There was a village in the times of Jerom called Remmon, fifteen miles from Jerusalem to the north {c}, but could not be near this rock to have its name from thence; hither the rest of the army fled for shelter:
and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; who were scattered one from another, and as they were found in the highways, and picked up, they were slain one after another, just as ears of corn are gleaned one by one, after the harvest is got in, or as grapes in single berries, after the vintage is over:
and pursued hard after them unto Gidom; which perhaps had its name from the cutting off of the Benjaminites there:
and slew two thousand men of them; that is, 2000 more besides the 5000 before mentioned.
{c} De loc. Heb. fol. 94. B.
Judges 20:46
Ver. 46. So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and thousand men,.... It is before said 25,100 Jud 20:35 here the one hundred are omitted, and the round number of thousands given, which is no unusual way of speaking and writing; the whole army of Benjamin consisted of 26,700 of which 18,000 were slain in the field of battle, 5000 in the highways, and 2000 at Gidom, in all 25,000; and we may suppose one hundred as they were straggling in the road, or found in by places, or are not mentioned with either of the thousands for the sake of a round number, and six hundred fled to the rock Rimmon; as for the other 1000, it is highly probable, they fell in the two first battles, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel rightly suppose; for it is not credible, that though they got such amazing victories, it was without the loss of men, and these are as few as well can be imagined. Jarchi thinks these thousand fled to the cities of Benjamin, and were slain when the Israelites entered them, as after related, Jud 20:48 which is much more probable than a tradition they have, that they went into the land of Romania, and dwelt there. Now all those that were slain were men
that drew the sword; soldiers, not husbandmen, artificers, &c. but armed men:
all these were men of valour; even those that fled, who chose rather to lose their lives than ask for quarter.
Judges 20:47
Ver. 47. But six hundred men,.... Who were all that were left of 26,700
turned and fled to the wilderness; turned out of the highway or common road, and being swift of foot, got to a wilderness; what wilderness is not certain:
unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months; very probably in a cave of that rock, which might be large enough to hold such a number; Saul is said to have just the same number under it, and David had also a like number in a cave at Engedi, 1Sa 14:2, and from hence these men might send out of their number to fetch in provision for them from parts adjacent, after the heat of the action was over, and the rage and fury of the Israelites subsided.
Judges 20:48
Ver. 48. And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin,.... After they had destroyed their army, the city of Gibeah, and the inhabitants of it: not content with this, in their wrath and fury, turned and went,
and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city; even men, women, and children, in every city of Benjamin, at least all that lay in their way; and which they might do to be avenged on them, for sending out their militia against them, which had made such a slaughter among them to the loss of 40,000 men, or to fulfil their oath, that such who came not to Mizpeh should be put to death; for which reason also the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead, as well as of the cities of Benjamin, were put to death, men, women, and children, dealing in the same severity with them as with the Canaanitish nations, or as with a city given to idolatry:
as the beast, and all that came to hand; spared no living creature, herds and flocks:
also they set on fire all the cities that they came unto; which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, so exceedingly wroth were they with them, for protecting such that had been the authors of such abominable wickedness, and for the loss of the lives of so many valuable men.
<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.