Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Judges 21:1) Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, "There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin to wife."
In the last chapter and post, Israel had gone to battle against the tribe of Benjamin because of their wickedness and had destroyed nearly all of them. However, Judges 20:47 told us that six hundred men had escaped and hidden in the rock Rimmon. It seems that before the war had started, when they had convened in Mizpeh (Judges 20:3), the Israelites had vowed that none of the tribes would allow their daughters to marry any Benjamite, probably because of the harsh treatment the men of Gibeah had given the Levite's concubine (Judges 19:25).
(2) And the people came to the house of God and abode there till evening before God and lifted up their voices and sorely wept, (3) And said, "O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?"
The Israelites went to the house of God and stayed there until the evening, weeping before the Lord. In their excessive zealousness they had almost destroyed an entire tribe. As a matter of fact, they may have thought they had destroyed the entire tribe if they did not yet know about the six hundred men hiding out at rock Rimmon. This seems the case as they cried about one tribe lacking in Israel. They felt they had destroyed their brother!
(4) And it came to pass on the next day that the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
The next day the Israelites awoke early in the morning and built an altar where they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. I'm not sure why they built another altar when there was one at the house of God that they had used for the same purposes of burnt offerings and peace offerings in Judges 20:26. If all the people of Israel had met together, perhaps they needed an additional altar because of so many offerings. Perhaps they felt it an extra sacrifice they should do to build another altar because after all, in that day everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6). In any case, the people lamented the loss of their brother tribe Benjamin and made offerings to repent and amend for their sins.
(5) And the children of Israel said, "Who among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the congregation to the Lord?" For they had made a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpeh, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."
It seems the Israelites had made another rash vow in Mizpeh before the war that anyone who did not join the congregation at that time was to be put to death. The people now reflected on their oath and wondered aloud who had not joined them at that time.
(6) And the children of Israel repented for Benjamin their brother and said, "There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day."
The children of Israel repented for what they had done to Benjamin their brother, probably not for the war itself as they felt they fought for a just cause, but because they had taken it much further than it needed to be to defeat Benjamin and had nearly completely destroyed their tribe.
(7) "How shall we do for wives for them who remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters as wives?"
In this we see that the Israelites must have known about the six hundred Benjamites who remained, and also that they must have killed all the Benjamite women and children in the war against their brother. They now regretted their oath to the Lord that they would not let any of their daughters be a wife to a Benjamite. An oath to the Lord was a sacred thing, but if Benjamin were to survive as a tribe, they would either have to void their oath or the Benjamites would have to marry heathens which was forbidden. This was their dilemma as they did not want to see their brother tribe become extinct after all.
(8) And they said, "What one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpeh to the Lord?" And behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. (9) For the people were numbered, and behold, none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there.
The Israelites had also vowed that any tribe that did not join their assembly in Mizpeh before the war would be put to death (verse 5), so they now asked who had not joined them and assisted in the war. It was determined that no one came from Jabesh Gilead, a city on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
(10) And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the valiantest and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. (11) And this thing you shall do, you shall utterly destroy every male and every woman who has lain by man."
The congregation sent 12,000 of the most valiant men to Jabesh Gilead, instructing them to kill every male, even children, and every female who had ever lain intimately with a man. That was in keeping with their oath to kill all who did not help them in the war.
(12) And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by lying with any male, and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
The Israelites found in Jabesh Gilead four hundred virgins who had never lain with men. These they kept alive and brought to the camp at Shiloh. Since the people of Jabesh Gilead never attended the assembly at Mizpeh before the war, they had not taken part in the oath to never let their daughters marry Benjamites. By saving these virgins, they did not void their oath regarding marriages with the Benjamites. However, in saving them, they didn't put to death all in Jabesh Gilead, but then again, the young women would not have gone to war anyway, so this was the best compromise the Israelites could come up with in order to save the tribe of Benjamin from extinction.
(13) And the whole congregation sent to speak to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock Rimmon and to call peaceably to them. (14) And Benjamin came again at that time, and they gave them wives whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; yet they did not suffice them.
The Israelite congregation sent word to speak peaceably with the Benjamites who had isolated themselves at the rock Rimmon. The Benjamites came out, and the Israelites gave them the four hundred virgins as wives for them. However, there weren't enough virgins for all the men, as there were six hundred men and only four hundred virgins.
(15) And the people repented themselves for Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
The Israelites were very sorrowful and repented for what they had done to the tribe of Benjamin. They said the Lord had made the break within their tribes, but it was actually their overzealousness in destroying the Benjamites beyond what was necessary to defeat them. However, the Lord had allowed it. Nothing is allowed to happen that is not within the will of God.
(16) Then the elders of the congregation said, "How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?"
The elders of the congregation pondered what they should do for wives for the two hundred Benjamites who remained of the six hundred. They had saved only four hundred virgins, and they had killed all the Benjamite women, and they had vowed no other tribe would give a daughter to wed a Benjamite.
(17) And they said, "There must be an inheritance for them who are escaped from Benjamin, that a tribe is not destroyed out of Israel. (18) However, we may not give them wives of our daughters for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, 'Cursed he who gives a wife to Benjamin.'"
The elders said that there must be an inheritance for those two hundred men. All of the inheritance of Benjamin now belonged to the six hundred remaining men, and the elders felt that the two hundred must have their part, but since no Israelite could give a wife to the Benjamites, how would this be accomplished?
(19) And they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah."
The elders recalled that there was a feast of the Lord every year in Shiloh in a location they described as north of Bethel, east of the highway that went from Bethel to Shechem, and 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 out of the vineyards and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin."
Evidently, the feast was at hand. The elders told the Benjamite men to go and lie in wait in the vineyards, which must have been adjacent to the place where the feast was held. The daughters of Shiloh were young maidens who dwelt there where the tabernacle was and attended the feast with demonstrations of joy and dancing. When these young women went by dancing, the Benjamite men still lacking wives were to come out of the vineyards and take a young woman of the dancers to be his wife. They were instructed to take their wives immediately back to their tribe.
(22) "And it shall be when their fathers or their brethren come to us to complain, that we will say to them, 'Be favorable to them for our sakes because we did not reserve to each man his wife in the war, for you did not give to them at this time that you should be guilty.'"
The elders went on to explain that when the fathers or brothers of the young women taken came to them to complain about the abduction of their daughters or sisters, they would ask the men to be favorable to the men who took the maidens for the elders' sake, for they had not made sure that every Benjamite would have a wife. In addition, they would not be guilty of breaking a vow to the Lord, for they had not given their daughters in marriage to Benjamites; their daughters had been taken from them. And for their peace of minds, their daughters were not taken by bad men, but men of great estates seeing that only six hundred men divided the entire inheritance of Benjamin, and they should be well taken care of.
(23) And the children of Benjamin did so and took wives according to their number of them who danced whom they caught, and they went and returned to their inheritance and repaired the cities and dwelt in them.
The Benjamites did as they were told and took wives of the dancers according to the number of them who still lacked a wife; that is, two hundred men took two hundred dancers, one for each man. They took their wives and returned to their inheritance to rebuild their cities, and then they dwelt in them.
(24) And the children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.
The Israelites also departed from there and went back to their own tribes and families, back to their own inheritances.
(25) In those days was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Again we are reminded that there was no king in Israel at that time, and every man did what was right in his own eyes. Although we see evidence of men trying to follow God, with no spiritual guidance and leadership, they made up their own rules, and that had resulted in the wickedness in Gibeah, the excessive severity against the Benjamites, the slaughter of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, and the abduction and what could be called rape of the virgins.
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