Judges 21
English Standard Version

Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin
21 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” 2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 And they said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4 And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

8 And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. 9 For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. 11 This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. 14 And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. 15 And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” 19 So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20 And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards 21 and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” 23 And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. 24 And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

​25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

As mentioned at the end of the last journal article, the Jews had some regret for the decision they made that they would never give any of their daughters in marriage to the tribe of Benjamin because of the sin of Gibeah and how they defended the citizens of Gibeah and had refused to take care of the issue within their borders, allowed other Jews to be attacked in their borders and then went to war with the other Jews when they came to demand justice for the victim.  The Jews knew though that this would mean that the entire tribe of Benjamin would not just be cut off from the covenant, but they would die off and their allotment of land that was supposed to be an eternal covenant to them would no longer have anyone to possess it.  They saw this as a problem as they were not about to make the LORD out to be a liar.

They wept bitterly over the sin of the nation and the need to have a civil war and they offered all kinds of offerings to the LORD for the sin that had been covered up and for the price of peace and restored fellowship between the tribes, but there was some unfinished business related to this war that was fought  for the command had gone out to all the towns to hold council together before the LORD at Mizpah to inquire about how to proceed in the matter and one of the towns refused to come out before the LORD to seek His council.  That is unacceptable to the Jews and they are now going to punish that city and kill two birds with one stone (so to speak).

​They went through the town of Jabesh-gilead to kill every man and every woman who was not a virgin so that they devoted all the inhabitants of the city to destruction except the 400 virgins that they found.  They took these 400 virgins and provided them as wives to the 300 men of Benjamin that remained (of the 26,000 men that came out to fight, 25, 100 were killed and 600 ran into the wilderness leaving only 300 mature men of the tribe).

However, they knew that this would not be enough to keep the tribe going, so they would have to look elsewhere for additional women to give to the tribe of Benjamin.  So they decided to conspire with the tribe of Benjamin against the people of Shiloh (where the Tabernacle was located, so most of these people would probably be Levites, though it was in the land of Ephraim).  They told the men of Benjamin that the inhabitants of Shiloh would be coming out of the city for a feast unto the LORD and that they should wait in ambush to take some of the women of the city of Shiloh for themselves as additional wives.  In this way, they would also somewhat be keeping their vow because they would not give any of their women to the men of Benjamin if the men of Benjamin stole them.  It seems like the men of Shiloh had no idea of this plan and they already though up an a justification for when the men of the city asked why they thought it was okay to offer their daughters up to the tribe of Benjamin.

They were told to be happy because they were only taking a few women that were needed in addition to the 400 virgins that the LORD already provided for them--they did not take a woman from Shiloh for every man.  They were also told that this was their way to keep the men of Shiloh from breaking their vow, for if they had come and asked for their daughters they would not have been able to give them willingly.  It's a convoluted argument and it shows where the hearts of the people are, but in the midst of all this where "every man did what was right in his own eyes" (which is one of the refrains of the book of Judges along with "in those days there was no king in Israel"), God was still faithful to be working His master plan.  He was faithful to His covenant even when His people were so unfaithful and not deserving of it, because the covenant wasn't just about them, but about salvation not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles--all the people of the world from all places in all times.

So then we are left with the feeling that things are broken and in desperate for Messiah to come and fix them.  Not only to bring peace, but to bring justice and restore righteousness.  We are left longing for the King of Kings to take His throne when we are done reading the book of Judges and for His Justice to rule and to reign among His people and to go throughout the whole world, but we will have to wait a little longer for that, because it is not time for that to happen yet.  However, it is good and right that this desire is stirred up within us because this is the message of the Prophets to the people--God wants them to stop sinning and for the covenant to be renewed but there is also a message of hope that a better covenant is coming and that one day a better King is coming.  We still look forward to the day of our soon-coming King--the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who will also be the Righteous Judge.

For now though, we will continue to look through the Old and New Testaments of how the LORD used imperfect people to help accomplish His perfect plan.

Judges 20
English Standard Version

Israel's War with the Tribe of Benjamin
20 Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah. 2 And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot that drew the sword. 3 (Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen?” 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. 6 So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel. 7 Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.”

8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house. 9 But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot, 10 and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? 13 Now therefore give up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. 14 Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel. 15 And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day 26,000 men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. 16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered 400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

18 The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”

19 Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. 21 The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites. 22 But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. 23 And the people of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until the evening. And they inquired of the LORD, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against them.”

