CHAPTER 15
1. But many days [later], in the days of the wheat harvest, Shimshon [went to] visit his wife with a kid of the goats, and he said, “Let me go to my wife in the [inner] chamber.” But her father would not permit him to go in.
Being the season of wheat harvest (which begins at Shavuoth), Israelites would have to go down to Timnath to bring a certain percentage of their grain as tax, so of course he thought of her when going there. Inner chamber: used in a special sense of the room where the wedding is consummated. The kid would have been a token of appreciation.
2. And her father said, “I truly thought that you really hated her, so I gave her to your companion! Isn’t her younger sister better than she? Please let her become yours instead of her!”
Better: Aramaic, more beautiful. He had already received the bride price, so he knew he owed Shimshon something, and in his nervous recognition that he did the wrong thing, he comes up with a solution he thinks will work for an Israelite. Archaeology tells us that the Filistines liked to learn about other cultures (and absorb their customs), and he shows that he knows the story of Rakhel, whom Yaaqov loved more than her elder sister. He thinks he is doing Shimshon a favor by offering her his “Rakhel”.
3. But Shimshon said, “This time I have been more innocent the Filistines, though I am doing them harm!”
When he killed the 30 Filistines, they were not covered by the Torah, and really should have been destroyed because foreigners who did not keep Torah are not to be allowed to live in YHWH’s Land. But since he had acted out of self-interest then, he felt they would have had a right to complain about it. But now they cannot blame him, because they have wronged him. Yet though he was “right”, he was still wrong. He was still acting from selfish motives, yet YHWH was using his “left hand” to train his “right hand” as he built up his strength and confidence, so that by the time his motives improved he would be fearless. He was serving his left hand, yet YHWH used his right to accomplish his purposes. He would be rewarded insofar as the vengeance on the Filistines took place, but he would still have to pay for what he was “sowing to the flesh”.
4. And Shimshon went and caught 300 foxes and took torches and turned them tail to tail, and put one torch in the middle between the two tails.
Apparently he tied both tails together around the torch. While he worked with the first ones, he may have kept the others in ditches or pits until he was ready for them. One way Israelite settlements are identified by archaeologists is when such pits are found beneath the floor of houses. Wheat kernels stored there have even been found, still intact after 3,000 years!
5. And when he had set the torches on fire, he would let them loose into the Filistines’ standing grain and burn up [everything] from the stacks and the standing stalks to the vineyard [and the] olive tree.
In their fear, they would spin, roll, and run around erratically, lighting many of the drying crops on fire.
6. When the Filistines said, “Who has done this?”, they said, “Shimshon, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because he took his wife away and gave her to his companion.” So the Filistines went up and burned her and her father in the fire.
They were looking for a scapegoat, but they may have known the Torah command that an arsonist must pay for what he destroys. (Ex. 22:6) So they struck where Shimshon would feel the most pain, since they did not dare try to fight him directly.
7. Then Shimshon told them, “If this is how you are going to act, then I will be avenged on you, but [not until] after I finish!”
I.e., We were even, but if you will retaliate again, so will I.
8. Then he attacked them [and struck them down], calf over thigh [with] a huge defeat, then went down and lived in the cleft of the crag of Eytam.
Calf: that is, of the leg. It sounds like he broke their knees and turned their legs backwards, or at least turned them upside down. The Aramaic interprets this as an idiom for “horsemen along with footmen.” Eytam: the name means “lair of wild beasts” or “swooping down like a bird of prey.” Shimshon went, at the same time of year, to the kind of place Moshe had gone to ask YHWH to reveal Himself, because he was frustrated and did not know what to do next.
9. When the Filistines started coming up and camping in Yehudah and making raids on Lekhi,
Eytam is either in Shim’on’s territory (which is intermingled with Yehudah’s) or a town of Yehudah between Beyth Lechem and Hevron—though the latter would entail going up, not down, to get to from Filistine territory. In any case, Yehudah, not his own tribe of Dan, is held responsible for harboring him:
10. the men of Yehudah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to tie up Shimshon, [so we can] do to him as he has done to us!”
The men: literally, a man.
11. So 3,000 men of Yehudah went down to the cleft of the crag of Eytam and said to Shimshon, “Don’t you realize that the Filistines are dominating us? So what is this you have done to us?” But he told them, “I did to them as they did to me!”
It should not take that many men to subdue Shimshon (those his next act calls even that into question), but they were afraid of the Filistines’ revenge, and want to show them that they are taking their concern seriously; it is a political move. As with Moshe, he is seen as making it harder on them rather than as a deliverer, so they do not even consider making this strong man their military leader, but rather join together in their fear to show Shimshon that this is not just a few men’s opinion, but the majority thinks he is doing things the wrong way. They see him as a wild man who has lost his senses.
12. But they said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Filistines.” So he told them, “Swear to me so that you won’t attack me yourselves.”
They were willing to sacrifice him for “peace”, as many men of Yehudah are doing now with the Land that YHWH gave and the people who are trying to hold onto it. But being betrayed by his brothers makes him recognize how until now he has been betraying them by being so friendly with their oppressors. With such pious parents, he surely must have known the story of Moshe at Mt. Sinai, and he must have been struck by both the similarity of his situation with Moshe’s—and the difference. Moshe had been in the cleft of the rock on behalf of all Israel, but he is there only for himself. He takes the rebuke as from YHWH.
13. So they spoke to him to say, “No, because we will take you, bound, as prisoner and hand you over to them, but we will certainly not kill you.” And they tied him up with two fresh cords and brought him up from the cliff.
Fresh cords: made of vines that were still green, and therefore not easy to break. Yet he goes with them peacefully, recognizing that, as his parents had told him so often, he was supposed to be acting on behalf of Israel, and was not being faithful to that.
14. When he arrived at Lekhi, the Filistines [came] to get him, shouting triumphantly. But the spirit of YHWH rushed on him [to make him effective], and the cords that were on his arms became like flax that had been burnt by fire, and his bonds started dropping away from his hands.
The spirit of YHWH: Aramaic, a spirit of power from before YHWH. Dropping away: literally, melting.
15. And he found a [still] putrefying jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and snatched it up, and beat a thousand men [to death] with it.
Still-putrefying: moist, or dripping; he would have become corpse-unclean by this again, unless he tore it from a live donkey, and it was still dripping with blood. The Aramaic targum simply says he found the jawbone in the mud, in which case it would be moist as well. In any case, it was not yet brittle and thus would not crumble as he used it.
16. Then Shimshon said, “With the jawbone of the donkey…A donkey! Two heaps! With the jawbone of the donkey, I have beaten a thousand men [to death]!”
A donkey…heaps: He is thinking poetically, for the Hebrew word for heap is khamorah, which sounds like it should be the feminine equivalent of the word for donkey, which is khamor. This occurs to him and he sees the humor in it. A light comes on and he sees the Filistine people not as people to marry but as asinine.
17. Then when he had finished speaking, what he did was throw the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place “Ramath Lekhi” [Jawbone Height].
18. But he was becoming extremely thirsty, so he called to YHWH and said, “You have given this great deliverance into the hand of Your servant, but now I am dying of thirst, and will fall into the hand of the uncircumcised!”
At last he is recognizing YHWH’s hand in his bouts of great strength. He clearly did not assume the strength would be there at just any time that he wanted it, and he finally submits himself as servant—at least for the time being. Note that it would be a far worse thing for him to fall into the hands of the Gentiles than to simply die of thirst.
19. And Elohim split open the hollow place that is at Lekhi, and water came out of it. As he drank, his spirit began to return, and he revived. On account of this, its name is called Eyn haQore’ [Spring of the One Who Calls], which is in Lekhi to this day.
Hollow place: the term is used today for huge craters on the earth’s surface left by the erosion of softer stone. At Lekhi: or possibly even, in the jawbone, for it is truly ambiguous here. The Aramaic version does take it as flowing from a molar in the jawbone! If it is the latter, this would truly be another case of provision coming out of something unclean in the time of emergency need. If the former, the water from a rock gives him another point of identification with Moshe, and he steps up to the challenge of being a leader as he was:
20. And he judged Israel in the days of the Filistines for twenty years.
This act of his, and possibly also the miracle of the water, also finally make the people recognize that he is supposed to be their leader. The Filistines are still a problem, but they no longer rule Israel; Shimshon does. David was chosen to rule because he knew how to lay his life on the line for sheep; Even Sha’ul was out looking for lost animals when he was called up to be king. Likewise, Shimshon is learning—albeit the hard way--to care for his people. The wheat harvest is the time for this, as the Counting of the Omer that immediately precedes it (Lev. 23:15) is all about finding out how each of us can most effectively build up the body. (Efesians 4) He will prove to still be inclined to trouble, but this recognition at least allows him to take his place as ruler of his people.
CHAPTER 16
1. When Shimshon went to ‘Azzah, he saw a woman of prostitution there, and he went in to her.
‘Azzah: i.e., Gaza, a city much in the news in our day. It seems this visit was an afterthought, not the reason he came. Did he, like some earlier Israelites who visited a prostitute, go into this enemy city as a spy? Prostitution is forbidden within Israel; it is considered senseless and a disgrace to one’s father. (Deut. 22:21; compare Gen. 34:7, 31 and 38:24.) Not that it was never found in Israel, but this is because Israel actually rarely walked in the Torah. By Y’shua’s time it was common (Mat. 21:31-32), but it was not long after this that the nation fell apart. YHWH considers it the first step to the whole Land becoming filled with lewdness. (Lev. 19:29) If this one thing is let slide, it is “all downhill from there”. But note that it is the father’s responsibility not to allow it; it is really just a sign of the loss of respect and honor due one’s parents. It loosens the rest of the Torah, and soon responsible living is out the window. Thus it is never to be brought into Israel. But there seems to be no prohibition against dishonoring one’s enemies in this way. Shimshon was already a judge of Israel; if he uses a prostitute in a foreign city, it is probably because he is flaunting the fact of how easy it was for him to just enter the city unobstructed and taking whatever he wants since the Filistines no longer have their grip on Israel’s throat. Hence their strong desire to get rid of the one who defended her.
2. The ‘Azzathites were told, “Shimshon has come here!” So they surrounded [it] and set an all-night ambush for him at the city gate, and remained silent all night, saying, “[Wait] until the morning light; then we will kill him!”
Remained silent: or, dug in, devised a plot.
3. But Shimshon lay down until midnight, then got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city’s gate and the two sideposts, along with the bar, set them on his shoulders, and took them up to the top of the mountain that is on the face of Hevron!
