mh_parser/vol_split/7 - Judges/Chapter 21.xml

<div2 id="Jud.xxii" n="xxii" next="Ru" prev="Jud.xxi" progress="21.99%" title="Chapter XXI">
<h2 id="Jud.xxii-p0.1">J U D G E S</h2>
<h3 id="Jud.xxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jud.xxii-p1">The ruins of the tribe of Benjamin we read of in
the foregoing chapter; now here we have, I. The lamentation which
Israel made over these ruins, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.1-Judg.21.4 Bible:Judg.21.6 Bible:Judg.21.15" parsed="|Judg|21|1|21|4;|Judg|21|6|0|0;|Judg|21|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:1-4,6,15">ver. 1-4, 6, 15</scripRef>. II. The provision
they made for the repair of them out of the 600 men that escaped,
for whom they procured wives, 1. Of the virgins of Jabesh-Gilead,
when they destroyed that city for not sending its forces to the
general rendezvous, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.5-Judg.21.7" parsed="|Judg|21|5|21|7" passage="Jdg 21:5-7">ver. 5,
7-14</scripRef>. 2. Of the daughters of Shiloh, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.16-Judg.21.25" parsed="|Judg|21|16|21|25" passage="Jdg 21:16-25">ver. 16-25</scripRef>. And so this melancholy story
concludes.</p>
<scripCom id="Jud.xxii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21" parsed="|Judg|21|0|0|0" passage="Jud 21" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jud.xxii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.1-Judg.21.15" parsed="|Judg|21|1|21|15" passage="Jud 21:1-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.21.1-Judg.21.15">
<h4 id="Jud.xxii-p1.6">Lamentation for the Benjamites; Wives
Provided for the Benjamites. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p1.7">b. c.</span> 1409.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.xxii-p2">1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh,
saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin
to wife.   2 And the people came to the house of God, and
abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and
wept sore;   3 And said, <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p2.1">O Lord</span>
God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there
should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?   4 And it came
to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there
an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.   5
And the children of Israel said, Who <i>is there</i> among all the
tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p2.2">Lord</span>? For they had made a great oath
concerning him that came not up to the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p2.3">Lord</span> to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put
to death.   6 And the children of Israel repented them for
Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from
Israel this day.   7 How shall we do for wives for them that
remain, seeing we have sworn by the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p2.4">Lord</span> that we will not give them of our daughters
to wives?   8 And they said, What one <i>is there</i> of the
tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p2.5">Lord</span>? And, behold, there came none to the camp
from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.   9 For the people were
numbered, and, behold, <i>there were</i> none of the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead there.   10 And the congregation sent thither
twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying,
Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the
sword, with the women and the children.   11 And this
<i>is</i> the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy
every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.   12 And
they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred
young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and
they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which <i>is</i> in the
land of Canaan.   13 And the whole congregation sent
<i>some</i> to speak to the children of Benjamin that <i>were</i>
in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.   14 And
Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which
they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they
sufficed them not.   15 And the people repented them for
Benjamin, because that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p2.6">Lord</span> had
made a breach in the tribes of Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p3">We may observe in these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p4">I. The ardent zeal which the Israelites had
expressed against the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, as it was
countenanced by the tribe of Benjamin. Occasion is here given to
mention two instances of their zeal on this occasion, which we did
not meet with before:—1. While the general convention of the
states was gathering together, and was waiting for a full house
before they would proceed, they bound themselves with the great
execration, which they called the <i>Cherum,</i> utterly to destroy
all those cities that should not send in their representatives and
their quota of men upon this occasion, or had sentenced those to