24 So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day. 25 And Benjamin went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who drew the sword. 26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 And the people of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

29 So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. 30 And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31 And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the people of Benjamin said, “They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba. 34 And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. 35 And the LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who drew the sword. 36 So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated.

​The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city 39 the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. 41 Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst. 43 Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah as far as opposite Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down. 46 So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor. 47 But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire.

After holding council together and hearing the testimony of the Levite, the rest of Israel is so upset with what the people of Gibeah did to the concubine of the Levite that they all came out to demand that the tribe of Benjamin hand over the people of the town for trial (and execution).  Even the tribe of Dan joined in with the rest of Israel in the matter to condemn what the people of Gibeah had done, which is telling, since they themselves seem to have no moral compass at this point.

The tribe of Benjamin defends the people of Gibeah and so the other tribes declare war against the tribe of Benjamin.  They decided that they would only have 10% of the people of Israel fight in this war though as their goal was not to destroy the tribe of Benjamin, but to get them to repent and no longer condone such sin within their borders for this is like the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah that the LORD had judges with hellfire and brimstone and if Israel knowingly let this wickedness exist among them, they would all be held guilty under the Law.

As the forces were mustered, Benjamin called up all 26,000 of its fighting men including 700 men that were what we might call "special forces."  They are described here as being left-handed and experts with a sling so that they could sling a stone at a hair and not miss (a slingshot is a deadly ranged weapon in the right hands).  The rest of Israel mustered its forces and gathered 400,000 men of war (this is apparently 10% of their fighting force in Israel, so they must have had 4 million men able to fight at any time).  The odds are not in the favor of the tribe of Benjamin here as for every one of their soldiers there are more than 15 soldiers on the others side, so they either believed they were in the right and that God would supernaturally help them or they were extremely stubborn and were just digging their heels in even though they knew they were in the wrong and were play a huge game of "chicken" hoping that the rest of the Israelites would flinch and back down (they did not).

Before they went to war though, the Israelites sought direction from the LORD and the LORD commanded the tribe of Judah to lead the people into battle.  They marched towards Gibeah and drew up the battle lines and in the first day of battle, the Israelites lost 22,000 men (remember that it is not typical for them to lose any men if the LORD is with them in battle), so they weep bitterly and again seek counsel from the LORD if they should go up in battle again on the second day, and the LORD directs them to once again form the battle lines and fight against the tribe of Benjamin. and another 18,000 of the army of Israel were destroyed.

The army of Israel was devastated by this so they all returned to Bethel where the Ark of the Covenant was located at that time, and they fasted, prayed and offered sacrifices to the LORD and once again had Phineas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron inquire if they should once again go up against their brothers from the tribe of Benjamin, and the LORD told them to once more go up against them and this day He would give Benjamin into their hands.  This civil war had been costly for the Israelites and would have been easy for them to say that it had not been worth it and to turn a blind eye to this wickedness or for them to call up the entire army of Israel as reinforcements and try to completely destroy the tribe of Benjamin, but both of these things seemed far from their minds.  They were willing to pay a heavy price so that their brothers who were in sin would repent and be restored.  Even so, that repentance would not come without consequences. Which will lead us into our next and final chapter of the book of Judges (for these chapters potentially give us some information about King Saul from the tribe of Benjamin who will be the main actor in 1 Samuel).

On the third day, they set an ambush and made it appear as if they were making the battle lines just as they had done before, but they intentionally retreated away from the city to draw the tribe of Benjamin away.  Benjamin gave chase and killed 30 of the men of Israel thinking they had routed them as before.  The men who were waiting in ambush then rushed against the undefended city and attacked it and they came at Benjamin from both sides so that 25,100 of their 26,000 men were killed that day (they lost more than 96% of their army in a single day).  It is only at this point that they realized they were defeated and that they surrendered.

These are the same tactics that Joshua used when he set the ambush against the city of Ai in the book of Joshua.  the second battle of Ai, he put men in ambush who went in and destroyed the city and burned it with fire so that when the main fighting force saw the column of smoke, they knew to stop retreating and to turn back and fight because the ambush party was coming in from behind and they would have the enemy surrounded.  Only 600 of the men of Benjamin ran into the wilderness and survived that day and 25, 400 of them were lost in battle.