Now how could they wait outside the gate? There was no gate! But wouldn’t this have slowed him down enough to capture him? The men lying in wait may have fallen asleep since they did not expect him until the morning. Or they may simply not have dared to attack a man who could carry away the city gate, even though they far outnumbered him, realizing they had underestimated his strength. And this was not just across the next field; Hevron is about 35 miles from ‘Azzah, and it is all uphill! This gives new meaning to “possessing the gate of his enemies”! (Gen. 22:17) Here it would be visible from afar off, both to the east and west, and would serve as a “war memorial”. Apparently his encounter with the prostitute did not make YHWH take His spirit away from Shimshon. As he operated in his proper role now, the strength seemed to remain with him rather than just coming occasionally.
4. And after this he came to love a woman in the Soreq [River] Valley, and her name was D’lilah.
We are not told whether D’lilah was an Israelite or a Filistine. But her name means “feeble”—definitely an “unequal yoke” for him! This should have signaled him to stay away, lest she bring him down into a position of feebleness as well. And Soreq means “choice grapes” or “choice wine”—certainly no place for a Nazir to spend time! It seems women still were this strong man’s real weakness.
5. And the rulers of the Filistines came up to her and said, “Persuade him to open up, and find out wherein his great strength [lies], and by what [means] we might overpower him, so we can tie him up and bring him down, and we each [promise to] give you 1,100 [pieces of] silver.”
Bring him down: weaken, humiliate, afflict, or keep busy (so he stays “out of trouble”). She lives up to her bad name, being willing to sell out one who loved her. With her name, she has no motivation not to cave in to the influence of a bribe.
6. So D’lilah said to Shimshon, “Please tell me wherein your great strength [lies] and what it would take to bring you down! With what could you be tied [down]?”
She assumes he must have some “Achilles heel”. And they assume tying him up is the way it could be revealed. He has already shown that he could burst the ropes with which he was tied. But he plays along with her assumption:
7. So Shimshon told her, “If they were to tie me up with seven fresh cords [of excessive length] that have never been dried, then I would be as weak as anyone [else].”
Fresh cords: The ropes he broke in 15:14 must have been old ones! So try this Cords of excessive length: possibly bowstrings, since they “get longer” when used. Anyone: literally, [only] one person—for now he still had the strength of many, as evidenced by his great feats.
8. And the rulers of the Filistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.
9. Now there was an ambush waiting for her in the innermost room, and she said to him, “Filistines are upon you, Shimshon!” And he snapped the cords as a strand of flax-tow is snapped when it senses a fire, so [the source of] his strength was not found out.
Flax tow: what is shaken from the flax when beaten. Senses: literally, smells. By speaking of strands, he was actually giving hints at his hair being part of the secret.
10. And D’lilah said to Shimshon, “Aha! You mocked me, and have been telling me lies! Please tell me what you could be tied down with!”
Mocked: trifled with, scorned me, shown me no respect, or possibly, “kept me in suspense” (thalal as opposed to hathal).
11. So Shimshon said, “If they were to tie me up [really well] with new interwoven cords with which no work has been done, then I would be as weak as anyone [else].”
A threefold cord is not easily broken—but interwoven cords would suggest the braids of his hair, so he is actually giving her hints.
12. So D’lilah took new interwoven cords and tied him up with them, and said to him, “Filistines are upon you, Shimshon!” while the ambush waited in the inner room. But he snapped them off his arms like thread.
Why does he keep allowing her to do this, when he knows she has at least one accomplice? He seems to simply have enjoyed teasing her, thinking it would always be only a joke.
13. Then D’lilah said to Shimshon, “Thus far you’ve mocked me and have been telling me lies! Tell me what you could be bound with!” So he told her, “If you were to weave the seven braids of my head [in] with the [unfinished product on the] loom…”
He is getting closer to giving away the secret of his strength. Unfinished product: called a “web”.
14. So she fastened it with a pin, then said to him, “Filistines are upon you, Shimshon!” And he awoke out of his sleep, and started to drag away the pin, the shuttle, and [what was on] the loom!
This hints at his having been asleep every time she set him up for the ambush. Drag away: or travel with. I.e., it was as if it weighed nothing, though he was all tangled up with it.
15. So she said to him, “How can you say ‘I love you’ while your heart is not with me? These three times you have mocked me, and have not told me wherein your great strength [lies]!”
She clearly has a different definition of love than he does.
16. So it came about that since she pressed him every day with her words and urged him [so strongly] that his soul was shortened to death
“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!” He had been warned by his first wife’s behavior that it was not safe to entrust his secrets to women. (Compare Gen. 3:17; Mikha 7:5.) He should have strengthened his area of vulnerability, but instead he plays with fire. Shortened: vexed, made impatient, reaped, harvested. I.e., he got so tired of hearing it that he finally gave in. Y’shua warned us that persistence could have this effect. His emotions were just that—his—so if he owned them, why was he surrendering to them?
17. and he revealed his whole heart to her, and told her, “A razor has never come upon my head, because I am a Nazir of Elohim from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved [bald], then my strength will depart from me, and I will be as weak as anyone [else].”
He now speaks in a definite rather than the indefinite, theoretical tense that he has used all along up to this point. Revealed his whole heart: Until this point, he had demonstrated that, like the vain Avshalom who also had long hair, he enjoyed showing off. But he had not advertised the fact that he was a Nazir. If he had anything to be arrogant about, that was it, but he kept that card hidden. He knew how serious this was; unlike Avshalom, his long hair was something truly sacred. Now he “gave what was holy to the dogs”, and indeed they turned on him. (Mat. 7:6)
18. When D’lilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and summoned the rulers of the Filistines, saying, “Come up this time, because he has told me all [that is in] his heart.” So the rulers of the Filistines came up to her, and brought the silver along in their hand.
19. And she [lulled] him to sleep on her knees, then called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head, then she began to browbeat him. But his strength was departing from him.
Browbeat: or humble, humiliate, afflict. Simply shaving his head was in itself symbolic of humiliation. But it was not his hair itself that was his strength, but his obedience to YHWH. Now he had foolishly forfeited the support that came with that obedience by telling the secret to one who only wanted to sell it—a merchant. As we near the days when Y’shua said even relatives would betray one another, we must gain the discipline to keep our mouths shut!
20. When she said, “Filistines are upon you, Shimshon!”, he awoke out of his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out like [I did] time after time [before] and shake myself [free].” But he was not aware that YHWH had removed [Himself] from [being] upon him.
He had put himself in a position to have his vow violated, and even though he did not do so himself, he forfeited YHWH’s help while presuming everything would be just as it had been at other times. He took the strength for granted, having gotten used to having it there whenever he wanted, when it was really only there because YHWH allowed it. Like Avshalom, he tried to live on his father’s reputation of holiness and yet get away with giving in to his own desires. Like David, his father might not have disciplined him, for the keeping of this vow was really his parents’ responsibility, since they initially agreed to it on his behalf. Fear of doing the wrong thing—or simply too much respect for someone who was strong but still not wise—may have kept them from doing anything about his inclinations. They left it all up to YHWH.
21. So the Filistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, then brought him down to ‘Azzah, [where] they bound him with bronze fetters, and he was grinding [out grain] in the house of those imprisoned.
It was his eyes that had gotten him into trouble with women so many times, so this was a fitting judgment, grisly though it was. He had lost his focus, and now love had literally made him blind. Now “hard labor” truly was difficult for him, for, though he could still do it, he was indeed now “like just one man”.
22. But the hair of his head began to grow [back as soon] as he was shaven clean.
This defeat was a setback, but did not have to be final. Like any Nazir, he could start over.
23. Now the Filistine rulers gathered themselves together to offer a great slaughter to Dagon, their idol, and to make merry, as they said, “Our deity has given our enemy Shimshon into our hand!”
Idol, deity: as described in Aramaic; the Hebrew word is elohim in both cases. The name of Dagon, the god of this “sea people”, means “the great fish”. And even when they settled on the land and started growing crops, its name was like the word for “grain”—dagan. How convenient! Archaeologist William F. Albright though it might have indeed been a god of vegetation. A fish-tailed deity appears on coins from Ashqelon, and other depictions show it as a man with large fish-like lips. Its worship seems to have first appeared around 2,500 B.C.E. In Y’hoshua’s time, two settlements in Kanaan had been called “House of Dagon”. (Y’hoshua 15:41; 19:27)
24. When the people saw him, they started boasting about their idol, because they said, “Our deity has handed over to us our enemy and the one who laid our land waste and who multiplied our slain!”
25. And it was when their heart was delighted that they said, “Call for Shimshon so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Shimshon from the house of the imprisoned, and he brought laughter to their faces. Then they stood him between the pillars.
Heart was delighted: probably with an abundance of wine—imported, of course, since Shimshon had burned their vineyards! This time his head is clear. Entertain: They may have asked him to lift some heavy items just to parade the fact that he no longer could. The pillars: Temples to Dagon have been found in several locations with the same design. At Beyth-She’an one can clearly see the bases of two such pillars that are about a meter in diameter and a little bit further apart, so that he would have been able to reach them both at the same time. On these two pillars the main weight of the whole building rested.
26. Then Shimshon said to the servant-boy who was steadying his hand, “Let me rest, and let me feel the pillars on which the house is established, so I can lean on them.”
He pretended to still be weak and exhausted so as not to raise any suspicion, but he had a plan, and gave YHWH something to work with.
27. Now the house was filled with the men and women, and all the rulers of the Filistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women watching [them] make fun of Shimshon.
28. And Shimshon called out to YHWH and said, “My Master YHWH! Please remember me, and strengthen me, please, just this once, O Elohim! And let me get one revenge on the Filistines for my two eyes!”
Called out to: LXX, wept before. Literally, let me be avenged one vengeance. The emphasis may be on destroying so many “with one blow”. He was a ruler in Israel and belonged to YHWH, so this was not an arrogant thing to ask for. Like David, he asks for his enemies to be killed not just for YHWH’s sake, but for his own. Since he has brought wrath on men for YHWH’s sake, he can ask YHWH to do the same for him. We are not to touch YHWH’s anointed; how much more important are those He treasures than our possessions? He was valuable, so this abuse deserved more than acquiescence, though he had deserved the humbling. Vengeance is YHWH’s, yet He brings it through men. Do not let yourself be cheated out of this right by an overgrown sense of humility.
29. Then Shimshon grasped [with a twisting motion] the two central pillars on which the house was established and supported, one with his right hand and one with his left.
Right and left: possibly symbolic of his “two eyes”, for he would not only get revenge with his “right eye” on those who would dare to give credit to a pagan deity; he would also finally put an end to his “left eye”—the evil inclination that had gotten him into this predicament.
30. And Shimshon said, “I myself will perish with the Filistines!” And he gave a mighty thrust and the house fell on the rulers and all the people who were in it. And the toll of those he killed at his own death was more than those he had killed during his life.
