Verse 23. Go agaimtt htm] It appeals moaK
dnu Ihe lanelitea SA not seek the protection d Ood. trusted in the goodnttt vf their eowM, aai ia
SO T Tbea all the ehildrea of larael, and all the people, > went up, and came onto the house of God, and wept, and aat there berore the LoBD, and footed that day Hatil even, and offered barnt-ofieringB and peace-offerings befbre the
27 And the ehfldren of Israel inquired of the Loan, (for the arit of the covenant of God -aat there in those days,
2S And Phinehas, the eon of Eleazar, the ■on of Aaron, " stood befbre it in those days,) ■aytiif. Shall 1 yet a^in go out to battle against the emldren of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said. Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
29 And Israel ' set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
30 And the children of Israel w«it np against the children ot Benjamin on the third day, and pnt themselves in am^ against QibetUi, as at other times.
31 And the children of Benjamui went out aeainst the people, and were drawn away from the city; and thev befran " to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the hif hwavs, of which one goeth up to 'the house <n God, and the other to Oibeah in the field, about thirty men
3S And the children of Benjamin said, Th^ are smitten down befbre m as at the first. But the ehildrea of lu^el said. Let us flee, anddraw them from the city unto the highways.
33 And all the men, of Israel rose up out of their plaee. and put themselves in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.
34 And there came antiiut Gfflwah ten thour nnd chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: 'but they knew not that evil vaa near them.
35 And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Beqjfunites that day twenty and five thousand am a hundred men: all these drew the sword.
36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: * for the men of Israel gave place to the Beoiamiles, because they trusted onto
«red them into dw hsnda of their enemieiT snd diowed ihem thiu the race ww not to the svf lit, nor the baule to the ■tron&
Verae iSt And mpi] Had they humbled flwuiBelves, bM«d, Kodi prayed, and offered sacrificeB at firat, they had not been discomfited.
And/Mted UuU day wUU «wn] Tint is the fint plaee where JTattin^ ia mentioned, aa a reluioua ceremony; or M ■ metuis of obtaining help from God. And in dtis eais, aikd many lince, it liaa been powerfiilly efbetual. At imaent it ii but little uaed; a atvong proof that a«ff-dmiat M wsariog out ot laahioo.
VsrseSS. PMnehoa, At aoniif EUaxar) Thu vaa the aame Phindiaa who it mentioned Numb. xzv.; and eonaequeaUy iheaa tnuuactiona muat have taken place rfiortly ^ler the dieoib of Joahua.
Vorae 29. Urael tt lien in imU] Thourii God had promiaed them lucceM, they knew thffr could expect it only in die uee of the proper meani. Iwv ueed all pmdsnt preoautioa; and employed all Iheir miliianr akiU.
Terae 32. Let tu — draw Ihtm/rtm tht aty} They had two reasoM for tbia: — 1. They had placed an ambiucade tehiiMl Oibeah, which was to enter and bum the city aa soon as the Benjamitea had left it. 2. It would aeem, that the alingefa, by being within the ci^ and ita Itnlificationii, had great advantage againet the lantsliles by their slinga, whom ihey eotild not annoy with their ■worda, unless they then (o ibe plain country.
Tans 33. -Alt Amiu^u in arrojf st Boof-laniar] IfeAXinditoaBBsnta hvw dividsd thsir amy mMtbrss
the liers in wait which they had set beside
37 ■ And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait * drew them^ selves along, and unote all the city wiUi ^ edge of the sword.
38 Now there was an appointed * sign between the men of Israel 'and the liers in wait, that they should make a great ' flame with smoke to rise up out of the city.,
39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began * to smite and kill of the men of Israel about Uiir^ nersons; for they said. Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.
40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the citv with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites ■ looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.
41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil " was come upon them.
42 Therefore they turned iheir backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness: but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midat of them.
43 Thm they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode tiiem down 'with ease *over against Oibeah toward the sunrising.
44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen tboi^ sand men; all these were men of valour.
45 And they turned, and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of ' Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the h^hways five thousand men, and pursued hard alter them unto Giclom« and slew two thousand men of them.
40 So that all whidi fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and fire thousand men that drew the sword: all these were men of valour.
47 > But six hundred men turned, and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmcm, and abode in the rock Rimmon fonr months.
