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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Judges, Chapter XXI].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC07020.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The ruins of the tribe of Benjamin we read of in the foregoing chapter;
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now here we have,
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I. The lamentation which Israel made over these ruins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:1-4,6,15">ver. 1-4, 6, 15</A>.
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II. The provision they made for the repair of them out of the 600 men
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that escaped, for whom they procured wives,
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1. Of the virgins of Jabesh-Gilead, when they destroyed that city for
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not sending its forces to the general rendezvous,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:5-7">ver. 5, 7-14</A>.
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2. Of the daughters of Shiloh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:16-25">ver. 16-25</A>.
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And so this melancholy story concludes.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud21_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Lamentation for the Benjamites; Wives Provided for the Benjamites.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1409.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There
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shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
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2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till
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even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
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3 And said, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, why is this come to pass in
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Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
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4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose
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early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and
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peace offerings.
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5 And the children of Israel said, Who <I>is there</I> among all the
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tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not
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up to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to
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death.
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6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their
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brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this
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day.
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7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we
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have sworn by the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> that we will not give them of our
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daughters to wives?
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8 And they said, What one <I>is there</I> of the tribes of Israel
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that came not up to Mizpeh to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>? And, behold, there came
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none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
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9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, <I>there were</I> none
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of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
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10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the
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valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the
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inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the
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women and the children.
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11 And this <I>is</I> the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly
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destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
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12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four
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hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any
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male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which <I>is</I>
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in the land of Canaan.
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13 And the whole congregation sent <I>some</I> to speak to the
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children of Benjamin that <I>were</I> in the rock Rimmon, and to call
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peaceably unto them.
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14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them
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wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead:
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and yet so they sufficed them not.
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15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We may observe in these verses,</P>
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<P>
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I. The ardent zeal which the Israelites had expressed against the
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wickedness of the men of Gibeah, as it was countenanced by the tribe of
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Benjamin. Occasion is here given to mention two instances of their zeal
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on this occasion, which we did not meet with before:--
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1. While the general convention of the states was gathering together,
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and was waiting for a full house before they would proceed, they bound
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themselves with the great execration, which they called the
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<I>Cherum,</I> utterly to destroy all those cities that should not send
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in their representatives and their quota of men upon this occasion, or
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had sentenced those to that curse who should thus refuse
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
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for they would look upon such refusers as having no indignation at the
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crime committed, no concern for the securing of the nation from God's
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judgments by the administration of justice, nor any regard to the
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authority of a common consent, by which they were summoned to meet.
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2. When they had met and heard the cause they made another solemn oath
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that none of all the thousands of Israel then present, nor any of those
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whom they represented (not intending to bind their posterity), should,
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if they could help it, <I>marry a daughter</I> to a Benjamite,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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This was made an article of the war, not with any design to extirpate
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the tribe, but because in general they would treat those who were then
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actors and abettors of this villany in all respects as they treated the
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devoted nations of Canaan, whom they were not only obliged to destroy,
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but with whom they were forbidden to marry; and because, in particular,
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they judged those unworthy to match with a daughter of Israel that had
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been so very barbarous and abusive to one of the tender sex, than which
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nothing could be done more base and villainous, nor a more certain
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indication given of a mind perfectly lost to all honour and virtue. We
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may suppose that the Levite's sending the mangled pieces of his wife's
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body to the several tribes helped very much to inspire them with all
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this fury, and much more than a bare narrative of the fact, though ever
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so well attested, would have done, so much does the eye affect the
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heart.</P>
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<P>
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II. The deep concern which the Israelites did express for the
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destruction of the tribe of Benjamin when it was accomplished.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The tide of their anger at Benjamin's crime did not run so high and
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so strong before but the tide of their grief for Benjamin's destruction
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ran as high and as strong after: <I>They repented for Benjamin their
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brother,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:6,15"><I>v.</I> 6, 15</A>.
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They did not repent of their zeal against the sin; there is a holy
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indignation against sin, the fruit of godly sorrow, which is <I>to
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salvation, not to be repented of,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+7:10,11">2 Cor. vii. 10, 11</A>.
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But they repented of the sad consequences of what they had done, that
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they had carried the matter further than was either just or necessary.
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It would have been enough to destroy all they found in arms; they
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needed not to have cut off the husbandmen and shepherds, the women and
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children. Note,
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(1.) There may be over-doing in well-doing. Great care must be taken
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in the government of our zeal, lest that which seemed supernatural in
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its causes prove unnatural in its effects. That is no good divinity
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which swallows up humanity. Many a war is ill ended which was well
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begun.
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(2.) Even necessary justice is to be done with compassion. God does not
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punish with delight, nor should men.
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(3.) Strong passions make work for repentance. What we say and do in a
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heat our calmer thoughts commonly wish undone again.
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(4.) In a civil war (according to the usage of the Romans) no victories
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ought to be celebrated with triumphs, because, which soever side gets,
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the community loses, as here <I>there is a tribe cut off from
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Israel.</I> What the better is the body for one member's crushing
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another? Now,</P>
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<P>
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2. How did they express their concern?
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(1.) By their grief for the breach that was made. They came to the
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house of God, for thither they brought all their doubts, all their
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counsels, all their cares, and all their sorrows. There was to be heard
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on this occasion, not the voice of joy and praise, but only that of
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lamentation, and mourning, and woe: They <I>lifted up their voices and
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wept sore</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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not so much for the 40,000 whom they had lost (these would not be so
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much missed out of eleven tribes), but for the entire destruction of
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one whole tribe; for this was the complaint they poured out before God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>There is one tribe lacking.</I> God had taken care of every tribe;
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their number twelve was that which they were known by; every tribe had
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his station appointed in the camp, and his stone in the high priest's
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breast-plate; every tribe had his blessing both from Jacob and Moses;
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and it would be an intolerable reproach to them if they should drop any
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out of this illustrious jury, and lose one out of twelve, especially
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Benjamin, the youngest, who was particularly dear to Jacob their common
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ancestor, and whom all the rest ought to have been in a particular
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manner tender of. Benjamin is not; what then will become of Jacob?
