DAWN
Daily Arts Web Nucleus
Discover the Arts! Each day a different image from the Literary, Performing, or Visual Arts representing a portion of Scripture plus an explanation with links 2017 August 31
Triumph of Church over Fury, Discord, and Hate (1628)
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Flemish Baroque Style
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Image Source: Web Gallery of Art
SPECIAL NOTE:
[ I will again be working through the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. I will be adding links, resources, images, and the like, upgrading the former work-through which began with the 2013-10-12 posting which can be found, along with the full Genesis to Revelation postings, in the Archive Page. Postings will be at midnight Eastern Time, as I am able. However, no chapters will be skipped, even though a posting may be late. And all postings will be housed in the Archive Page. ]
Explanation: Judges 20 describes the retribution which Israel took against the inhabitants of Gibeah and against their defenders, the tribe of Benjamin. All of the chief men of Israel gathered to hear the Levite's first hand account of what happened to him and his concubine in the city of Gibeah. He explained that certain worthless men of the city attempted to kill him; and they raped and killed his concubine, as described in the previous chapter (1-7).
So the men of Israel swore not to return to their homes until they dealt with this matter; and they were united as one man in this purpose (8-11).
Therefore they sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, calling them to account for this deed and demanding that they turn over the men who did this wickedness. But the Benjaminites gathered for war against the rest of the tribes of Israel (12-17).
And the children of Israel went to the Tabernacle to ask counsel of God. And God told them to send Judah against Benjamin first (18).
But the Benjaminites devastated the troops which came against them. So Israel gathered for battle again and went back to ask counsel of the LORD. The LORD told them to go again the next day (19-23).
But again Benjamin devastated the force that came against them. The Israelites were greatly distressed and wept before the LORD and fasted and made offerings. The LORD told them to go again, because he would deliver the Benjaminites into their hand (24-28).
The Israelites went again but posted an ambush against the Benjaminites. They fled before the Benjaminites; but the ambush arose; and it was the Benjaminites who began to suffer devastation (29-35).
The ambushers stormed Gibeah and set it on fire; and, while their city burned, they were caught before and behind by the Israelite forces. Only six hundred men of Benjamin survived. They ran to a stronghold called "the rock Rimmon." There they stayed for four months. And the Israelites continued to overthrow many other Benjaminite cities and set them on fire. The term used for the devastation which is described in verse 45 is the word "gleaned." This is the same word used in the previous chapter (Judges 19:25) where it is translated "abused." Judges uses this term only in the two passages cited. In both cases, devastation, destruction, and death come upon the woman and upon the tribe. The Benjamites are paid in kind for their wickedness (36-48).
[ Sermons: Vern Picknally. Various. ]
[ Illustration: As in the painting above, so in life, and so in the nation of Israel, strenuous measures are sometimes needed to put away evil. Such measures are described in today's chapter. ]
RESOURCES
PLEASE NOTE: Use the resources on this and other sites thoughtfully, particularly the commentaries and encyclopedias. I have attempted to list conservative, scholarly resources. However, some providers use liberal or liberal-influenced commentaries such as the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (in Bible Hub). Such commentaries are undoubtedly included by the provider for the wealth of useful information and comments which they provide. By consulting several commentaries, it should be fairly easy to sort out the wheat from the chaff. If, however, you would like personal assistance, write to me at AD LIB ARTS EMAIL.
[ THEMATICALLY AND CHRONOLOGICALLY RELATED SCRIPTURES: Judges 20:
[1] 1 Kings 12:20; 1 Samuel 3:18; 1 Samuel 17:11; Judges 11:11; Judges 20:27; 1 Samuel 7:2; 1 Samuel 10:17; 2 Chronicles 1:3; 2 Kings 25:23.
[2] 1 Samuel 14:38; Isaiah 19:13; Numbers 1:46; Judges 1:19; Judges 4:3; Judges 8:10.
[3] Judges 19:29.
[5] Judges 9:2; Judges 19:22-25.
[7] Judges 19:30.
[8] 1 Samuel 11:7.
[12] Judges 18:19; Numbers 4:18; Genesis 46:21.
[13] Genesis 49:27.
[15] Numbers 26:41.