YHWH did respect this plea for an opening to repent and fulfill his calling, though he knew it was the last thing he would do. He would have also been obeying the command to break down the idols that had been allowed to be set up in YHWH’s Land. An idol of Dagon was defaced at another time as well (1 Shmu’el 5), yet despite these clear displays of YHWH’s superiority, the worship of Dagon continued to spread even into Mesopotamia for centuries after this. A temple to him was built at Mari in the 18th century B.C.E., and at Ugarit in the 14th. As late as 701 B.C.E., Sennakheriv of Assyria mentions him by name.
31. And his brothers and all of his father’s household came down and carried him off and took him up and buried him between Tzor’ah and Eshtha’ol in his father Manoakh’s tomb. And he had judged Israel twenty years.
Shimshon died an early death, apparently with no heir, because of his wrong choices. Yet YHWH used even this “vessel chosen for destruction” to accomplish His purpose as well.
CHAPTER 17
1. Now there was a man from the mountainous [region] of Efrayim, and his name was Mikhayahu.
Mikhayahu means “Who is like YHWH?”
2. And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 [pieces of] silver which were taken from you, and you pronounced a curse and you also spoke in my hearing—look! Here is the silver with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “My son is blessed for YHWH.”
1,100 pieces of silver: It is difficult not to connect this to D’lilah, who was paid this same amount by the Filistines to betray Shimshon. (16:5) Was she Mikhayahu’s mother? If so, was Shimshon his father? Though this is a strong hint, the scribe who wrote this account may have had the discretion to hesitate to directly give this man that much credit, since what he did was not very honoring to one as prominent as his father. Pronounced a curse: probably on whomever stole her money. Now that he returns it, she rescinds the curse, as she argues that he at least has the decency to confess his sin, even if he is just afraid of the curse alighting on him. If he is Shimshon’s son, he is as spoiled as his father was.
3. When he had given his mother back the 1,100 [pieces of] silver, his mother said, “I had completely dedicated the silver to YHWH from my hand for my son to make a carved image and a cast [metal] image, so now I am giving it back to you!”
How ironic that she was already planning to give it to him anyway, though it was for a purpose. Now that she sees evidence that YHWH does have some influence in his life, she puts him in charge of her religious project. Cast: or, melted and poured. Why would she be dedicating money to YHWH to do something He had commanded not to make? This shows how confused Israel had become, ands Shimshon had apparently not set them back on track very well. Though he had been a leader in throwing off the Filistines’ yoke, he did not teach the knowledge of YHWH.
4. But he gave the silver back to his mother, so his mother took 200 [pieces of the] silver and gave them to a refiner, and he made it a carved image and a cast [metal] image, and it came to be in the house of Mikhayahu.
This strange back-and-forth exchange ends with his apparent refusal since he does not feel worthy of such a task, having robbed his own mother. Refiner: smelter or founder. If she had dedicated all of it to YHWH, why does she now diminish the amount? The next verse may give us a clue as to what was done with the rest:
5. Now the man Mikhah had a house of elohim, and he made an efod and trafim, then he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he came to serve as a priest for him.
Mikhah: a shortened version of Mikhayahu, from which YHWH’s name is now missing. An efod is part of the garb of the high priest. Such a thing had caused trouble for Gid’on; would this man not have learned from that? Yet he was so eager to serve something that he made one anyway. Trafim are an idolatrous accoutrement that the etymology of the word tells us had something to do with healing. Filled the hand: an idiom for ordaining someone for a special task, especially used of the priesthood.
6. (In those days there was no king in Israel, and [each] man did [what was] right in his own eyes.)
The king was to write for himself a copy of the Torah upon accession to his throne (Deut. 17:18), so that he would enforce the Torah. With no king to do so, the people retained some recollection of YHWH, yet it was mixed with all the things they had learned from the other nations with whose ideas they were enamored. At this time there was no particular oppressor, but the people still perished for lack of knowledge. (Hos. 4:6) They were kept low simply by the fact that there was no leader. The elohim of the peoples around them still owned them, though they were not aware that they were still enslaved. They felt free; they could do whatever they wanted.
7. Now there was a lad from Beyth-Lekhem of Yehudah, from a family of Yehudah, though he was a Levite and had sought hospitality there.
8. Then the man went from the city—from Beyth-Lekhem of Yehudah—to seek hospitality wherever he might find [a place], and he ended up in the mountainous [region] of Efrayim, working his way as far as the household of Mikhah.
Note how individualistic this Levite was, when he should have been assigned to a particular task in support of the priests in YHWH’s sanctuary. (Num. 8:19-24) This man may have been too young to fill his role, as Levites began the first stage of their service at age 20, but he should have been at least being trained for it rather than being an itinerant. Working his way: He had apparently had enough money to make it this far and no further, so he stopped to earn more, possibly planning to keep free-lancing thereafter. We know from Ruth chapter 1 that there was a famine in Beyth-Lekhem in the days of the judges. Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews 5:9:1) places this after the death of Shimshon, so this may also have been the reason this Levite left Beyth-Lekhem. But why was he there to begin with? Beyth-Lekhem was not one of the cities that had been designated for the Levites where those from other tribes were to come learn from them.
9. And Mikhah said to him, “Where do you come from?” So he told him, “I am a Levite. I am from Beyth-Lekhem of Yehudah, and I am going to stay wherever I can find [a place].”
10. So Mikhah said to him, “Live with me, and come to serve as a father and a priest for me, and I will given you ten [pieces] of silver for the days, an order[ed set] of garments, and your sustenance.” So the Levite proceeded
Even the Levites were up for hire. For the days: possibly the feast days, in addition to his regular room and board, but this may be an idiom for “per year”. It is not a very large salary, compared to what D’lilah had been paid, but he at least “had a job”.
11. and the Levite accepted [the invitation] to stay with the man, and the lad became to him as one of his sons.
He was hired to be a father (counselor) to him (compare Gen. 14:8), but instead he was treated like a son, possibly doing the bidding of the one who hired him rather than teaching him YHWH’s ways, which a priest was to do (Mal’akhi 2:7), but which he himself may have even forgotten by now. He was given a particular job, so, like most pastors today, he overlooked the idolatry in the one who hired him, and simply did what he was asked to do.
12. And Mikhah filled the hand of the Levite, and he came to serve as a priest to him, and he came to be [part of] the household of Mikhah.
13. Then Mikhah said, “Now I have come to be sure that YHWH will treat me well, since the Levite has become a priest for me!”
He treats this priest as a “good-luck charm”, thinking it auspicious to have a “real” Levite as his priest rather than just his own son as before. His lot had improved! This felt more “authentic”, but he only did it for the blessing he would receive because of this, and thus he remained far outside of YHWH’s will, because Israelites were not each to hire their own private priests; they were meant to serve the whole nation together in one place, or teach from cities designated within each tribe’s territory. (Y’hoshua 21) He is “in control” now, even though YHWH’s name has been removed from him. Why is this story here? Possibly to let us know what became of the money D’lilah had received for betraying Shimshon. Possibly as an example of what not to do. (1 Qorinthians 10:11) But it is also a prophecy. Someone coming out of Beyth-Lekhem and finding more of a home among Efrayim sounds very much like Y’shua. (See especially Yochanan 11:54.) Yet this man is a Levite, not actually from Yehudah. Right away this does not seem right. This priest is a “personal mediator”. The church has often used the term “personal savior”, originally to emphasize the fact that one’s father’s faith will not carry one through if he does not also make it his own. But it has come to be a cliché that fits in well with today’s “personal-sized pizzas”, “personal computers”, and “personal trainers”. The context is the “mountains of Efrayim.” Mountains are often symbolic of worship places. So this is about the spirituality of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (often called Efrayim since its first king was from the tribe of Efrayim). The one he served had a “house of elohim”; who has not heard a church referred to as the “house of G-d”? He has a carved image (possibly of wood) and a molded metal image—a crucifix (at least figuratively)! He is wholly funded by his mother, who had betrayed the “king of Israel” to his death. What she is about is silver, which in Scripture often symbolizes blood as well. The Church teaches much about “the blood” but is really after silver. (One of the main reasons it required priests to be celibate was so their possessions would come back to the Church when they died, rather than being dissipated as inheritance to children.) Efrayim’s literal mother was an Egyptian. By the time the prophecy began to be fulfilled, there was no king in Israel, but there was one who had been proclaimed king in Yehudah, but the one who wanted to be a “priest” (though he did not have the authority to be) did not like the way the Jews did things. So they trade the life of the king for something illegal. With what is set apart, he finds one who is walking in lawlessness—who is not a priest, but takes on that role and is called a “father”—a picture of the “man of lawlessness” who pretends to be Y’shua (the “vicar of Christ”). He even comes from Y’shua’s hometown, yet that is not his true place of origin. Considering the old priesthood to be done away with, he ordains his own new priesthood with its own distinctive clothing—a white collar that goes from shoulder to shoulder like an efod. He establishes his own holy days. And still he attributes everything to YHWH. He is given ten pieces of silver. Five silver sheqels represents one symbolic congregation of ten men (for each man is worth half a sheqel, Ex. 30:13-15) So this is a very large congregation—one twice as big as it should be, for it is considered “universal”—encompassing anyone and everyone. Y’shua warned us of the wolves that would sneak in after he was no longer with us—when we were “shepherded” by hired men who would do their own thing but not protect the sheep from error or abuse. (Yochanan 10) This is a detailed blueprint of the deception that was to come, given long before the Kingdom of Israel divided into Yehudah and Efrayim. Every word, every phrase here is a witness to it. The way to escape this compounding confusion (which is our need today) is to fire the counterfeit priest and go back to those who teach the proper order, which the Torah establishes in detail. Then there can be a king in Israel again!
CHAPTER 18
1. In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking [to secure] property on which to reside, because to that day, nothing among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them by way of a heritable possession.
No king: First and foremost this indicates that they are not following YHWH’s Torah, for if they had recognized Him as the true king as Gid’on had done, they would not have had carved images or a false priesthood. Over two hundred years after Y’hoshua assigned their inheritance, they still had no land to call their own? Had they been slack to take it? (Y’hoshua 18:3) We know that even in the days of the kings some of the area YHWH had commanded them to take had not yet been claimed. (1 Kings 22:3) How much more, when they had no king at all to press them into obedience? Yet the Danites clearly have inhabited the area assigned to them by Y’hoshua. It does not seem that they are dissatisfied with their Lot; rather, some of their area had been occupied by the Filistines, and they had most likely been limited to a few cities, and, like the Levites, did not have enough land to support the larger population that a few generations had produced since Y’hoshua’s time. (See also note on verse 27.)