that curse who should thus refuse (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.5" parsed="|Judg|21|5|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>); for they would look upon such
refusers as having no indignation at the crime committed, no
concern for the securing of the nation from God's judgments by the
administration of justice, nor any regard to the authority of a
common consent, by which they were summoned to meet. 2. When they
had met and heard the cause they made another solemn oath that none
of all the thousands of Israel then present, nor any of those whom
they represented (not intending to bind their posterity), should,
if they could help it, <i>marry a daughter</i> to a Benjamite,
<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.1" parsed="|Judg|21|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. This was made
an article of the war, not with any design to extirpate the tribe,
but because in general they would treat those who were then actors
and abettors of this villany in all respects as they treated the
devoted nations of Canaan, whom they were not only obliged to
destroy, but with whom they were forbidden to marry; and because,
in particular, they judged those unworthy to match with a daughter
of Israel that had been so very barbarous and abusive to one of the
tender sex, than which nothing could be done more base and
villainous, nor a more certain indication given of a mind perfectly
lost to all honour and virtue. We may suppose that the Levite's
sending the mangled pieces of his wife's body to the several tribes
helped very much to inspire them with all this fury, and much more
than a bare narrative of the fact, though ever so well attested,
would have done, so much does the eye affect the heart.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p5">II. The deep concern which the Israelites
did express for the destruction of the tribe of Benjamin when it
was accomplished. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p6">1. The tide of their anger at Benjamin's
crime did not run so high and so strong before but the tide of
their grief for Benjamin's destruction ran as high and as strong
after: <i>They repented for Benjamin their brother,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.6 Bible:Judg.21.15" parsed="|Judg|21|6|0|0;|Judg|21|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:6,15"><i>v.</i> 6, 15</scripRef>. They did not
repent of their zeal against the sin; there is a holy indignation
against sin, the fruit of godly sorrow, which is <i>to salvation,
not to be repented of,</i> <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.7.10-2Cor.7.11" parsed="|2Cor|7|10|7|11" passage="2Co 7:10,11">2 Cor.
vii. 10, 11</scripRef>. But they repented of the sad consequences
of what they had done, that they had carried the matter further
than was either just or necessary. It would have been enough to
destroy all they found in arms; they needed not to have cut off the
husbandmen and shepherds, the women and children. Note, (1.) There
may be over-doing in well-doing. Great care must be taken in the
government of our zeal, lest that which seemed supernatural in its
causes prove unnatural in its effects. That is no good divinity
which swallows up humanity. Many a war is ill ended which was well
begun. (2.) Even necessary justice is to be done with compassion.
God does not punish with delight, nor should men. (3.) Strong
passions make work for repentance. What we say and do in a heat our
calmer thoughts commonly wish undone again. (4.) In a civil war
(according to the usage of the Romans) no victories ought to be
celebrated with triumphs, because, which soever side gets, the
community loses, as here <i>there is a tribe cut off from
Israel.</i> What the better is the body for one member's crushing
another? Now,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p7">2. How did they express their concern? (1.)
By their grief for the breach that was made. They came to the house
of God, for thither they brought all their doubts, all their
counsels, all their cares, and all their sorrows. There was to be
heard on this occasion, not the voice of joy and praise, but only
that of lamentation, and mourning, and woe: They <i>lifted up their
voices and wept sore</i> (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.2" parsed="|Judg|21|2|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), not so much for the 40,000 whom they had lost (these
would not be so much missed out of eleven tribes), but for the
entire destruction of one whole tribe; for this was the complaint
they poured out before God (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.3" parsed="|Judg|21|3|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>There is one tribe lacking.</i> God had taken
care of every tribe; their number twelve was that which they were
known by; every tribe had his station appointed in the camp, and
his stone in the high priest's breast-plate; every tribe had his
blessing both from Jacob and Moses; and it would be an intolerable
reproach to them if they should drop any out of this illustrious
jury, and lose one out of twelve, especially Benjamin, the
youngest, who was particularly dear to Jacob their common ancestor,
and whom all the rest ought to have been in a particular manner
tender of. Benjamin is not; what then will become of Jacob?