48 And the men of Israel turned again upon ^e children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as welt the men of ecery city,as the beast, and edlthat^came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that t they came to.
diviaiona: one waa at Bsal-tamar: a eeeond bdiind the eitf in ambuah; tuid the third akinniibed vid) the Beojainltea before Oibeah.
Verae 35. TteaUtf and five Ounuand and a Antu&wf] Aa the Benjamitea conaiated only of twcnty-tiz tbouaand and ttven hundred alingera: or, aa the Ttugate, Septusgint, and other* read, twenty-five ibounnd, which ia moat probably the true reading; then the whole of the Baa^ mitai were cut to pteeee, exc«pt lix hundred men; who wo are informed fled to the rock Rinunon, where they fortified themeelvea.
Verae 38. Now Sure wu an appointed wign} From thia veraa to the end of the chapter we have die detaita ot the aame operations which are mentioned in a gensfsl vm, in the preeediitg part of the chapter.
Verae 46. Unto Aa rodfc ^ AimnOR] HiU warn soms atrong place; but where ritinted is not known. Horeibtry mainiatned themaelvea fam months t and it was bjr thess alone that the trilw of Benjamin waa preaerred frina utter extermination. See the following diapter.
It ia scarcely poeaible to imagine any thing more honid than the indiscnmin&te and relentlesa slaughter of both innocent and goitqr, mentioned in this obsfNer. lite crims of themenoT GiHsh vSa greatt bat dterswas no adsquate cause for this relentms esleminatioa of awhols tribe. There waa neither justice nor judgment in thia case: they were on all sides bruut, cruel, and feroeioua) and no wonder 1 tftere wiu no Mnf to.bnialf no eflbelisa dvll govemnwati nd esary •landUwtel was r^M te hit own cvtM» not nmm tUt ■ caama aon, ^ouU U pM to diuh-Lft Umt (bill pntMin irln for llic i^r laaidrtt 1MB staM M
3 And said, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day CHie trftw lackuig in Israel?
4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and i built there an altar, and offered burnt-ofierings and peaee-oiferin^.
5 And the children of Israel said, Who it there amone all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the coDgresation unto the Lord? ■ for they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the Lord to Mizpdi, saying, He shall ■orely be put to death.
6 And the children of Israel repeated, them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the -Lord that we will not give them of our mughters to wives?
8 If And they said, What one ia Vum of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to Che Lord? And, behold, there came none to the camp from ■■ Jabesh-^ilead to the assembly.
9 For the people were numbered, and behf^d, there vere none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of tne raliantest, and commanded them, saying, "Go and smite the inhabitants of
Verse 1. N<M the mm of braet kad worn] Or this oath we bad not beard before: but jt appean they had commenced this war with a determinRdon to deatrov the Benjamites utterly; and that if arty of ihem escaped the swora, no man should be permitted to give him his daughter to wife. By these means the remnant of the tribe must soon have been annihilated.
Terse 2. Tlupwple came to the haute of Qpd\ Liier^lv fA< people came ^tt-rvi to Beth-el: thia is conai^- «reaas the name of a pla^ by dte ChaMee, Syriae, Arabic^ and Sepluagint
A»d vat aors] llieir revenge was satisfied; and now nfleeiitm bringi Ihem to contritioD fbf what tbty bad
Verae 3. Why it thie come to pom] This was a very impertiaeat quMtion. Iltey knew well enough koa it cams to pais. It was ri^t that the men of Oibeoh should bs punidiedi and itwaa right that they who vindicated tbem ahould share in diat punishment; but ibcy carried their revenge too &r t they endeavoored to exterminate boih man and beast, ch. zz. 48.
Verse 4. BuiU there an altar] This affords some evidenee that this was sot a regular place of worship, else ■a altar would have been found in the place: and their act was not according to the law, as Biay be seen in several places of the Pentateuch. But there was nuthnking nor law among them, and they did whatever appeared riBfat in their own eyes.
Verse 7. How ehail tr« do for iBivet for tAcmJ From this it i^>pears that they had oestro;^ all the Benjemitish Wmen and children I They had set out with the purpose of exterminating the whole tribe; anl therefore, ihey inasMiiii nd the wmen, that if any of the men escape^ ib»y mii^t neither find wife nor dau^ter; ood they bound themselves nnder an oath not to nve any of their females to any of the remnant of this tnbe; that thus the whole tribe might utterly perish.