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Benjamin is become a Benoni, the son of the right hand a son of sorrow!
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In this trouble they built an altar, not in competition, but in
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communion with the appointed altar at the door of the tabernacle, which
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was not large enough to contain all the sacrifices they designed; for
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they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, to give thanks for
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their victory, yet to atone for their own folly in the pursuit of it,
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and to implore the divine favour in their present strait. Every thing
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that grieves us should bring us to God.
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(2.) By their amicable treaty with the poor distressed refugees that
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were hidden in the rock Rimmon, to whom they sent an act of indemnity,
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assuring them, upon the public faith, that they would now no longer
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treat them as enemies, but receive them as brethren,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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The falling out of friends should thus be the renewing of friendship.
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Even those that have sinned, if at length they repent, must be forgiven
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and comforted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+2:7">2 Cor. ii. 7</A>.
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(3.) By the care they took to provide wives for them, that their tribe
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might be built up again, and the ruins of it repaired. Had the men of
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Israel sought themselves, they would have been secretly pleased with
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the extinguishing of the families of Benjamin, because then the land
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allotted to them would escheat to the rest of the tribes, <I>ob
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defectum sanguinis--for want of heirs,</I> and be easily seized for
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want of occupants; but those have not the spirit of Israelites who aim
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to raise themselves upon the ruins of their neighbours. They were so
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far from any design of this kind that all heads were at work to find
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out ways and means for the rebuilding of this tribe. All the women and
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children of Benjamin were slain: they had sworn not to marry their
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daughters to any of them; it was against the divine law that they
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should match with the Canaanites; to oblige them to that would be, in
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effect, to bid them <I>go and serve other gods.</I> What must they do
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then for wives for them? While the poor distressed Benjamites that were
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hidden in the rock feared their brethren were contriving to ruin them,
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they were at the same time upon a project to prefer them; and it was
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this:--
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[1.] There was a piece of necessary justice to be done upon the city of
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Jabesh-Gilead, which belonged to the tribe of Gad, on the other side
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Jordan. It was found upon looking over the muster-roll (which was
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taken,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+20:2"><I>ch.</I> xx. 2</A>)
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that none appeared from that city upon the general summons
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>),
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and it was then resolved, before it appeared who were absent, that
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whatever city of Israel should be guilty of such a contempt of the
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public authority and interest that city should be an anathema;
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Jabesh-Gilead lies under that severe sentence, which might by no means
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be dispensed with. Those that had spared the Canaanites in many places,
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who were devoted to destruction by the divine command, could not find
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in their hearts to spare their brethren that were devoted by their own
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curse. Why did they not now send men to root the Jebusites out of
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Jerusalem, to avoid whom the poor Levite had been forced to go to
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Gibeah?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:11,12"><I>ch.</I> xix. 11, 12</A>.
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Men are commonly more zealous to support their own authority than
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God's. A detachment is therefore sent of 12,000 men, to execute the
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sentence upon Jabesh-Gilead. Having found that when the whole body of
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the army went against Gibeah the people were thought too many for God
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to deliver them into their hands, on this expedition they sent but a
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few,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Their commission is to put all to the sword, men, women, and children
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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according to that law
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+27:29">Lev. xxvii. 29</A>),
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<I>Whatsoever is devoted of men,</I> by those that have power to do it,
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<I>shall surely be put to death.</I>
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[2.] An expedient is hence formed for providing the Benjamites with
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wives. When Moses sent the same number of men to avenge the Lord on
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Midian, the same orders were given as here, that all married women
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should be slain with their husbands, as one with them, but that the
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virgins should be saved alive,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+31:17,18">Num. xxxi. 17, 18</A>.
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That precedent was sufficient to support the distinction here made
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between a wife and a virgin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
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400 virgins that were marriageable were found in Jabesh-Gilead, and
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these were married to so many of the surviving Benjamites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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Their fathers were not present when the vow was made not to marry with
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Benjamites, so that they were not under any colour of obligation by it:
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and besides, being a prey taken in war, they were at the disposal of
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the conquerors. Perhaps the alliance now contracted between Benjamin
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and Jabesh-Gilead made Saul, who was a Benjamite, the more concerned
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for that place
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+11:4">1 Sam. xi. 4</A>),
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though then inhabited by new families.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud21_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud21_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Virgins of Shiloh Surprised.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1409.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do
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for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed
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out of Benjamin?
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17 And they said, <I>There must be</I> an inheritance for them that
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be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of
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Israel.
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18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the
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children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed <I>be</I> he that giveth
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a wife to Benjamin.
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19 Then they said, Behold, <I>there is</I> a feast of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in
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Shiloh yearly <I>in a place</I> which <I>is</I> on the north side of
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Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el
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to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
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20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying,
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Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
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21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to
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dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you
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every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land
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|
of Benjamin.
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22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come
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|
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,
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|
<I>that</I> ye should be guilty.
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|
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:
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|
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.
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25 In those days <I>there was</I> no king in Israel: every man did
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|
<I>that which was</I> right in his own eyes.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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|
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>
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+22:12,13">Isa. xxii. 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+26:41">Num. xxvi. 41</A>),
|
|
|
|
came to be divided again among 600, who had all by survivorship.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+30:4">Num. xxx. 4</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
And soon after from among them sprang Ehud, who was famous in his
|
|
generation, the second judge of Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:15"><I>ch.</I> iii. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The disbanding and dispersing of the army of Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
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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