How then should the rest of Israel treat this tribe?  Should they let them die off now that nearly all of their mature men are dead or have fled and there is now no one to marry and of their women and have any children?  That will be the question that Israel faces next time, though they take a vow now that none of them will ever give their daughters to any man of the tribe of Benjamin since Benjamin had gone to war against all of them over the sin of people of Gibeah and had let such evil exist among them and was unwilling to seek justice for the Levite who was sojourning among them.  This is why I said it would give some context as to where King Saul would come from (for he was of the tribe of Benjamin) and it seems it would be quickly forgotten by the people not only that Judah was the one given the scepter to lead the people in the blessings of the tribes by Israel, but that Benjamin had just led the nation into civil war by defending an abomination akin to that of Sodom and Gomorrah that was so wicked that all of the other tribes said they wanted to make sure that none of their daughters married into that family--for they might also be caught up in whatever curse the LORD might bring down upon the tribe of Benjamin.  (Interesting that Israel seemed to turn a blind eye to the idolatry and apostacy of the tribe of Dan though).

So we have the backdrop being set for the next historical narrative that will be given to us (probably also written by Samuel) which will tell of the story of Ruth the Moabite who is the great-grandmother of the one that the LORD would choose to be king of all of Israel.  Benjamin will be the first of the twelve tribes to join up with David and recognize him as their king and not just the king of Judah, but that he would be king over all of Israel (even the tribe of Dan).  We have one more chapter in the book of Judges to get through though as Israel realizes it is not God's plan for them to destroy one of the tribes that He gave an equal share of the inheritance to and that the eternal covenant belongs to them too, so they decided to make a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive (though I find it to be somewhat convoluted).  We'll look at that passage next time.

Judges 19
English Standard Version

A Levite and His Concubine
19 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. 3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. 4 And his father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. 5 And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” 6 So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl's father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” 7 And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. 8 And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl's father said, “Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. 9 And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”

10 But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. 11 When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” 12 And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.” 13 And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.” 14 So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, 15 and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

​16 And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. The men of the place were Benjaminites. 17 And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” 18 And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of the LORD, but no one has taken me into his house. 19 We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.” 21 So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah's Crime
22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” 23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. 24 Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.” 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. 26 And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.

​27 And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. 29 And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

The end of this story will read much like the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and I think it is the author's intent to let us know just how wicked the Israelites had become.  First, the Levite should not have taken a concubine for himself as this implies that he was already married to a woman and wanted to take another woman as his wife and treat her as a wife, but not call her his wife.  While that was definitely something that was culturally acceptable among the Gentile nations and there were many of the Israelites that went along with it, it was never something that was taught by the LORD.  The story begins with this Levite's concubine being unfaithful and him going after her when she had returned to her father's house and how the father-in-law and concubine schemed to keep him there at the father-in-law's house, but he eventually would no longer delay (most likely because he needed to complete his trip home before the Sabbath).

Since the journey was long from Bethlehem in Judah to the hill country of Ephraim where the Tabernacle (the house of the LORD) was located, they would have to spend the night somewhere.  The servant of the Levite suggested that they stay in the city of Jebus (that would later be called Jerusalem), but the Levite refused to spend the night in a Canaanite city among their enemies and pressed on to make it to one of the cities of the tribe of Benjamin before nightfall.

The Law required that the people of that city should have shown them hospitality and taken them in, but no one did, so they prepared to spend the night in the city square, however an older man came by and offered them shelter and fodder for their donkeys and food for all of them and he even washed their feet (a sign of hospitality).  Yet the people of the city, the city of Gibeah, when they heard about it formed a rape mob like the people of Sodom did, coming to the door and trying to break it down insisting that the visitors be brought out so that they may know them (in the biblical sense of the word know like a husband knows his wife intimately through sexual relations).  This is no welcoming committee.  They are not there to show hospitality of any kind to their visitors.

Like Lot in Sodom, the master of the house tries to go out and plead with them and offer them his virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine so that they will leave the men of the house alone. So they took the Levite's concubine outside and raped and abused her all night long until the sun started to come up and then they let her go (none of them wanted their wickedness to be seen in the light of day).  In the morning she was laying there on the doorstep, and the Levite tells her to get up so that they can go on their way--he likely wants to get himself and her out of that city as quicly as possible.  When she did not respond (probably indicating that she died from the abuse) he put her on the donkey and took her home with him.  When he got there, he took a knife and divided her into 12 pieces and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes along with a message, "Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.” (his intent was to call the other tribes to war with the tribe of Benjamin, which we will see happen in the next chapter).