2. So the sons of Dan sent out from their clan five men from within their borders—capable sons from Tzaur’ah and from Eshta’ol—to traverse the Land and try to find [some]. Now they told them, “Go and search out the Land!” When they had gotten as far Mikhah’s house in the mountains of Efrayim, they lodged there [for the night].
Tzaur’ah was Shimshon’s hometown. Eshta’ol had actually been in Yehudah’s territory at first (Y’hoshua 15:33), so this may again show that Dan was being crowded out by the Filistines so that they had to spill slightly across the border into the neighboring tribe’s land.
3. When they were nearing the household of Mikhah, they recognized the voice of the Levite lad, so they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this [place]? And what is there for you here?”
Recognized the voice: not that they knew him personally, but he was probably chanting prayers and liturgies loudly enough to be heard outside this compound as they were passing by, and when they saw his efod, they would know that he was a Levite. Knowing that this was not a Levitical city, they would wonder why he was there.
4. And he told them, “Mikhah has done such and so for me when he hired me, so I have become a priest to him.”
Such and so: literally, like this and like this. If Mikhah was Shimshon’s son, finding someone from their own tribe here, they would have had somewhat of a right to request lodging in the home of someone who had come from among them. But they took too great an advantage of his duty to be hospitable.
5. So they said to him, “Please consult Elohim so we can know whether the journey on which we are going will be successful!”
It was reasonable from the Torah to consult a priest for direction from YHWH, especially in regard to a battle plan. (Num. 27:21) Seeing his efod, they would assume he had urim and thummim by which to determine an answer from YHWH. (Ex. 28:30) But the context was wrong; he was not an actual high priest; he had democratized the priesthood to some extent. He had mixed pagan practices with the Torah. They were not more than ten miles from Shiloh, where the true priests would be found (v. 31); were they just too lazy to go that far? Or did they think this “liberal” priest would be more likely to tell them what they wanted to hear?
6. So the priest said to them, “Go [on] to completion; the way in which you go is straight in front of YHWH.”
Indeed, his answer is general enough to be interpreted as they wished, and this in itself should have made them suspicious. There was no tone of warning in his voice that would have been expected from a prophet; there was none of the correction that prophecies usually brought. Just because the priesthood was false does not mean it was not a spiritual priesthood. Most pagan fortune-tellers are a sham, but some were amazingly accurate; the oracle of Delphi had a nearly flawless record, even predicting correctly the year of the Messiah’s birth. Their prophecies can be true, yet not of the truth. Christianity likewise has some true “words of knowledge”, but they have this sugary, overly-friendly tone of “everything will be fine” which does not make them ring true as a whole.
7. So the five men walked [on] and came to Layish and saw the people living in its midst to be careless after the custom of the Tzidonians–undisturbed and confident, and there were none in the Land possessing restraint who could put them to confusion in anything, and they were far away from the Tzidonians, and they had no contact with [any] man.
None in the Land possessing restraint: Aramaic targum, There was no one who harmed anything in the Land; they were small heirs… In other words, the people of Layish were overconfident that their city was secure, so they had no network of support to contact in case they needed help defending their city. They seem to have some political or ethnic loyalty to the Tzidonians, but it was loose and communication between the two was not well-structured for speedy response.
8. So they came to their brothers at Tsaur’ah and at Eshta’ol, and their brothers said to them, “What do you [think]?”
9. And they said, “Get up, and let’s go up against them, because we have seen the Land, and it is indeed very agreeable. So [why] are you standing still? Don’t be sluggish about going to enter and seize the Land!
10. “When you go in, you will come to a careless people and a wide-open Land, because Elohim has given it into your hand—a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth!”
Careless: or unsuspecting. No lack: Indeed, this city is right beside a small river that provides ample water with little effort. It has excellent farmland and is surrounded by hills that buffer it from high winds. It is high in elevation and therefore not as hot as much of the Land of Israel, and it sits right on a trade route that ran from Egypt to Mesopotamia, so that supplies were brought there often from abroad. The only defensive drawback is that it is on the edge of the Land of Israel, and only a mile or so north of the city, the road disappears between the mountains, and there would be little warning time if an enemy were coming to attack. That there is no lack “in the earth” may suggest that they were looking only at the natural advantages, and not considering whether it was really YHWH’s provision. It was contiguous with the rest of Israel, but is right on the edge, and they would correspondingly becoming only marginally Israelites in living there.
11. So 600 men from the clan of the Danites, from Tsaur’ah and from Eshta’ol, pulled up stakes from there, with weapons of war belted on.
12. And they went up and camped in Qiryath-Ye’arim in Yehudah. For this reason they have called that place “the camp of Dan” to this day; it’s right there behind Qiryath-Ye’arim.
Behind: Aramaic, west of. In true “orientation”, by definition, east is straight ahead, so the west would be behind one. Dan’s tribal land extends to just before this town, which is about seven miles (11 km.) west of Yerushalayim. The tribe of Dan left its name wherever they traveled; thus it is easier to trace their later travels in exile throughout the world. The Don, Danube, and Dnieper Rivers were all places they camped for extended times. Danzig (Gdansk) and Denmark were others, and another group of them, the Tuatha de Danaan, ended up all the way in what is now called Ireland. (Steve Collins et al)
13. Then they crossed over [to] the mountains of Efrayim from there, and came to the house of Mikhah.
14. And the five men who had gone to traverse the territory of Layish spoke up and said to their brothers, “Did you know that there are within these houses an efod, trafim, a carved image, and a cast [metal] image? So now, you know what to do.”
I.e., isn’t it obvious what has fallen into our hands? The last sentence may actually be a response from those to whom they are reporting, because the five end up being the ones to “do the dirty work”.
15. So they turned aside there and entered into the house of the Levite lad of Mikhah’s household, and asked him [how his] welfare [was],
16. while the 600 from the sons of Dan, each belted with weapons of war, were stationed by the entrance to the gate.
This was an estate large enough to be described in terms similar to an average walled city, though apparently not as well-defended.
17. Then the five men who had gone to traverse the Land went up, and they came there and took the carved image, the efod, the trafim, and the cast [metal] image, while the priest stood [at the] entrance to the gate with the 600 men belted with weapons of war.
This took place specifically because Mikhah’s priest had told them all that Mikhah had done for him, not imagining that they would bring a whole army back to steal his tools! Compare Hizqiyahu’s blunder in 2 Kings 20.
18. When these went into Mikhah’s house and took the carved image, the efod, the trafim, and the cast [metal] image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19. And they told him, “Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and become a father and a priest for us! Is it better for you to be a priest for one man’s household or for you to be a priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?”
Put your hand over your mouth: a common idiom for holding back one’s words, whether one has plotted evil (Prov. 30:32) or is just humbled by the fact that he does not “know it all” (Iyov/Job 40:4; compare Iyov 21:5; 29:9).
20. Then the heart of the priest was pleased, and he took the efod, the trafim, and the carved image and came into the innermost part of the people,
Instead of losing his job when the trappings of his “ministry” were taken, as he had feared, he “got a raise”! Did he leave the cast-metal image? Or was it connected with the carved image, as in a crucifix?
21. and they turned and departed, and put the toddlers, the cattle, and the valuables ahead of them.
They seem to be imitating Yaaqov’s actions in Gen. 32 and 33. But the reason for putting the more vulnerable in the front was that the attackers would come at them from behind; thus the men did remain in the defending position.
22. They had gone some distance from Mikhah’s house, when the men who were in the houses [that were] with Mikhah’s house had been called together and pursued [and overtook] the sons of Dan.
23. And they called out to the sons of Dan, and they turned the faces [back] and said to Mikhah, “What [is it] to you, that you have been called together?”
24. And he said, “You have taken away my elohim, which I made, as well as the priest, and started walking away? What do I have left? So what is this you are saying to me, ‘What [is it] to you?’!?”
He has really lost nothing in having his idols and his false priest stolen away, and the Danites’ gain is only a perceived one, since these things were all impostors. But it seems that Mikhah’s children may have all been taken as well. (v. 21) That would be a real loss. This carries on the prophecy from the last chapter. Since Mikhah is a relative of these Danites, they represent a relative of the Roman Catholic Church which wants to use the same substitute religion that it has invented. Who else could it be but the Protestant Church, which made some half-way reforms, but left the whole pagan-based calendar of Rome in place, and preserved most of its doctrines. And it stole many of Rome’s children. Rome then goes back to focusing on its own house, to “protect” the children it has left. Many antibiblical theories that were only seen as opinions on Rome’s part before the reformation were afterward canonized into “infallible” doctrine to entrench them even more deeply in their paganism.
25. But the sons of Dan said to him, “Don’t let your voice be heard among us, lest men of bitter passion attack you, and you take away your life and the lives of your household!”
I.e., “Why should we kill you needlessly? We only want the things you had!”
26. Then the sons of Dan kept going their way. When Mikhah saw that they were stronger than he was, he turned and went back to his house.
Jewish tradition says the counterfeit messiah who is to come will be from the tribe of Dan, based on the connection Gen. 49:17 makes between Dan and a serpent. Eschatologically, this may also prophecy the Beast system (the end-time Bavel, the reunification of all things not Israel) usurping all the outward trappings of the Church—the religion of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Even now we see everything the Church thought was its special possession becoming public domain. The lines between what is holy and what is ordinary are becoming more and more blurred. The media also call everything from the Christians’ deity to the Muslims’ “God”, blurring the distinctions even further. Yet Mikhah then goes back home. It may be that the time that the Beast system finally co-opts the Church is when the majority of the people therein will recognize that they actually need none of it, and come back home to their true identity as Israel, as a small band of forerunners is doing now.
27. And they took what Mikhah had made, as well as the priest who had belonged to him, and came to Layish against an undisturbed and confident people, and they struck them with the mouth of the sword and burned the city with fire.
If Layish is the same as Leshem, as most surmise, it appears from Y’hoshua 19:47 that the Danites had already taken this city in Y’hoshua’s time. Did those who conquered it assimilate to the people surrounding it? It is possible that the reference in Y’hoshua was appended later. But more likely, because the Emorites had pressed them into the mountains (1:34) a few generations prior to this, the city had not been inhabited by the Danites for sometime, and in their searching out the Land they naturally would look into the condition of a city they had had once before, and, finding it poorly defended, try to retake it before considering any other location. Layish means “lion”—a picture of Yerushalayim, which is called Ariel (the lion of Elohim), and represents all of Israel spiritually. Here, since it is described in the same terms as the whole Land of Israel was (Deut. 8:9), so it is a picture of Christianity’s idea that they can replace Israel spiritually as YHWH’s people. By the end times Yerushalayim may be dwelling peacefully and without defense, for the prophecies in Z’kharyah seem to say the Counterfeit Messiah will make that city his headquarters during the last part of his reign.