11 And this is the thing that ye cihall do, p Te shall utterly destroy every male, »od every woman tliat hath i lain by man.
12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred ' young virgins, thai had known no man by lying with any m&le: and the^ brought them unto the camp to 'Shilofa, which t« in the land of Canaan.
13 And the whole congregation sent some t to speak to the children of Benjamin ■ that -werein toe rock Rimmon, and to * call peaceably unto
14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive or the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so thev sufficed them not.
15 And the peoi^e * repented them for Benjamin, because that the Lord had made a breach m the tribes of Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congr^ation said. How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin.
17 And they said, TViere must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
18 Howbcit we may not give them wives of our daughters; ■ for the children of Israel liave sworn, saying. Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
19 Then the^ Bald, Behold^ there it a feast of the Lord in Shiloh ^ yearly-, m a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, 'on the east side * of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south ofLebonah.
20 Therefore they commanded the chiUrea of Benjamin, saying. Go, and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 And see, and behold, if the daughtera of Shiloh come out ^ to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go
gilead\ As thesr had sworn to destroy those who wooM not B«si«t in this war, wer. fi. they determined to destroy the men of Jabesh, wid to leave none alive except the virgine; and to give these to the siz hundred Benjunites that bad escqied to the rock Rimmon. So twelve ihouMnd men wenL smote the city, and killed all the male% and all the marrxed women. Ijie whole account is dreadful; and none could have been guilty of all these enormitie^ but those who were abaiidoned of Crod. The crime of the men of Gibeah was of the deepest die; the punishiBeot, involving both the guil^ and mnoeeot, was extended to the most criminal ezceas) and their mode of redresrfng the evil which tliey had occasioned, was equally ebon? inoble.
Verse 13. And to call peateably unto Ihem.} To proclaim peace lo them; to anure them that the enmity was all over; and that they ni^t, with safety, leave ibejr ■trong-hold.
Verse 14. Ta n ttey nffieed Asm not.} There wen six hundred men at Rimmon, and all the younff womaa they saved from Jabesh were only four hundred; therefore there were two hundred still wanting-
Verse 19. There is afeaet t^the Lord] VVteu this fimst WBS, is not known: it might be either the pusover, pentecost, or the feast of tabernacles; or indeed some oukt, peculiar to this place. All the ebove feasts were eeletntcd at that time in die year when the vines wore in fiill Isq/'r - therefore, the Benjamiles mi^t easily eoneeaJ ibeawelr— in die vineyards; and the circumstances will annrer to any of those feasts.
On the eaei tide qf the higkvay, Ac.) I can sec na reason for ihla minute descri|Hion; unless it iniimates thaia ihis feast was to be held this year in mdier a el^eremt place to that which waa usual; and, as dM Benjamitee InmI Deen shut up in dieir strong-hold in Rimmon, Ibey aigh* not have heard of this alteraU'on; and it was aeeesiy, in such a case, to give them the most eirewowtsatial inftvnmlion, that they might sneoeed in thsir enterprise wtthoatt beii^ disoovered.
22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, * Be favourable unto them for our sakes; because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not ^ive onto them at this time, that ye should be ffmlty.
its And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wivea, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they
Verae 21. And caliA you eeery man hit That ii, iei each man of the two hundred Benjamites aeize and carry off a wman, whom bs ia, from that hour, to con- •Uer as hui vife.
Verat 22. Be/iuourabU unto Ihmn] They promiae to luadwirinfluenoewiUitheinenof Shiloh, to induce ibem toeoiweitftoacoiiiiezion,thuabaudulflQtl]r<rtilained| and which the neceuity of the case i^peared 1o them to joa^.