Benjamin is become a Benoni, the son of the right hand a son of
sorrow! In this trouble they built an altar, not in competition,
but in communion with the appointed altar at the door of the
tabernacle, which was not large enough to contain all the
sacrifices they designed; for they offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings, to give thanks for their victory, yet to atone for
their own folly in the pursuit of it, and to implore the divine
favour in their present strait. Every thing that grieves us should
bring us to God. (2.) By their amicable treaty with the poor
distressed refugees that were hidden in the rock Rimmon, to whom
they sent an act of indemnity, assuring them, upon the public
faith, that they would now no longer treat them as enemies, but
receive them as brethren, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.13" parsed="|Judg|21|13|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. The falling out of friends should thus be the
renewing of friendship. Even those that have sinned, if at length
they repent, must be forgiven and comforted, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.2.7" parsed="|2Cor|2|7|0|0" passage="2Co 2:7">2 Cor. ii. 7</scripRef>. (3.) By the care they took to
provide wives for them, that their tribe might be built up again,
and the ruins of it repaired. Had the men of Israel sought
themselves, they would have been secretly pleased with the
extinguishing of the families of Benjamin, because then the land
allotted to them would escheat to the rest of the tribes, <i>ob
defectum sanguinis—for want of heirs,</i> and be easily seized for
want of occupants; but those have not the spirit of Israelites who
aim to raise themselves upon the ruins of their neighbours. They
were so far from any design of this kind that all heads were at
work to find out ways and means for the rebuilding of this tribe.
All the women and children of Benjamin were slain: they had sworn
not to marry their daughters to any of them; it was against the
divine law that they should match with the Canaanites; to oblige
them to that would be, in effect, to bid them <i>go and serve other
gods.</i> What must they do then for wives for them? While the poor
distressed Benjamites that were hidden in the rock feared their
brethren were contriving to ruin them, they were at the same time
upon a project to prefer them; and it was this:—[1.] There was a
piece of necessary justice to be done upon the city of
Jabesh-Gilead, which belonged to the tribe of Gad, on the other
side Jordan. It was found upon looking over the muster-roll (which
was taken, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.20.2" parsed="|Judg|20|2|0|0" passage="Jdg 20:2"><i>ch.</i> xx.
2</scripRef>) that none appeared from that city upon the general
summons (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.8-Judg.21.9" parsed="|Judg|21|8|21|9" passage="Jdg 21:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>),
and it was then resolved, before it appeared who were absent, that
whatever city of Israel should be guilty of such a contempt of the
public authority and interest that city should be an anathema;
Jabesh-Gilead lies under that severe sentence, which might by no
means be dispensed with. Those that had spared the Canaanites in
many places, who were devoted to destruction by the divine command,
could not find in their hearts to spare their brethren that were
devoted by their own curse. Why did they not now send men to root
the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, to avoid whom the poor Levite had
been forced to go to Gibeah? <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Judg.19.11-Judg.19.12" parsed="|Judg|19|11|19|12" passage="Jdg 19:11,12"><i>ch.</i> xix. 11, 12</scripRef>. Men are commonly
more zealous to support their own authority than God's. A
detachment is therefore sent of 12,000 men, to execute the sentence
upon Jabesh-Gilead. Having found that when the whole body of the
army went against Gibeah the people were thought too many for God
to deliver them into their hands, on this expedition they sent but
a few, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.10" parsed="|Judg|21|10|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Their
commission is to put all to the sword, men, women, and children
(<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.11" parsed="|Judg|21|11|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), according
to that law (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.10" osisRef="Bible:Lev.27.29" parsed="|Lev|27|29|0|0" passage="Le 27:29">Lev. xxvii.
29</scripRef>), <i>Whatsoever is devoted of men,</i> by those that
have power to do it, <i>shall surely be put to death.</i> [2.] An
expedient is hence formed for providing the Benjamites with wives.