28. And there was no one to rescue them, because it was far from Tzidon and they had no contact with anyone, and it was in the valley that belongs to Beyth-R’khov, and they rebuilt the city and lived in it.
Anyone: literally, humanity (Heb., adam). Layish is across two mountain ridges from Tzidon, which is on the coast of what is now Levanon. Rebuilt: or restructured (i.e., according to their own preferences).
29. And they called the name of their city Dan, in the name of their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel (though the name of the city had originally been Layish).
Dan is described as beyond Gil’ad (this same location) even while Moshe is still alive (Deut. 34:1), so it may have been intended to be that tribe’s area from the beginning.
30. And the sons of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Y’honathan the son of Gershom the son of Menashe—he and his sons became priests for the tribe of the Danites until the day the Land was carried into exile.
This is a picture of the Abomination of Desolation being set up in the Holy Place of the Temple of YHWH. (Mat. 24:15) This tradition of idolatry was carried on and institutionalized by King Yarav’am when he set up a golden calf there. (1 Kings 12:26-30) Y’honathan means “YHWH has given”. Gershom means “a foreigner there”, and Menashe means “causing to forget” or “depriving”. He is a picture of a false priesthood set up by the Counterfeit Messiah, whom they claim is “G-d” (Daniel 11:36), yet is a foreigner to both Israel and the Beast system, and causes the true words of YHWH to be forgotten. Yarav’am continued this tradition of idolatry in the city of Dan by setting up a golden calf there after the days of King Shlomo. (1 Kings 12:29)
31. And they kept the carved image that Mikhah had made in place for themselves all the days that the House of Elohim was in Shiloh.
YHWH was not dwelling at Dan at all; He remained in the Tent with those who were actually walking after Him. It was here until the ark of the covenant was moved to Yerushalayim. This could correlate with the Tabernacle’s being temporarily in the wilderness again among the rest of Israel until Y’shua brings us back to reclaim Yerushalayim as his capital. In any case, as long as His presence is not fully inhabiting Yerushalayim, this type of thing will continue to occur. Any mixed religion like this is still part of the serpent system. If there had been a king in Israel, he could have shut all of this down. Even a judge could. When there is again a king in Israel, he will set things straight. But though the Torah makes allowance for there to be later a king, since YHWH knew Israel would want to be just like its neighbors, ideally there should have been no need for a human king, as Gid’on knew. The structure Moshe set up of rulers of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands should have been enough with the priests and Levites to remind them all of what the Torah said and to consult YHWH on special questions it did not address. YHWH was meant to be Israel’s King. But Israel wanted a figurehead, and Shmu’el warned what a burden this would become to Israel. So the prophecies in Y’hezq’el 45:7-9 show us that a prince in Israel will not be able to take anyone else’s land, and Y’shua made it clear that he and those who rule with him will do so under a different set of rules than Gentile kings operate by. (Luqa 22:25ff)
CHAPTER 19
1. Now what took place in those days, when there was not a king in Israel, was that there was a man of Levi staying temporarily on the edge of the mountainous [region] of Efrayim, and he took for himself a woman, a concubine from Beyth-Lekhem of Yehudah.
In those days: The fact that there was no king again forms the context for the understanding of this chapter. The sense is that if there had been someone enforcing the Torah, the events described herein would not have taken place. Was this the same Levite as in the last two chapters? It would appear so, as we see his place of sojourn and his connection with Beyth-Lekhem repeated. If this is a flashback to an earlier event, this may explain more fully why this Levite’s voice was recognized (18:3), for he would have been quite well-known because of the events described below. A concubine is a wife that has been purchased, and is therefore the husband’s property in a more vivid way than a wife in the ordinary sense. Often concubines were already slaves prior to being taken for marital purposes.
2. But his concubine cheated on him, then departed from him to her father’s house in Beyth-Lekhem of Yehudah, and was there for four months’ time.
Cheated: literally, played the prostitute. In some cases, this only refers to idolatry, in some to sexual adultery alone, and in some cases, the two are hard to separate. He may have waited four months to see if she became pregnant, as this would be about the time she would begin to feel the baby moving within her if it was present. He may have been too angry prior to this to dare to approach her, lest he become overcome with rage and kill her before her guilt was proven. Or, he may simply have had levitical duties that kept him form traveling any sooner.
3. Then her husband got up and went after her with his young [servant] and a [yoked] pair of donkeys to speak about her heart in order to bring her back. When she brought him into her house, her father saw him and was glad to meet him.
Her heart: in Hebrew, usually used in regard to reason rather than emotions. Rather than dragging her away, he reasons with her. A husband whose wife left him would have the option of taking her back if she had not married another in the meantime. We may see an allegory similar to Hoshea, of YHWH taking back his unfaithful bride who had returned to paganism. Details such as the pair of donkeys should not be overlooked. They were not a gift to the woman’s father, for we will see him depart with them after his visit. They are yoked, probably to pull a wagon. But a donkey is the only unclean animal that is described in Scripture as redeemable. (Ex. 13:13) Thus the picture is of two redeemable entities accompanying the one who comes to redeem the bride. Since Efrayim and Yehudah are the context for this story, it is undoubtedly a hint as to whom they represent. She brought him into the house, knowing her father was a hospitable man. He was grateful that he had come back to reclaim her rather than leaving her at home, unable to marry anyone else since he had not divorced her.
4. And his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him, so he remained with him three days, and they ate and drank and lodged there.
5. Then on the fourth day they got up early in the morning and he rose up to depart. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Sustain your heart with a bit of bread, and afterward you can [all] go.”
Three days was the normal length of time one could assume he would be welcome to his host. He may have left because he thought his welcome would be worn out (having, of course, heard Benjamin Franklin’s adage that “fish and visitors stink in three days”!) But more likely he wished to hurry on to Shiloh, which was further up the road, where he could perform the test that would prove his suspicions true or false. (Numbers 5:12ff; compare verses 9 and 18 below.) If so, this could explain her father’s frequent attempts to detain him, knowing that if she were proven guilty, he would never have grandchildren through her.
6. So they sat down and ate, the two of them together, then they drank. And the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please accept an invitation to stay overnight, and let your heart be glad.”
7. But the man rose up to go, and his father-in-law pressed him, so he turned back and spent the night there.
8. And he got up early in the morning on the fifth day to go, but the young woman’s father said, “Please sustain your heart.” So they delayed until the day was declining, then both of them ate.
9. Then the man rose up to go—he, his concubine, and his young [servant]. But his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Please notice [that] the day has sunk down into evening; please spend the night! Look at the decline of the day! Stay overnight here and let your heart be glad, and you can [all] get up early tomorrow for your journey, and you can go to your tent.”
Your tent: probably a reference to the Tabernacle since he more likely lived in a house, but he would not have had any duties there, as Levites only served the Tent of Appointment when it was time to move it to another location; only the priests would work there the rest of the time. So he had to be going for a different reason. (See note on verse 5.)
10. But the man would not consent to stay the night, and he got up and left with a yoked pair of donkeys, and his concubine was with him. And he went until [they were] opposite Y’vus (which is [now] Yerushalayim).
11. They were within [sight of] Y’vus when the day was far spent, but the young [servant] said to his master, “Please come and let’s turn aside to this Y’vusite city, and lodge in it for the night.”
The Y’vusites had been allowed to continue to live here on the border between Yehudah and Binyamin’s territory. The Yehudites could not drive them out of this one well-fortified city (Y’hoshua 15:63) and the Binyamites failed to do so. (Judges 1:21) Not until David wanted to make the city his capital were they defeated by Israel. (1 Chron. 11:6)
12. But his master said to him, “Let’s not turn aside to a foreign city, which is not of the descendants of Israel, but we’ll go on through as far as Giv’ah.”
Though it was getting dark, he did not wish to take the easy way when it mean exposing his concubine to pagan influences.
13. And he said to his young [servant], “Come, and we can go inside one of the places to spend the night in Giv’ah or in Ramah.”
They expected that they would be safer in a walled city than in the open country, where there might be bands of robbers who would see their campfire and come attack them. Giv’ah is about seven miles (11 km.) further.
14. So they passed by and went on, and the sun went down on them near Giv’ah, which belongs to Binyamin.
15. So they turned aside there to enter and spend the night in Giv’ah, and he went in and sat in the open [square] of the city, but there was no man who receive them into his house for the night.
16. But then an elderly man came in from his work in the field at evening. And the man was from the mountainous [region] of Efrayim, that is, he was a visitor in Giv’ah, while the men of the place were Binyamites.
He may have had to pass through the city square just to get to his home, but it would not have been otherwise-abandoned; this was the marketplace townsfolk would come to hear the latest news from other places. The most prominent and wealthy citizens, often the town’s leaders, would be the ones who lived right on the open plaza, yet though they were the most capable of offering hospitality, they failed to do so.
17. And he lifted up his eyes and saw the wayfaring man in the open [square] of the city, and the older man said, “Where are you going and where do you come from?”
Lifted up his eyes and saw: the same phraseology used of Avraham in Genesis 18:2 when he was looking for someone to show hospitality to. He was proving to be a true descendant of Avraham.
18. So he said to him, “We are passing through from Beyth-Lekhem of Yehudah as far as the edge of the mountains of Efrayim, where I am from. I went to Beyth-Lekhem of Yehudah, but [now] I am going to the house of YHWH, and there is no man receiving me into his home!
House of YHWH: Giv’ah is on the most direct route from Beyth-Lekhem to Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was located at this time.
19. “But I, your servant-girl, for the young man who is with your servants have both straw and feed for our donkeys and there is bread and wine; there is no lack of anything.”
Notice the deference he shows to the older man by calling them his servants. It is honorable to serve the one who offers you service.
20. But the older man said, “Peace to you. However, anything you need will be on me. Just don’t spend the night in the open [square]!”
I.e., you can keep your own provisions for later. Some people offer hospitality only because they want to receive something from you. This man offered it, asking nothing in return, even when he knew his guests already had supplies. He was ready and eager to receive guests, though he had no idea they would be coming. Like Lot (Gen. 19), he, though an outsider (also like the Samaritan in Y’shua’s parable), was the only one to offer hospitality. He was grateful for the hospitality he himself had experienced, and freely gave what he had freely received. (Also compare Mat. 25:35.) Like Lot (Gen. 19:2), he knew that this open square was not a safe place for anyone to spend the night.
21. And he brought him to his house and mixed some feed for the donkeys, then [the people] washed their feet, and ate and drank.