[16] Judges 3:15; 1 Samuel 17:49.
[18] Judges 1:1-2.
[21] Judges 6:25.
[26] Lamentations 2:10; Psalm 137:1; Joel 1:8-14; Joel 2:12-17; 1 Samuel 14:24.
[28] Numbers 25:8; Psalm 106:30; Judges 4:14; Joshua 8:1.
[29] Joshua 8:4; Judges 9:43.
[33] Judges 4:5; Judges 1:16; Isaiah 19:7.
[37] Joshua 8:15; Joshua 8:19-20; Judges 4:6; Judges 1:8; Joshua 8:24.
[38] Jeremiah 6:1.
[42] Joshua 18:12; 2 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 25:4-5.
[45] Numbers 20:25; Deuteronomy 8:8; Joshua 19:13; Joshua 15:32; Zechariah 14:10; Joshua 21:25; Nehemiah 11:29; Jeremiah 6:9.
[48] Deuteronomy 2:34; Deuteronomy 13:15-16; Joshua 6:17; Joshua 6:21; Joshua 8:25-26; Numbers 25:8; Numbers 31:6; Judges 11:39.
-- From Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers ]
[ CHRONOLOGY: GENERAL. Patriarchs (Traditional). Judges # 1. Judges # 2. Kings # 1. Kings # 2. Prophets # 1. Prophets # 2. NT # 1. NT # 2. NT # 3. ]
[ MAPS: Maps # 1. Maps # 2. Maps # 3. Maps # 4. Maps # 5. ]
[ COMMENTARIES, ETC: GENERAL: Bible Study Tools; Bible Hub: Study Light; Blue Letter Bible // PSALMS: Monergism: Precept Austin: The Treasury of David; John Gill; John Calvin - Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
[ MUSIC: GENERAL: The Cyber Hymnal // PSALMS: Genevan Psalter (Instrumental). VARIOUS ARTISTS: Micha'el Ben David. Sons of Korah. Fernando Ortega. Janet Isaac Morrison. Music of the Bible Revealed - Suzanne Haik-Vantoura. Dr. David Erb. Gregorian Chants. ]
HARMONY OF THE LAW
HEBREW AND GREEK INTERLINEAR BIBLES
Judges Detailed Outline
Judges 21
Note: The Book of Judges teaches Israel's unfaithfulness. (The previous book, The Book of Joshua, teaches the Lord's faithfulness.)
Note: Some of the Judges may overlap each other chronologically and may have served in only part of the country.
1. The Historical Setting (1:1 - 3:6) - (1390 - 1377 B.C. Israel)
A. The Present Setting [in the Time of the Judges - This is the Second Campaign of Judah] (1:1-7)
B. The Past Setting [in Joshua's Time - First Campaigns of 6 Tribes] (1:8 - 3:6)
2. The History of the Judges (3:7 - 16:31) - (1377 - 1055 B.C. Israel)
3. The Historical Retrospective (17:1 - 21:25) - (1387 - 1377 B.C. Israel)
Note: This section is a cyclical return to the beginning of the Judges period.
It gives 2 striking illustrations of the religious and moral decay of the times.
A. Religious Decay: The Danites (17:1 - 18:31)
B. Moral Decay: The Benjamites (19:1 - 21:25)
1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.
2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand [men - footmen] that drew sword.
3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about [surrounded the house] upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.
6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.
9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;
10 And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.
12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?
13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded [impeded of hand his right]; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.
19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
20 And the men of Israel went out battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.
21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.
22 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.
23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)
24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.
26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up , and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children 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 went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times [as time in time].
31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times [as time in time], in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.
33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, 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 against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.
35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an 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 Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the 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 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 thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down [stricken they are stricken] before us, as in the first battle.
40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city 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 their 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 midst of them.
43 Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising [sunrise brilliance].
44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand 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 highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five 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 Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.
ADDITIONAL AD LIB MATERIAL: Prose, Poetry, Writers, Visual Artists, Music, DAWN, and ILLUMINATION. ILLUMINATION features a compact, Illuminated Bible. DAWN, the page you are presently visiting, features a new image and explanation daily.
Please Email Comments and Questions To
AD LIB ARTS EMAIL
copyright 2017, Scott Souza
|