When Moses sent the same number of men to avenge the Lord on
Midian, the same orders were given as here, that all married women
should be slain with their husbands, as one with them, but that the
virgins should be saved alive, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.11" osisRef="Bible:Num.31.17-Num.31.18" parsed="|Num|31|17|31|18" passage="Nu 31:17,18">Num.
xxxi. 17, 18</scripRef>. That precedent was sufficient to support
the distinction here made between a wife and a virgin, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.12" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.11-Judg.21.12" parsed="|Judg|21|11|21|12" passage="Jdg 21:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. 400 virgins
that were marriageable were found in Jabesh-Gilead, and these were
married to so many of the surviving Benjamites, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.13" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.14" parsed="|Judg|21|14|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Their fathers were not present
when the vow was made not to marry with Benjamites, so that they
were not under any colour of obligation by it: and besides, being a
prey taken in war, they were at the disposal of the conquerors.
Perhaps the alliance now contracted between Benjamin and
Jabesh-Gilead made Saul, who was a Benjamite, the more concerned
for that place (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p7.14" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.11.4" parsed="|1Sam|11|4|0|0" passage="1Sa 11:4">1 Sam. xi.
4</scripRef>), though then inhabited by new families.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jud.xxii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.16-Judg.21.25" parsed="|Judg|21|16|21|25" passage="Jud 21:16-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Judg.21.16-Judg.21.25">
<h4 id="Jud.xxii-p7.16">The Virgins of Shiloh
Surprised. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p7.17">b. c.</span> 1409.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jud.xxii-p8">16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How
shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are
destroyed out of Benjamin?   17 And they said, <i>There must
be</i> an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a
tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.   18 Howbeit we may not
give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have
sworn, saying, Cursed <i>be</i> he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
  19 Then they said, Behold, <i>there is</i> a feast of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jud.xxii-p8.1">Lord</span> in Shiloh yearly <i>in a
place</i> which <i>is</i> on the north side of Beth-el, on the east
side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on
the south of Lebonah.   20 Therefore they commanded the
children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
  21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out
to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch
you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the
land of Benjamin.   22 And it shall be, when their fathers or
their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto
them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved
not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them
at this time, <i>that</i> ye should be guilty.   23 And the
children of Benjamin did so, and took <i>them</i> wives, according
to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they
went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities,
and dwelt in them.   24 And the children of Israel departed
thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and
they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.   25
In those days <i>there was</i> no king in Israel: every man did
<i>that which was</i> right in his own eyes.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p9">We have here the method that was taken to
provide the 200 Benjamites that remained with wives. And, though
the tribe was reduced to a small number, they were only in care to
provide each man with one wife, not with more under pretence of
multiplying them the faster. They may not bestow their daughters
upon them, but to save their oath, and yet marry some of their
daughters to them, they put them into a way of taking them by
surprise, and marrying them, which should be ratified by their
parents' consent, <i>ex post facto</i>—<i>afterwards.</i> The less
consideration is used before the making of a vow, the more,
commonly, there is need of afterwards for the keeping of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p10">I. That which gave an opportunity for the
doing of this was a public ball at Shiloh, in the fields, at which
all the young ladies of that city and the parts adjacent that were
so disposed met to dance, in honour of a <i>feast of the Lord</i>
then observed, probably the feast of tabernacles (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.19" parsed="|Judg|21|19|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), for that feast
(bishop Patrick says) was the only season wherein the Jewish
virgins were allowed to dance, and that not so much for their own
recreation as to express their holy joy, as David when he danced
before the ark, otherwise the present melancholy posture of public
affairs would have made dancing unseasonable, as <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.12-Isa.22.13" parsed="|Isa|22|12|22|13" passage="Isa 22:12,13">Isa. xxii. 12, 13</scripRef>. The dancing was very