Do not miss the "irony" that the Levite thought that it was in the Canaanite city of Jebus that he would face such dangers and that he would be safe in any city that belonged to the children of Israel because they were his brothers, yet it was from these people of Benjamin that he probably faced even more danger than from among the Jebusites (who were a relatively peaceful people who lived among the Jews for a long time and lived under the authority of King David). It's a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the land of Canaan at that time to say that he and his companions might have actually fared better staying among the Canaanites that evening.

Judges 18
English Standard Version
​
Danites Take the Levite and the Idol
18 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. 2 So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” 4 And he said to them, “This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” 5 And they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.” 6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.”

7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8 And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9 They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. 10 As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”
11 So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, 12 and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim. 13 And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

14 Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.” 15 And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare. 16 Now the 600 men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. 18 And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” 20 And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.

21 So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them. 22 When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan. 23 And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?” 24 And he said, “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” 25 And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.” 26 Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

27 But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29 And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30 And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

It's possible that this chapter, along with the last one we studied, happen much earlier chronologically and that Samuel (or whoever the author of the book of Judges is) is tying up loose ends.  We saw in Judges 1 that the tribe of Dan lost the land given to them as inheritance by God to the Canaanites

34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. 35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward. (Judges 1:34-36).

It seems unlikely that the tribe of Dan would wait 300-400 years (roughly the timeline of the book of Judges, depending on how much overlap there might be with the book of Joshua, to have some land to live in, and it might also explain why the LORD let their land fall to the Canaanites so quickly, for we see that this is a tribe that has been prone to idolatry and apostacy (notice how they recognize the voice of this Levite that had abandoned his mission and post as if they knew that he was rebellious like them and he was a "friendly" voice to them).

The tribe of Dan sent out its own spies to spy out the land to try to find a new place for the entire tribe to go and live, for they refused to fight for their inheritance and instead wanted to get as far away from there as possible.  They were headed north and stopped at the house of Micah (who we read about last time) and when they saw the ephod and the idols, they decided to take them for themselves and to take the Levites that Micah had made into a priest of his false gods as their own to be the priest for their own tribe and they would set up their own place of worship far from the Tabernacle and would encourage their tribe to worship these idols and not to worship the LORD their God who brought them up out of the land of Egypt--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This is a pattern that we'll see with the tribe of Dan as we'll see that they will not want to go down to Jerusalem to worship after the time of Solomon and they will make their own temple to worship golden calves like those made at Mount Sinai and will tell the ten tribes that these are the gods who brought them up out of the land of Egypt--the gods that their fathers worshiped.  We'll get there eventually when we get to the time of the prophets, but all this is setting that up for us so that we can see that this idolatry and apostacy has been in their hearts from the beginning and that they sought out others like themselves that tried to use religion for their own gain, for they sought out "priests" of their own making who would work for money and would give them whatever blessing they asked for (as if the LORD was somehow bound to these words that did not come from Him).

When Micha figured out what they had done, taking his gods and his "priest," he chased after them and asked them what was wrong with them, and they asked him if it was better that these gods and priest served as a shrine for one man or if they served the entire tribe of Dan, and then they asked if he, a single man, wanted to fight all of them.  Micha decided that it wasn't worth the fight and he returned home never to see his gods or the Levite he had hired as a priest again.

​They went all the way to the edge of Sidon.  Look for the city named "Dan" just west of the marker that says "Syria" on this map (it is east of the city of Tyre as well if that helps you).  You'll see just how far away they went from their land and why the text says that there was no deliverer to avenge the people that the Danites killed by the sword because they were so far away from the other tribes.

It seems like the "Levite" is finally named here as Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses.  This is further evidence that these events probably happened earlier and are not chronologically after the judges we have talked about because it would be difficult to imagine that Moses' grandson would be alive at the end of the book of Judges.  The story seems to be here to tell us that anyone, even the the grandson of Moses, is susceptible to idolatry and apostacy and that things went downhill quickly after the time of Joshua, and that there is even this competing center of worship in the north in the city of Dan on the border of Syria.

This passage may also explain why we haven't seen Dan fighting alongside any of the other tribes so far.  They didn't want anything to do with the LORD or His people (at least at this time).  God was even able to redeem some of the Danites though as we just saw Samson, the last judge, came from this apostate tribe.