We ratervtd not to each man kU wife in the war] The reading of the Vulgate ia very remarkable: — Miieremini eorum, non mim ropturunx eat jure beUantium atquc VKtorum, ted rogantibut vi aeeiperent, non dedtatit, «t ivetlrSpartepKcalumeeti " Pardon tbem, for they have not taken them as victors take captives in war; but when they requested you to give them, you did iwt; therefore the bull is your own." Here it is intimated that applicalioa had been made to the people of Shiloh to furnisn these too hundred Benjamites witti wives, and that thev had re&ised: and it \vas this refusal that induced the Benjamites to seiza and carry them off. Does not St. Jerom, the tnaalUof, refer to tlw haUory of ibe npa of (tte Sabine vir^int?- Siahtiov. flbuAjgwU tmulktas the Hebrew thus: Vmlam gtuemt itUt daUi non mint ad fteUum duxerant tuant qitiMpu uxorem; et nOi eat iUit nunc eoMtdelit, tUHcix rti erititi "Pardon them, I beseech you, for Ibey have not each taken his wife to the war; and, uoleaa you now give these to them, you will sin. This intimates that, as the Benjamites had not taken their wives with them to the war, where som^ if not all of Ibem, mt^ht hare eaeyed, ana the Israelites found them in the citWiL and put them all to die sword; therefore the people of Shiloh should give up those tteo hundred young women to them for wives; and if they did not, it would be a sin, the circumstances of the case bein^ considered.
Oat translation seems to give, as a reason w the men of Sbitoh why they should paraon diis rape, that, as they had Dot permitted die women to live, in their war with Benjamin, therefore these men are now destitute: and the concession ii^ueh theiy wish them lo make, may be considered as axon of an obligKticm to the Israehtes than to the Benjamites. b is an ofascure sentence; and the render, if not pleased mtb what ia laid down, may endeavour to satisfy himself with odtera, which he may find in different vertiont and emmtntaion. The Vulgate gives a good sense to the paasa^; but proliably Houbigant comes neor^t to the ueaoing.
Verse 23. TVy wmt and returned unto their inheritaneei- It a^pean that the Benjamites acted in the most hoeourable way by the women whom thtnr bad thus violently carried nBTt andwetBajreMassurea they took them to an iaberitanee at least equal to Aeir own I for it does not aopear that any part of the lands of the Benjamites wore ahanaled bom inina: and the nxAundmt men in question diaiH, for the present, the inheritance of many thousands.
Verse 24. Evfry man to hit tribe] Though this must haveboen Jiaur mmAttttet die war with Benjamin, chap, xz. 47. yet it appears the armies did not disband till they had got the ramnant of Benjamin settled, as is here related.
went and returned unto their inheritance, and ^ repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe, and to hia family, and they^ went out from thence every man to hia inheritance.
25 * In those daja there was no kins in lerael: r every man did taat which toaa right in hie- own eyes.
Let no man suppose that the sacred writer, by relating the atrocities in this and the preceding chapters, justifies the actions thesoselves: by no means. Indeed they cannot be justified; and the writer, by relating them, gives the strongest j)roof of the authenticity of the whole, by such an impartial relation of foots as was highly to the discredit of his country.
I BAVB already referred to the rape of die Sabine virgins. The sto^ IB told by LAvy, Hist. lib. L cap. 9. the substance of which is as followa: — Romulus, bavioE opened an atylum at his new-built city of Rome for all kinds of persons, the number of men who flocked to his standard was soon very considerable; but, as they had few ■women, or, as Livy eay& penuria muHervm, a dearth of wometa, be sent to all the neighbouring states to invite them to make intermarriages with bis people. Not one of dto tribes around him received the proposal; and some of them insulted his ambassadors, and said, Ecquod/emiidM gxioque atylum aperuitteni? Id enim demum compar connubium fore: "Why have you not also opened an. asylum for womkn. which would have afforded you stutable matchesr' Tfus exssperated Romidut^ but be eon-, eealed his resentment; and, havine published that be xb^ tended a great featt to Neptune EqaettoTf invited all die neighbouring uibes to come to it; they did so, and were received by me Romans with the ^reiMest coroialitv and friendsliip. The Sabinet, with their wives and children, came in great numbers; and each Roman citizen entertained a stranger. When the games began, and each was intent on the spectacles before them, at a sigiial given, the young Romans rudted in amon^ die Sabine women, and eadi carried off one j whom, however, they used in the kindest maimer, marrying them according to their own rites, with due solemnity; and admitting them to all the rights and privileges oi the iuw commonwe^th. Hia number carried oii on this occasion amounted to near teetn hundred: but this act of violence produced diM*- trous wars between the Romans and the Satnne^ whieh were at hst happfly terminated by die mediatian of the very women whose rape had been the eause of their commencement. The story may be seea at laiga in Z/foy, ' Plutarch, and otherB.
