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More Judges commentaries
Judges 18:1-11
The Danites Search for New Territory
Judges 18:12-31
The Danites Seize Laish
Judges 19:1-10
The Desertion of the Levite Concubine
Judges 19:11-21
Full Hospitality for Weary Travelers
Judges 19:22-30
The Results of Sexual Perversion
Judges 20:1-11
Judgment Must be Rendered
Judges 20:12-23
God’s Law Commanded Death
Judges 20:24-35
The Horrors of a Civil War
Judges 20:36-48
Tricked into Surrender
Judges 21:1-12
The Remorse of the Israelites
Judges 21:13-25
The Ruthless Mind of Man
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The Ruthless Mind of Man
Judges 21:13–25
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper,” she said. “I blow up, and then it’s all over.” “So does a shotgun,” Sunday replied, “and look at the damage it leaves b … More
Two hundred Benjaminites still needed wives, but the vow at Mizpah prevented the Israelites from giving their daughters to them in marriage (v. 18). A convenient way had to be found not only to preserve their vow but also to restore the families of Benjamin (vv. 13-17). This led to the abductions of the dancing maidens (v. 23). At Shiloh it was customary to celebrate the annual feasts with gaiety and dancing. Young girls danced in the open air next to the vineyards. This was a custom that the Israelites had evidently taken from the Canaanites. Suddenly about 200 eager young men came rushing out of the surrounding vineyards, grabbed the girls and made off with them (vv. 23-24). This had all been pre-arranged by the elders of Israel (vv 19-21). They were prepared to answer any complaint of the parents with the story of war and the tragedy by which the former wives were killed (v. 22).
It is evident that the elders of Israel were more concerned about maintaining the integrity of an oath than in protecting the young ladies. This shows how ruthless the mind of man can be when it is not interested in the mind of God. Things like this were bound to happen when “There was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (v. 25). During the time of the Judges, the people of Israel experienced trouble because everyone became his own authority and acted on his own opinion of right and wrong. This produced horrible results. Our world today is similar as individuals and societies have made themselves the final authorities without reference to God.
Application
The fact that “every man did what was right in his own eyes” (v. 25) is a sad commentary on the spiritual condition of the nation in those days. However, there has been times in my own life when I have rationalized something I wanted to do to the point it seemed right in my own eyes. It is also a sad time when I do this even when I know better.
Judges 21:13-25 (English Standard Version)
Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?" And they said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters." For the people of Israel had sworn, "Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin." So they said, "Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah." And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'" And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
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