modest and chaste. It was not mixed dancing; no men danced with
these daughters of Shiloh, nor did any married women so far forget
their gravity as to join with them. However their dancing thus in
public made them an easy prey to those that had a design upon them,
whence bishop Hall observes that the <i>ambushes of evil spirits
carry away many souls from dancing to a fearful desolation.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p11">II. The elders of Israel gave authority to
the Benjamites to do this, to <i>lie in wait in the vineyards</i>
which surrounded the green they used to dance on, and, when they
were in the midst of their sport, to come upon them, and catch
every man a wife for himself, and carry them straight away to their
own country, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.20-Judg.21.21" parsed="|Judg|21|20|21|21" passage="Jdg 21:20,21"><i>v.</i> 20,
21</scripRef>. They knew that none of their own daughters would be
there, so that the parents of these virgins could not be said to
give them, for they knew nothing of the matter. A sorry
<i>salvo</i> is better than none, to save the breaking of an oath:
it were much better to be cautious in making vows, that there be
not occasion afterwards, as there was here, <i>to say before the
angel that it was an error.</i> Here was a very preposterous way of
match-making, when both the mutual affection of the young people
and the consent of the parents must be presumed to come after; the
case was extraordinary, and may by no means be drawn into a
precedent. Over hasty marriages often occasion a leisurely
repentance; and what comfort can be expected from a match made
either by force or fraud? The virgins of Jabesh-Gilead were taken
out of the midst of blood and slaughter, but these of Shiloh out of
the midst of mirth and joy; the former had reason to be thankful
that they had their lives for a prey, and the latter, it is to be
hoped, had no cause to complain, after a while, when they found
themselves matched, not to men of broken and desperate fortunes, as
they seemed to be, who were lately fetched out of a cave, but to
men of the best and largest estates in the nation, as they must
needs be when the lot of the whole tribe of Benjamin, which
consisted of 45,600 men (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.26.41" parsed="|Num|26|41|0|0" passage="Nu 26:41">Num. xxvi.
41</scripRef>), came to be divided again among 600, who had all by
survivorship.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p12">III. They undertook to pacify the fathers
of these young women. As to the infringement of their paternal
authority, they would easily forgive it when they considered to
what fair estates their daughters were matched and what mothers in
Israel they were likely to be; but the oath they were bound by, not
to give their daughters to Benjamites, might perhaps stick with
some of them, whose consciences were tender, yet, as to that, this
might satisfy them:—1. That the necessity was urgent (<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.22" parsed="|Judg|21|22|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <i>We reserved not to
each man his wife,</i> owning now that they did ill to destroy all
the women, and desiring to atone for their too rigorous
construction of their vow to destroy them by the most favourable
construction of their vow not to match with them. "And therefore
for our sakes, who were too severe, let them keep what they have
got." For, 2. In strictness it was not a breach of their vow; they
had sworn not to give them their daughters, but they had not sworn
to fetch them back if they were forcibly taken, so that if there
was any fault the elders must be responsible, not the parents. And
<i>Quod fieri non debuit, factum valet</i>—<i>That which ought not
to have been done is yet valid when it is done.</i> The thing was
done, and is ratified only by connivance, according to the law,
<scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.30.4" parsed="|Num|30|4|0|0" passage="Nu 30:4">Num. xxx. 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jud.xxii-p13"><i>Lastly,</i> In the close of all we have,
1. The settling of the tribe of Benjamin again. The few that
remained returned to the inheritance of that tribe, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.23" parsed="|Judg|21|23|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. And soon after from
among them sprang Ehud, who was famous in his generation, the
second judge of Israel, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.3.15" parsed="|Judg|3|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 3:15"><i>ch.</i>
iii. 15</scripRef>. 2. The disbanding and dispersing of the army of
Israel, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.24" parsed="|Judg|21|24|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. They
did not set up for a standing army, nor pretend to make any
alterations or establishments in the government; but when the
affair was over for which they were called together, they quietly
departed in God's peace, every man to his family. Public services
must not make us think ourselves above our own private affairs and
the duty of providing for our own house. 3. A repetition of the
cause of these confusions, <scripRef id="Jud.xxii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.21.25" parsed="|Judg|21|25|0|0" passage="Jdg 21:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>. Though God was their King, every man would be his
own master, as if there was no king. Blessed be God for
magistracy.</p>
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