Judges 17
English Standard Version

Micah and the Levite
17 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” 3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

7 Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” 10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

The story starts off with a son that steals 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother (the same price that each of the lord of the Philistines just paid to Delilah, though this cannot be about that money, as they all just died by the hand of Samson).  The son confesses to the theft and admits to his mother that he still had the money and offers to return it to her.  She is so happy the her son has confessed to the theft that she says she is dedicating the money to the LORD, but then says that she wants the silver taken to the silversmith so that he can make an idol from it.  How far gone of the Israelites that a son would steal from his mother and that a mother would take that sum of money and say she was dedicating it to the LORD only to have an idol made from the silver?

It seems that there was a man named Micah who happily had a shrine in his house for the ephod and the idol that was made, and he fancied himself high priest of the shrine and ordained his sons to be priests in service of the household gods that were there.  The author now makes the summary statement that I've been using for the entire book, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6).

One of the Levites that lived among the tribe of Judah in Bethlehem was travelling and when he came to the hill country of Ephraim, he came upon the house of Micah.  When Micah asked the Levite where he had come from he told him he was a Levite from Bethlehem who was sojourning (he was homeless and wandering).  Micah offered him a place to stay and offered him both money and clothing in exchange for his services as a priest in his shrine.  This Levite had already left the town and ministry that he was assigned to, and it seems that he was willing to abandon his station (whatever is was) that the LORD had assigned to him, for each Levite had a specific role and duty by clan, but only the sons of Aaron were to serve as priests and none of the Levites were to ever serve as priests to the false gods (yet this is not the first time we will see this happen in the history of Israel).  This Levite was responsible for teaching the people the Law and showing them how to live a holy life that was set apart unto the LORD, but instead he is now serving self, money and other gods in direct violation of Law of the LORD.  Micah now assumes that because he has a Levite as a priest that the LORD will have to bless him.

Next time we will see the sin of the tribe of Dan--just one of the times that they will be taken by idolatry.  This chapter and the next are to explain to us the creation of the city named Dan (named after the son of Israel from which the tribe of Dan came from) and how it would be a stronghold of idolatry, and there was no judge in Israel this time to put an end to it and there was no king in Israel yet to do anything about it.  One day soon, that will all change and there will be a king in Israel that will help to turn the hearts of the people back towards the LORD and to punish those who turn to idols.

Judges 16:23-31
English Standard Version

The Death of Samson
23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” 25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.

​28 Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O LORD God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

The Philistines were gathered together in the temple of Dagon to make a great sacrifice to Dagon for allowing them to capture Samson.  It was a time of celebration and feasting for the leaders and for the common people because for years they had feared Samson who they called "the ravager of [their] country" and the one who had killed many of their people.

After much merriment (they were probably very drunk at this point) they called for Samson to be brought out of the prison for their entertainment (they wanted to ridicule him to his face).  They made him stand between the pillars of the temple and Sampson acted weak and asked the men guarding him to let him put one hand on each of the [weight-bearing] pillars on which the temple rested so that he could lean on them for support.  Even though Samson's hair had started to grow back, his strength had not returned to him because, as we'll see here his strength had to do with the Spirit of the LORD resting upon him and had nothing to do with the length of his hair.

The text tells us that all the lords of the Philistines (the ones that just paid the bribe to Delilah) were there that day, and the whole temple was full of people, and there were even 3,000 men and women on the roof of the temple that day.  Everyone that could be there was there to celebrate the capture of Samson.  Samson knew this was probably his last chance to deliver a decisive blow to the Philistines, and he cried out to the LORD to once more restore his strength to him so that he might once again take out his vengeance on the Philistines (this time for his two eyes)."  He put one hand on each pillar and then finished his prayer by saying, "Let me die with the Philistines."

The LORD answers his prayer and gives him the strength the make the temple collapse and kill everyone that was inside and and all those that were standing on the roof so that in his death, he killed more Philistines than when he was alive.  His family came down and took his body and buried him in the tomb of his father.  The text again reminds us that he judges Israel for twenty years   Samson is the last of the major judges that we'll discuss in the book of Judges.  There are a few more chapters left that will take us all the way to the time of Samuel, the last Judge and the first of the Prophets that would serve during the time of the Kings--the final chapters will set things up for us so we understand the politics of why the people demand a king and they will choose a king from the tribe of Benjamin (not the tribe of Judah as they should have).  We'll then take a look at the book of Ruth which takes place during the time of the Judges to see a glimpse of what God is up to in the midst of all this moral and cultural depravity that we've been talking about.  God is still faithful to accomplish his gospel purposes for the nation of Israel and for the whole world, even though that is hard to see as we've been studying the book of Judges.