Thus ends the Book of Judgeet a work whicb, while it inlroducet the history of Samud, and that of the king*^ of Jodah and Israel, forms, in some sort, a tupplement to the Book of JoAua; and furnishes the only account we have of those times of anarchy and confosion. which.extended nearly from the times of the elders, who survived Joshua, to the establishment of the Jewish vxtmarchy, undo' Saul, David, ud their eoccessors. For other ums <rf this bodt, see tba prf^befc
Its Masoretio Aaptert are fourteen. And its middle verse is ver. 8. of chap. z. And that year Aeg vexed and emreteed the AUdren ^ /rrae^ A«. Zhetrnmr 1, 1817.
^K/^HSNud by whom the Book o/RuA vu written, an points not wieed on among eritiea and eoounaiMBn. ' r Aa to the tranaaotioni recorded in it, the; are 'variouily placed. In tlie book ilaelf there ia no other lUxatiMttf Nnu than merely thi^ that the thinga canu to pa«« {» lk4 dayt uh«n tiu Judga ruied: dterefore. eome have ptaosd tfiOBU traoMctioni undsr Ehud, othen under Gideon, others under Barak, oihera under AbtJMUck, and othen tadar SKUHgar. Thia last ii the o]union of Archbishop Us^r; and moat dironologers adopt iL The bocdc is Kvideaiy sa mfpmais to the Book of Judgas, and eootaina a perfect histoir in itaelf t ahd, therefore, should not be inserteil in bdt ■put ftf dwt book. It also aeema aa an intndmtion to the botdn of Samuel, m which the history of David ia ■•*"t*h^, •a it gjvaa the genealogy of this prinea. It is alao iwt withaiu its use in maltais whiA leapaet the Oaipe^ aaitaieer* tains the line I7 which Jeaua Christ came.
As M the author, be is aa uncertain aa the h'ma. It has been attributed to HureftidL to Sxra, and to fibmnf / nd it is moat likely that the author of the two books of Samuel was also the writer of this little book, aa it aaema aaoMniT to eonpleta hia plan of the history of David. See the Prtface lo the Pint Book of Samuel.
7^i« sum 9i the history contained in this book ia the following: — A man of Betb-lehem, named Blmdech, with his wife Naomi, and his two soits. Hafalon and Chilion, left his own country in the time of a fiuntne, and vent to sojoom in the land of Hoab. Tbere oe diedt and Naomi married her two aona to two UoaUtirii women; Mshhn msnied Ruih, who is the chief siAjeet of thia book i and Chilion married one named Orpah. In about ten years both theaa bredirsn died; and Naomi, accompanied by her two dau^iera-in-law, aet out to return to the land of Judah, ifae barfog heard that plen^ was anin restored to her country. On the way, she besought her daughters to return to their oam country and kindred, unpah took her advice; and, after an afTectionate porting, retumM; but Ruth inristedm acoompanying her mother-in-law. They arrived in Beth-lehem, about the time oSnanat; and Roth went into Aa V fiaMs to glean for their support "nie ground on which she was accidentally employed belonged to Bion, one of die relativea ot EUmele^ her lathei^n-law: who, finding who she was, ordered her to be kindly treated, and uw^nted ber both meat and drink with hia own aervania. Finding that she was by marriage his kinmman, be purposed to caka her to wUe^ if a nearer kinsman, who was then living, should refiise. He was accordingly applied to, refijsed to t^ Ruth, and surrendered his ligtil to her, according to the cuatom of those times, at the ffM « Beth-lehem, before An aiders of the city. Boaz then took her to wife, by whom she had Obed, who was father to JesM, the fatfier of Darid.
To the questions. Who was Boaz 7 and who was Ruth 7 no satiihetory answer can be given. All we know, fa certain, is that Boax was an Ej>hraimiU,tiS Beth-lehem; and At^fc a MMoitess, and cooaeqaently educated a beWMi. But what we want in eertaint^ aeveral nave a^mpled to supply by contecture': with them Boas was the mme as Axon, Judges xit 6 — 10. and Ruth waa the dau^ter of Bglon, kutg of Hoob. Tttim is die i»bion in»i»Miiwni w ibe CSiaklea T^^m, on this book; to which I ahalt, in the course <tfifaa nota^hava bi^ierooeaawb to nihr. lliaiawat