22. But as they were making their hearts glad, men who were sons of worthlessness surrounded the house and [started] pounding on the door, and they spoke to the master of the house, the elderly man, saying, “Bring out the man who has come into your house, so that we can know him!”
Making their hearts glad: an idiom for drinking wine. (Psalm 104:15) Know him: i.e., sexually. This is exactly what the men of S’dom had done with Lot’s guests. (Gen. 19)
23. But the man who was the master of the house went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers! Please do not do go wickedly after this man who has come into my house! Do not do this foolish thing!
Go wickedly after: or do evil, do [him] harm, since this man has come into my house (i.e., for protection). The man was responsible to keep safe anyone who came under his roof, to the extent that he would even offer a seemingly-unimaginablke alternative:
24. “Look, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine! Please, let me bring them out, and [you] put them down and do to them whatever is pleasing in your eyes, but to this man do not do this foolish thing!
Virgin: or simply, of marriageable age. The host did the same thing Lot had done (Gen. 19), except that he offered his guest’s concubine as well, showing that she was not considered as important to protect as the Levite himself. As offensive as this sounds to the ears of modern chivalry, it was counted a lesser wrong to hand over a female guest than a male (even the young servant), and Levites were the most honored tribe in Israel, so the fact that he did save the Levite’s life was considered the lesser of two evils. He also looked out for the offenders by offering them the option that was the lesser sin; at least this would be a heterosexual rape, not homosexual, for which they would be more severly judged. Still, he did have a right to expect a certain measure of restraint from fellow Israelites, and the treatment the woman received was far beyond understandable:
25. But the men were not willing to listen to him, so the man took hold of his concubine and brought her outside to them, and they knew her and abused her all night until the morning, and let her go when the dawn began to ascend.
Abused her: literally, dealt ruthlessly with her by thrusting her through, or possibly, rolled themselves on her. Note that the virgin daughter never actually was sent outside, despite the offer. She is a picture of the parts of Israel who have kept themselves pure even to the point of martyrdom, staying as close as they could to YHWH in a time of exile when the only choices seemed to be to keep Y’shua and tolerate the mixing in of some paganism or remain with the Sabbath and Torah but reject Y’shua. The old man, considered master by the Levite, represents YHWH, and the unnamed servant who accompanied the Levite and the two redeemable entities would represent the Spirit of Holiness that works in partnership with them all when they are on the journey to YHWH’s place of appointment. If the old man depicts YHWH, it means YHWH was the one who handed the concubine over. Though there had apparently been no witness to her wrong, or justice (as per Deut. 22:22) was not carried out by an Israelite tribunal, her punishment fit her crime. She desired someone other than her husband, so that is exactly what she was given—ad nauseam! It would therefore have been pointless for her to cry out for help. (Deut. 22:23-24) YHWH said He would not listen to Israel’s cries when in trouble if we would not listen to His words. (Yimeyahu/Jer. 11:14)
26. And the woman came in as morning approached, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was until it was light.
How ironic—and shameful--that they had thought they would be safer here than in a non-Israelite city! Despite the Arabs' intense hatred for Israel, we must give credit where it is due; in terms of hospitality, they would have done far better than this!
27. And her master got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his journey, and there was the woman, his concubine, fallen at the entrance to the house with her hands on the threshold.
28. And he told her, “Get up, and let’s go!” But there was no answer. So he took her up onto the donkey, and the man rose up and went to his place.
As with Chawwah, what she wished for became what killed her. YHWH made sure this adulteress died for her crime, since verse 2 tells us that she was guilty, though her husband apparently did not know this for certain.
29. When he came to his house, he took the knife and held tightly to his concubine and cut her into twelve pieces, along with her bones, and sent her into all the regions of Israel.
She would have been sent to the city of the most prominent family in a tribe. The first analogy—that she represents YHWH’s straying bride, Israel—ends with Israel being scattered in many directions, where she would “become meat to all the beasts of the field” (Y’hezq’el/Ezek. 34:5) Why was she sent out like this? The shock value of the smell of putrid human flesh would get people’s attention more quickly than a mere letter, which they could more easily ignore. And in contrast to Deut. 21:3ff, though it was clear which city was responsible, his point was that this was not enough; all Israel was actually responsible for having tolerated the conditions that led up to it. This incident was etched deeply enough even in YHWH’s own memory that He uses it to drive home the point He was making when He told a prophet to marry a woman of harlotry to show how Israel was treating Him. (‘Hoshea 9:9; 10:9) King Sha’ul (Saul) would later do something similar, except that it was a yoke of oxen that he divided, to pressure all the tribes of Israel to come fight an Israelite city endangered by a foreign enemy. (1 Shmu’el 11:1-11) Ironically, that city was one that features prominently in chapter 21 below, and the city Sha’ul sent the cut-up pieces from was his own hometown (1 Shmu’el 10:26)—none other than the very same offending city in this incident—Giv’ah! This may have been his attempt to bring reparation for the atrocity described here.
30. And so it was that everyone who saw it said, “There has not been, and there has never been seen the likes of this ever since the day the descendants of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day! Set yourselves on it; take counsel, and speak!”
Apparently something like it was seen in Egypt. The likes of this: It is not clear whether it was the treatment of the woman or the intention of the townspeople to do worse to the Levite, or what was behind it, which is being referred to. The probable answer is, all of the above. Cutting her up would have reminded Israel of Avraham’s dividing of animals into parts with the parties to the covenant walking between them. (Gen. 15) Avraham was the epitome of hospitality, and it was the underlying inhospitable attitude that was the proof that Isreael had broken the covenant. A little leaven had leavened the whole lump, so he calls all Israel to do something about it. If this story is a flashback, the disappointing cndition of Israel may have disturbed the Levite so much that he was ready to participate in paganism when it was offered to him. If not, it shows that he had had a change of heart amd repented.
CHAPTER 20
1. Then all of the sons of Israel went out to YHWH at Mitzpah, and the whole congregation—those from Dan as far as Be’er-Sheva, as well as from the land of Gil’ad--was assembled as one man.
Dan to Be’er-Sheva—the northern and southern extremes of the non-desert land of Israel. Even the men of Dan, who had committed such robberies in order to have better idols, and the Gil’adites, who had been accused of not being part of the people, proved to be loyal to their brother Israelites when such an atrocity had occurred. As one man: in unity, in one accord. Mitzpah: not the one in Gil’ad which Yifthakh had made his headquarters, but another Mitzpah just across the mountain range from Giv’ah, only about four miles away, right on the border between Efrayim’s and Binyamin’s tribal lands. As one man: with unified purpose.
2. Then the cornerstones of the whole people—of all the tribes of Israel—presented themselves in the congregation of the people of Elohim: 400,000 footmen who draw out the sword.
Presented themselves: or, took their stand. Draw out: i.e., are skillful with. Most men at that time would have had a sword (though what is described here was much more of what we would call a dagger in most cases, and would have already been iron by this time in history). But this is speaking of those who were actually used to using them. I.e., they were trained in hand-to-hand combat. The Word of YHWH is called our sword. (Efesians 6:17; Heb. 4:12) Many have it, and even understand it in context, but if they are not using it to defeat YHWH’s enemies, they are not counted in Israel.
3. And the sons of Binyamin heard that the sons of Israel had come up to Mitzpah. Now the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing come about?”
Binyamin would have been among the tribes to whom a piece of the concubine’s body was sent, and may have even sent some representatives. But the scribe here is already disconnecting Binyamin from the rest of Israel. Their heart was not with the rest of the nation.
4. So the Levite man, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine into Giv’ah, which belongs to Binyamin, to spend the night.
5. “But the owners of Giv’ah rose up against me and surrounded the house on me at night. They intended to kill me, but they raped my concubine so that she died.
To kill me: A detail not brought out earlier, so it may just have been his perception. ButThe fact that they would follow the trial procedure outlined in Deut. 13:12-15 tells us first that the Torah had become well enough known again through the judges, and that somehow these sexual acts must have been in the context of pagan religious activity. Being a Levite, he may have been a special “prize” to these would-be homosexual rapists.
6. “So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her into all the areas into which the inheritance of the sons of Israel [spreads], because they have done mischief and foolishness in Israel.
Mischief: literally, what they devised; has the connotation of licentiousness and lewdness.
7. “Here, you are all sons of Israel; provide what idea or plan [you have] thus far.”
He is reminding them that first and foremost, they are Israelites, since by that time each tribe had become like a small nation in itself, much like the United States before the War Between the States. Idea: literally, word.
8. So all of the people rose up as one man to say, “Let no man go to his tent, nor let any man of us turn [back] to his house.
Like a doctor who tells a patient not to be concerned about his hair falling out temporarily while they focus on eradicating a cancer, they are telling one another to remain together until this issue is fully addressed.
9. “And now, this is the thing that we ought to do to Giv’ah: we will go up against it by lot.
By lot: This way, no one’s emotions (whether anger or pity) would be the determining factor in who went first; YHWH would choose who the first executioners would be.
10. “We will take ten men per hundred belonging to all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred per thousand, and a thousand for [every] myriad, to acquire provisions for the people so that they may prepare to enter Giv’ah of Binyamin, commensurate with all the foolishness that it had perpetrated in Israel.”
Ten percent would be taken from whatever size the company to be the cooks and supply people. Experience in group camps shows that it takes about 10% to feed the rest adequately. How long had it been since they operated by tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands—the order that Moshe had set up for micro-management of Israel? Probably not since Y’hoshua’s day.
11. And every man of Israel gathered himself to the city as [if they were] one man—[as] allies.
12. Then the tribes of Israel sent men into all the branches of Binyamin to say, “What is this evil thing that has taken place among you?
13. “So now, give up the men—[the] sons of worthlessness who are in Giv’ah, so that we can put them to death, and burn away wickedness from Israel!” But Binyamin was not willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.
Give up: Yield, deliver over. They had an unhealthy sense of family loyalty, making blood more important than righteousness. According to Deut. 13:15, they should have only lost this one city, but their stubbornness would lead to great losses on both sides.
14. And the sons of Binyamin gathered themselves together at Giv’ah from out of [their] cities to go out to war with the sons of Israel.
15. Then the sons of Binyamin mustered themselves on that day out of the cities: 26,000 who draw the sword, apart from the inhabitants of Giv’ah, who numbered 700 select men.
Here the sword was used to divide one tribe from the rest of Israel.
16. From all this people, 700 select men with their right hand bound up, who could each sling a stone at a hair and not miss!