Judges 16:1-22
English Standard Version

Samson and Delilah
16 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.” 11 And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

​18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

If we know anything about Samson, it's probably this story--the story of his tragic downfall.  Samson still still loved going after prostitutes from gentile areas.  This time he went all the way to Gaza (in the southwest region of Israel).  The Gazites heard that Samson was there and they desired to capture him.  The set an ambush for him at the city gates at night so that in the morning they would be sure to catch him on his way out, but Samson somehow knowing of their plan (the text doesn't tell us how he knew) makes a midnight escape by ripping up the gates of the city, their posts, bars and all, and carries them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron (leaving the Gazites with a wall that provides no protection since they no longer can close the gate to the city).

​Next he falls for another woman in the same general area as his wife that was from Timnah, for the Valley of Sorek is just northwest of there.  This woman is not identified as a prostitute, but she is either allied with the Philistines or a Philistine woman, because the Philistines come to her and easily convince her to seduce Samson and get him to tell her the secret of his strength so that they can finally capture him.  Commentaries that I've read say that there were five "lords" or "kings" of the Philistines over their 5 large cities--Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath.  This is how the last story ties in with this one as the inhabitants of Gaza were unable to capture Samson by themselves so they are now teaming up with all the other leaders of the Philistines.  They know that Samson has a weakness for women and that he has already revealed a secret to a woman that he didn't even tell his parents.  This means that Delilah would have been promised a sum of 5,500 pieces of silver.  It's not certain exactly how much value each of these coins had, but it was quite a large sum of money.

Samson decides to make a game out of this and tells Delilah several lies about how to try to restrain him so that he might be subdued.  Each time, Delilah ties him up and then calls out to him that the Philistines are coming--first seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then new ropes that had not been used, and then by weaving seven locks of his hair in a web and fasten it tight with a pin (he's getting closer to telling the truth that there is something special about his hair, but still playing games with her at this point)--and every time he breaks free of the bonds and the men laying in ambush for him were not able to overtake him.  Each time Delilah tries to guilt Sampson for not telling her his secret and embarrassing her.

She finally got him to break and he told her the secret of the Nazarite vow that he was under from before the time of his birth and that one part of the vow was that no razor could ever touch his head (he was never to cut his hair).  His long hair was not simply a sign of rebellion like it probably would have been among the Philistines, but should have meant just the opposite to the Jews--he was a man totally devoted to God.  Samson was willing to give up that promise and commitment that he made for this woman.  He had made sex into an idol and he worshiped this more than he worshiped the LORD.  This story is less about Samson's actual hair and more about the fact that Samson is willing to abandon his identity the LORD had given to him and is willing to be bound and captured (giving up his position of judge over Israel) for this Philistine woman that he should never have gotten involved with in the first place.  She had broken him and turned his heart, and she knew it.  The Philistine lords knew it too as they delivered the bounty of 5,500 silver coins to her even before she had Samson's hair cut off.  It was the fact that he had given his heart to her that would be his undoing.

To say that their relationship was "kinky" is an understatement as it appears that Delilah was a bit of a dominatrix for it says she made him sleep on his knees (she is the one in control here).  Samson must also have been a very sound sleeper to have let her bind him and even weave his hair in a web using a loom while he's asleep, and now he's going to let someone cut off all seven of his locks of hair.  The text says that she tested him this time by tormenting him and it was obvious that his strength had left him.  She again called out that the Philistines were upon him, and we can see that this was just a game to him as he imagined that he would shake himself free as before, but this time the Spirit of the LORD had left him.  "Do not put the LORD your God to the test..." (Deut. 6:16/Matthew 4:7).  Samson's strength had nothing to do with his hair specifically, but the LORD was not going to let Samson play with sin using the strength that he was given to defeat the Philistines as foreplay with someone he was going to commit adultery with.  The LORD left him in the power of his own flesh and he was completely powerless against the Philistines that were there to come upon him.

The Philistines did capture him, but him in bronze shackles, gouged his eyes out to make him blind, and they bound him to a mill to make him grind grain into flour (work that would normally be done by an animal).  The text gives us hope though as it says that throughout his time of enslavement, his hair started to grow back which probably again is less about his actual hair and more about the fact that he had time to think about everything and repent and realize that he needed to be wholly devoted to the LORD.  We'll see in our next section that he is accepts his identity as the judge that is supposed to conquer the Philistines--not to intermarry with them--and he is even willing to give his life to the LORD to accomplish this purpose.  We'll talk about that next time.