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Judges 21:1–4
“Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly” (Judg. 21:2).
As we return to our studies in Judges, we find the united tribes of Israel in a much different mood than when we left them on December 7. Then they were completing the near-annihilation of all the people of the tribe of Benjamin. Now they are back before the tabernacle, weeping and making sacrifices, just as they were after their two initial defeats by the Benjamites (20:23, 26). But now they weep not for their own defeats but Benjamin’s! Their smashing victory gives them no joy. Instead, they are sorrowful over their role in the chastening of one of their brother tribes, and for having given a chastening so harsh that, for all intents and purposes, there is “ ‘one tribe missing in Israel.’ ”
We learn in this chapter that when the tribes of Israel gathered in response to the sin of Gibeah, they swore two oaths. First, they vowed that anyone who did not come to the national assembly would be put to death. When the tribe of Benjamin decided to stand behind the men of Gibeah and boycott the assembly, it made itself culpable for the city’s sin and subject to this oath. Second, the Israelites vowed not to marry their daughters to Benjamites. With these oaths, they adopted toward Benjamin the policies God had laid down for their dealings with the pagans of the land (Deut. 7:1–3). Henry notes that they were justified in this, for “God had threatened that, if they forgot Him, they should perish as the nations that were before them perished (Deut. 8:20).” But he also speculates that the Israelites may have gone too far in punishing all the Benjamites: “That it was done in the heat of war, that this was the way of prosecuting victories which the sword of Israel had been accustomed to, that the Israelites were extremely exasperated against the Benjamites for the slaughter they had made among them … will go but a little way to excuse the cruelty of this execution. It is true that they had sworn that whosoever did not come up to Mizpah should be put to death.… But that, if it was a justifiable oath, yet extended only to the men of war; the rest were not expected to come.… It would have been enough to destroy all they found in arms.”
The sorrow of the Israelites here does seem to indicate that their actions are weighing on their consciences. And so it should not surprise us that they soon turn their attention from lamenting the loss of Benjamin to discussing ways to restore the tribe.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Perhaps the Israelites crossed the line separating vengeful punishment from healthy chastening. This can happen with any form of correction. Those who discipline others must begin it in sorrow and make restoration their goal from the start. Parents, elders, employers—prayerfully contemplate your attitudes in your disciplinary duties.
For Further Study
- 1 Corinthians 11:32
- 2 Corinthians 2:6–8
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14–15
- 1 Timothy 1:20