Right hand bound up: so they would become skilled with their left hands, as with Ehud, who had been one of them in an earlier generation (3:15). How ironic, when they were Binyamites, which means “sons of the right hand”! They were not fulfilling the calling that lay right within their name. But the approach to the city gate was often designed so that the city was on the right side, so that it was very difficult for a right-hand archer or slingsman to have much of a shot at the soldiers on the walls. So these would have been at a great advantage. Since each tribe essentially had its own army, and putting verse 15 and 16 together, it is clear that all of this elite fighting force was based here in Giv’ah, the Binyamites were being asked to turn over their best warriors, the pride of their family. So the main reason they refused to obey the Torah was for political considerations. Now the whole “tribe of the right hand” inclines toward the left. Now there were more “sons of worthlessness” at Giv’ah; the cancer had begun to devour other cells.
17. And the men of Israel, apart from Binyamin, numbered 400,000 who draw the sword, every one of them a man of war.
18. And they arose and went up to Beyth-El and inquired of Elohim, saying, “Who should go up for us first for the battle with the sons of Binyamin?” And YHWH said, “Yehudah [will go] at the forefront.”
Beyth-El: Since the camp of Israel around the Tabernacle resembled an ancient war camp, it may be that since the nation was acting in unity, the Tabernacle was temporarily moved from Shiloh to a place only about 5 miles (8 km.) from the battle front, so that the leaders could more easily come to inquire of YHWH for directions. First, at the forefront: literally, at the piercing or opening edge. And Yehudah indeed has been the first to open up the Land for Israel to reinhabit it in our own day. But since a friend or parent or a witness of the crime was to be the first to cast a stone against an idolater (Deut. 13:9; 17:2), and Binyamin was disobeying the Torah because they put security before YHWH, Yehudah, who had made a special promise to Yaaqov to be Binyamin’s protector, was to “cast the first stone”. Also, Yehudah was a direct neighbor to Binyamin, and the woman who had been killed was a Yehudite.
19. So the sons of Israel got up in the morning and encamped against Giv’ah.
Against: or, above.
20. Then the men of Israel went out to battle with the sons of Binyamin, and the men of Israel arranged themselves in battle order toward Giv’ah against them.
21. When the sons of Binyamin came out from Giv’ah, on that day they caused 22,000 men in Israel to decay on the ground.
22. So the people, the men of Israel, held firm and repeated the battle arrangement in the place where they had been arranged in order on the first day.
23. Then the sons of Israel went up and wept before YHWH until the evening, and inquired of YHWH, saying, “Shall I approach the sons of Binyamin my brother for battle yet again?” And YHWH said, “Go up to them.”
They add “my brother” this time. It could be that the heavy losses the first day were because they had been acting strictly out of anger (though angry they should indeed have been), and forgetting that this was family and that what they were after was not punishment, but correction for the rest of the tribe. It was not to be about getting even, but about restoration.
24. So the descendants of Israel were getting close to the sons of Binyamin on the second day,
25. when Binyamin came out from Giv’ah to meet them for the second day, and again caused 18,000 men of the sons of Israel to decay on the earth; all of these were [men who] drew the sword.
It seems Binyamin attacked before they were ready. Now the rest of Israel had lost 10% and Binyamin’s army was still intact in full force.
26. So all the sons of Israel—the whole people—went up and came to Beyth-El, and wept and sat there in the presence of YHWH and fasted that day until evening, and caused ascending [offerings] and peace offerings to go up before YHWH.
They mourned the loss of a “tithe” of their army, but also because it was their brother tribe that was inflicting them, and they knew they would have to decimate their own kinsmen.
27. And the sons of Israel inquired of YHWH (while the Ark of the Covenant of Elohim was there in those days,
28. and Pin’has the son of El’azar the son of Aharon was standing before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle with the sons of Binyamin?” And YHWH said, “Go up, because tomorrow I will give it into your hand.”
Pin’has must have been around 400 years old, having been a young man at the time of Moshe! It may be that a very long life was part of the “covenant of peace” that YHWH specifically rewarded him with. (Num. 25:12) They now had some reassurance that YHWH was really in this, and the drastic losses would not continue.
29. So Israel set ambushes against Giv’ah on every side,
30. and the sons of Israel went up toward the sons of Binyamin on the third day, and were getting into position against Giv’ah as [they had the previous two] times,
31. when the sons of Binyamin came out to meet the people. But they were drawn away from the city. When they began to strike down some of the people as [they had the previous two] times—about 30 men in Israel in the field by the highways, one of which goes up to Beyth-El and one to Giv’ah,
The Binyamites were confident because of their previous two victories, and made somewhat of a surprise attack before the other tribes were fully ready to fight. It may be because Binyamin had been spoiled by both Yaaqov and Yoseyf that his tribe turned out to be arrogant and flesh-oriented, thinking they could get away with anything. The same tactic was used by Y’hoshua at Ay. (Y’hoshua 8) Highways: Aramaic, meeting of the roads.
32. the sons of Binyamin said, “They are beaten before us as at first!” But the sons of Israel said, “Let’s run away and draw them out away from the city onto the highways.”
33. So every man of Israel rose up from his place and got in place at Ba’al-Thamar. Then Israel’s ambush burst out from its place away from the open [ground at] Giv’ah.
Ba’al-Thamar: “Owner of the Date-palm”; Aramaic, Y’rikho, which is also known as the city of palms. (Deut. 34:3)
34. That is, ten thousand men chosen out of all Israel came within sight of Giv’ah, and the battle was heavy, but they themselves did not realize that harm was [about to] touch them.
Within sight of: or, from straight in front of or opposite (the city). Harm: calamity or evil; they did not recognize the danger they were in.
35. And YHWH struck Binyamin down before Israel, and that day the sons of Israel caused 25,100 men of Binyamin to decay—all of them drawers of the sword.
36. When the sons of Binyamin saw that they were defeated, the men of Israel then gave Binyamin space, because they had confidence in the ambush which they had set against Giv’ah.
37. So the ambush came quickly and invaded Giv’ah, and the ambush stretched themselves out and attacked the whole city with the mouth of the sword.
Came quickly: also connotes “with excitement”. Invaded: made a dash toward, or raided, rushed on.
38. Now the men of Israel had an appointed [signal] with the ambush: “Make a huge volume of smoke go up from the city!”
39. So the men of Israel turned back in the battle when Binyamin had begun to strike down the wounded among the men of Israel (about 30 men, because they said, “It really is beaten before us for sure, just like the first battle!”).
40. But [with] the signal, a column of smoke began to go up from the city, and Binyamin turned [and looked] behind him, and lo and behold, the entirety of the city had gone up into the heavens.
Our phrase “go up in smoke” may have originated here.
41. Then the men of Israel turned back [around], and the men of Binyamin were alarmed, because they saw that the evil had reached them.
42. So they turned [their backs] before the men of Israel toward the wilderness road, but the battle overtook them, and [those] who [came] out from the cities were destroying them in the middle of it.
From the cities: reinforcements from the border cities of Yehudah that they would be passing by as they tried to head for the Negev to the south; the Binyamites had already come out of their cities. (v. 14)
43. Then they surrounded Binyamin, pursued them without rest, and trod them down until [they were] opposite Giv’ah from the sunrise.
Without rest: or, with ease. Next we have a detailed recapitulation of what was summarized in verse 35:
44. And 18,000 men of Binyamin fell, with all of them [being] able men.
Able men: or, men of the army, men of valor. This is the same number of men they had killed in the last battle. Was this “poetic justice”?
45. Then they turned and fled into the wilderness toward the cliff of Rimmon, and they thrust intensely at [them and cut down] 5,000 men and followed hard after them as far as Gid’om, and struck down 2,000 of their men.
Cliff of Rimmon: possibly the escarpment of the Ramon Crater, which is in the Negev about halfway between Be’er-Sheva’ and Eilath. Rimmon means “pomegranate”. Thrust at: the same word used for gleaning a harvested crop.
46. So all those who fell from Binyamin on that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword—with all of these being able men.
47. But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness toward the cliff of Rimmon, and they lived in the cliff of Rimmon for four months.
This would be the only fruitful part of Binyamin, but from this remnant the first man actually called the king of Israel would come. He was not exaggerating when he said he was from the smallest tribe of Israel! (1 Shmu’el 9:21)
48. When the men of Israel went back to the sons of Binyamin, they attacked them with the mouth of the sword, from the entire city to beasts to anything that was found; they even sent away all the cities that [they] found by [means of] fire.
These “sons” must have been the other 1,100 of the total 26,700 warriors of Binyamin (v. 15) or the 100 (v. 35) that were otherwise unaccounted for; it could also be that some of the Binyamites who did respect the Torah and the unity of Israel “defected” to the other side when they saw that their tribe was in the wrong. Sent away: i.e., up into the heavens (as in verse 40). Fire is thus seen as a way of transferring things from one realm to the other, just as the offerings in the Temple were “sent up” to YHWH by means of fire. This was not a “soothing aroma” to YHWH in the same way that a peace or thanksgiving offering would be, but it was the “smell” of obedience nonetheless.
CHAPTER 21
1. But the men of Israel had sworn in Mitzpah, saying, “Not a man of us will give his daughter to Binyamin as a wife!”
Was this as rash a vow as Yifthakh’s (ch. 11)? Yet it was within the parameters of the Torah to do so, and it was not the elders alone but all the people who made this decision, so it appears that they already planned to let the remnant go but not provide for their continuance.
2. So the people came to Beyth-El, and sat there until the evening before Elohim and lifted up their voices and wept [with] great wailing.
3. And they said, “YHWH, Elohim of Israel, why has this taken place in Israel, for one tribe to be missing today from Israel?”
4. So what the people did the next day was [that they] got up early [and shouldered the burden]—they built an altar there and made ascending [offering]s and peace [offering]s go up.
Why would they build an altar here? Because the Tabernacle had apparently been moved here temporarily, and only the grate that goes over it would have been moved from place to place; a new foundation would be built for it at each new location. They needed to ascend out of this situation. Ascending offerings were totally consumed, and thus counted as being totally for YHWH. Peace offerings would have been eaten by the ones who brought them and shared with others who were there, so these offerings were for the sake of those who had probably been fasting the previous day. (v. 2) The Hebrew term for “peace”, in its most basic sense,means completeness. They were mourning the lack of completeness in Israel, and what better way to reestablish it than to eat together?
5. Then the sons of Israel said, “Who [is there] that did not come up to YHWH among the congregation out of all the tribes of Israel?” Because they had sworn a great oath in regard to those who did not come up to YHWH in Mitzpah, saying, “He will be killed dead!”
They were not changing the subject; they had a plan to make use of those who had not participated in the oath mentioned in verse 1.
6. And the sons of Israel were regretful toward Binyamin their brother when they said, “One tribe of Israel has been chopped off today!
Tribe: or, branch: The imagery is of a tree branch being lopped off. But they hoped it could still grow back. (Compare Iyov/Job 14:7) They must have assumed that Binyamin, being so greatly humbled, would surrender long before the point of being nearly annihilated, and now regretted the fact that so many had had to die.
7. “What can we do for wives for those who remain, when we have sworn by YHWH to refrain from giving them any of our daughters as wives?”
They knew a whole tribe would cease to exist if these men were to die childless. There were no Binyamite women left (v. 16), so this means the account of “other cities” being destroyed completely (20:48) included every Binyamite city.
8. And they said, “Who [is the] one out of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to YHWH at Mitzpah?” And in fact not a man from Yavesh-Gil’ad had come to the assembly in the camp.
Yavesh-Gil’ad is in present-day Jordan. According to Eusebius, it was 6 miles (10 km.) from the later city of Pella on the road toward Gerasa (Jerash), not far south of Beyth-She’an and just across the Yarden River from where the Yezre’el Valley meets the Yarden Valley. It was in the tribal land of Gad. Its name means “the dry part of Gil’ad.” It is probably the site known as Wadi Yabes today. Since a wadi also means “a dry river bed”, this drives home the point that, even though Gil’ad is the best pastureland in all Israel, the water had ceased to flow in this part of it—at least figuratively: its inhabitants had not acted with the rest of Israel to enforce Torah, so Torah was not flowing forth from there. Another city had been counted guilty of not coming to the aid of YHWH, the “Master of Armies”, in a similar situation. (5:23)
9. And the people searched among themselves, and indeed, not a man of the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil’ad was there.
They were making sure they had the facts straight before attacking. But if they had inquired of YHWH through the priests for this answer, they would have no right to put checks and balances on those whose rulings Israel is bound to obey.
10. And the congregation sent 12,000 men of the sons of the army there and gave them orders, saying, “Go and strike down the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil’ad with the mouth of the sword, even the women and little ones.
Sons of the army: or, sons of efficiency, capable sons. Even the women and little ones: They did not want even the seed of these dissidents or traitors to survive.
11. “But this is the things you must do: every male, and every woman who has been known by lying with a man, you must devote [to destruction].”
12. But among the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil’ad, they found 400 young maidens who had not known a man by lying with a male, and they brought them into the camp of Shiloh, which is in the land of Kanaan.
Maidens: a term for those eligible for marriage, but the word for “young” refers to those below the age of adolescence. They left alive those who would be counted as carrying the seed of those who would become their husbands rather than their fathers. It would have been easier to tell these were not married (and probably those who were married would have also been wearing head coverings). But this would also mean that these men would have to wait some years before completing the marriage to these girls. This may have been the only penalty they were made to pay for having sided with the wicked. (20:13)
13. So the whole congregation sent and spoke to the sons of Binyamin who were in the cliff of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.
Proclaimed peace: declared a truce, and assured them that they would be given safe passage.
14. And Binyamin did return at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had left alive of the women of Yavesh-Gil’ad, but even so they did not find [enough] for them.
So they found a use even for the city that had to be depopulated. Two-thirds of the Binyamites hereafter would have Gad’s blood in them as well.
15. And the people felt sorry for Binyamin, because YHWH had caused a breach among the tribes of Israel.
If YHWH was the one who had caused this situation, why were they now “bleeding hearts”? He had ended their uncertainty as to whether to go fight their brothers. (20:28) Should they have even left room for loopholes like this? Should they not have finished off these men who had refused to let the rest of Israel carry out the Torah instruction in regard to the wicked city of Giv’ah? For better or for worse, this would have meant there would never have been a King Sha’ul, a Paul the Apostle, or a Mordekhai and Esther. Such a thought is far from modern sentiments, but if it was what YHWH wants, we must make room for it in our thinking. It is a long trip back, but He has given us time to acclimate to it before the Kingdom arrives in its visible form with Y’shua’s unbending rod of iron. Or, since YHWH had said He had given them into Israel’s hand “that day”, did they conclude, by virtue of the fact that some had eluded being killed in that particular battle, that YHWH intended to allow a remnant to survive? Did they think the Binyamites’ refuge was impenetrable? The only way to know for sure was to try, and the rest of the nation did not seem willing to do that. Were they letting their hearts—their longing for what had been and what should have been—stand in the way of bringing complete justice? Some of the men who had fought to defend evil were still alive—possibly some of the men of Giv’ah itself among them! Could they only be at peace with their own hearts if they allowed some of this evil back into the ranks of Israel? Was this just one more example of acting only insofar as it was “right in their own eyes”? Once one compromises with evil, one had to continue to determine the lesser of two evils. It could be that they were afraid other nations would fill the vacuum in that territory on which the Temple Mount sits, causing a discontinuity between Israelites that would extend halfway across the breadth of the Land. Yet it seems that there was still sin upon this tribe for which neither justice nor restitution had been brought forth.
16. And the elders of the congregation said, “What can we do for the rest, since [every] woman of Binyamin has been annihilated?”
Every woman: This is a detail only hinted at in the previous chapter.
17. And they said, “[There must be] a legacy [for] the surviving remnant of Binyamin so that a tribe may not be obliterated out of Israel!
The concern that all twelve tribes remain in existence may have a parallel in the concern of the remaining eleven of Y’shua’s closest representatives that Yehudah (“Judas”) be replaced. (Acts 1:15-26) How eager they were to bring restoration underscores how reluctant they had been to attack a tribe of their own people.
18. “Yet we ourselves cannot give them wives from among our daughters, because the descendants of Israel have sworn [an oath], saying, ‘May the one who gives a wife to Binyamin be put under a curse!’”
19. Then they said, “Look here! [There’s] a feast of YHWH every year in Shiloh, which is north of Beyth-El toward the sunrise from the highway that goes up from Beyth-El to Sh’khem, and on the south of L’vonah.”
Every year: literally, from days to days. It could refer to Sukkoth, which begins and ends the same day of the week. It is also the feast that was later known for joyful dancing. North toward the sunrise: that is, slightly northeast of Beyth-El, and on the east side of the highway which runs northward. By this time, the Tabernacle must have been back at Shiloh, where a stone foundation and low-lying walls had been built to already make the Tabernacle somewhat permanent.
20. So they gave the sons of Binyamin orders, saying, “Go, wait in the vineyards,
Wait: lurk (undetected), lie in wait as in an ambush. The grape harvest is an added hint that this festival is Sukkoth, because the firstfruits of the vintage were among the offerings brought up to YHWH at this feast.
21. “and watch, then if the daughters of Shiloh indeed come out to whirl in the dances, then you come out of the vineyards and [each] man seize for yourselves his woman from among the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Binyamin.
Shiloh is in Efrayim’s territory, so the remaining third of Binyamin’s descendants would also have Efrayimite blood. Men and women would have been dancing separately, so no men would have been in the immediate vicinity to prevent this raid.
22. “Then what we’ll do since their fathers or brothers will come to complain to us, is tell them, ‘Show pity on them for our sakes, since each of us did not acquire his wife in battle, because you did not give [your women] to them at such a time when [if you did] you would have incurred guilt.”
I.e., since they had all sworn not to do so, they had to devise a way for the men to take wives without them having been given in marriage, though the relatives would then release their daughters or sisters to remain wives for the Binyamites, as this would not be direct “giving” but only permitting. They found a loophole in the “letter”, but were following what they thought was the spirit of the Torah. Acquire his wife in battle: Israel did not typically go on raids against another nation; their wars were defensive rather than expansionist, unless YHWH had a special justice of His own to carry out through us, so they would not have found this an acceptable rason to go to war against a passive neighboring nation. They may also have been emphasizing the point that they themselves had never been forced to be in such a quandary over whom to marry. For our sakes: that is, for the sake of all of Israel. Either fathers or brothers would be responsible to defend a girl’s honor, and as we see in the cases of Rivqah and Dinah, brothers were often involved in the choice of whom their sister would marry.
23. So the sons of Binyamin did just that, and carried away women from the dancers they had seized, according to their number, then they went off and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them.
Seized: pulled off or took away by force as plunder. Rebuilt the cities: This may include Yavesh-Gil’ad, since we find it reinhabited only a generation or two later (1 Shmu’el 11). The surviving women who became wives to the Binyamites might have requested this. We do see an improvement in the quality of the men who later inhabited it, for they bravely rescued the bodies of King Sha’ul and his son Y’honathan, whom the Filistines had beheaded and hung on the wall of a city they occupied. (1 Shmu’el 31:11-13) Sha’ul was a Binyaite, and this may have been the reason they were so loyal to him.
24. Then at that time the sons of Israel went from there, each to his tribe and family, and they departed from there, each to his inheritance.
25. In those days there was no king in Israel; [each] man did what was right in his own eyes.
What a note to end on. It is a summary and the final repetition of this synopsis repeated several times prior to this, to drive home the point that when there is no king in Israel, there is disorder, ignorance, and chaotic consequences. Some “right” was done despite all the opposing definitions of what is right, and occasionally they did act as one. But without authoritative leadership, Israel is doomed to continue in this mediocrity ay best. The scribe(s) who wrote down these accounts had the courage to portray Israel honestly with all its sad shortcomings. Most other contemporary nations would gloss over their faults and exaggerate their victories; who would write such shameful facts about one’s own nation unless it was true history? This final reminder that it was because there was no king that we ended up with over 300 years of mostly trouble with only a few bright spots sets the stage well for the people’s plea for a king in the first book of the prophet Shmu’el, which follows chronologically. But he emphasizes that a human king, in most cases, will not be the best solution either; it is YHWH Himself that we were intended to have as our King. The primary cause of this anarchy, in which everyone wanted their rights and everyone wanted to express their own opinion, was that they did not adhere to the clarity in His Torah. Thus He was not honored as King either. One wonders whether it would not have been better, when Y’hoshua had apportioned out the Land, if the tribes would have refused to scatter and instead have stayed in unity around the Tabernacle with YHWH in their midst, whatever inconveniences this might have presented. In any case, this book has held a wealth of information about pitfalls to avoid as we make our way back to being a people once again and ready ourselves for the one king YHWH has appointed to sit on the throne in Israel.
INTRODUCTION: This book of Israel's history picks up where Y'hoshua left off. Some include it among the prophets rather than the "writings", since several of the judges also acted in this capacity. It covers a span of 341 years (from about 1382 B.C.E. through 1041 B.C.E. (Some chronologies place it 30 years earlier.) The theme of the book is summed up in a phrase repeated several times throughout the later chapters: "At that time there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes." The clear antidote to this anarchy, then, which we have today more than we realize, is for there to again be authority in Israel.
THE BOOK OF
Judges
PART 3: CHAPTERS 15-21
