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 September 1
The Rape of the Sabine Women (1627-1629)
Pietro da Cortona (1596 or 1597 - 1669)
Baroque Style
Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome, Italy
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: In Judges 21, the men of Israel took an oath not to give their daughters as wives for the Benjaminites. So they came to the Tabernacle to pray, to mourn, and to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the tribe of Benjamin (1-4).
On the next day, they built an altar and offered their offerings. They then made inquiry to find out if any among the tribes had not come up to the battle since they had sworn an oath that any who did not participate in the military action would be put to death (5-7).
No one from the city of Jabeshgilead had come. So they slaughtered all who were in Jabeshgilead, except for the virgins; and they brought four hundred virgins back to the camp (8-12).
They then went to the children of Benjamin who were in their stronghold in Rimmon and spoke peaceably to them. And they gave them the women they had taken from Jabeshgilead. But two-hundred more women were needed, because the men of Benjamin numbered six hundred (13-15).
So the congregation looked for a way to get two hundred more women for the Benjaminites without breaking their oath. They adopted the expedient of sending the Benjaminites to Shiloh to capture the virgins who danced there at a yearly feast to the LORD. And the leaders promised to persuade the fathers to allow their daughters to marry the Benjaminites because of their extremity and because no oath had been broken, seeing that the women were abducted, not given. The Benjaminites captured the wives they needed and returned to their inheritance and repaired their cities. This forced marriage was a form of rape. So, by this, and by the previous action, the Israelites skirted and therefore broke their rash vow. And, ironically, these actions solved Benjamin's problem by using the very actions that caused the problem - rape and murder (16-24).
This incident illustrates the disorder among the Israelites, as does the rest of the book. The insightful, concluding words of the chapter and of the book are these: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (25).
[ Sermons: Vern Picknally. Various. ]
[ Illustration: The painting above depicts an incident which is quite similar to a key incident in today's chapter. A tribe of Israel (Benjamin) had been all but destroyed; abduction of wives for the remaining men was part of the means of restoring it. The war against Benjamin and the reasons for it are described in the previous two chapters. ]
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 21:
[1] Acts 23:14.
[2] Judges 20:18; Judges 20:26-27.
[4] 2 Samuel 24:25; Judges 20:26.
[5] Judges 5:23.
[8] 1 Samuel 31:11; 2 Samuel 2:5-6.
[9] Judges 20:1-17.
[11] Numbers 31:17-18; Leviticus 27:21-28; Numbers 21:2-3; Leviticus 27:28-29; Judges 18:2; 1 Samuel 2:22; Numbers 4:23; 2 Samuel 17:17.
[12] Judges 18:31; Joshua 22:9.
[15] 1 Kings 11:24; Amos 3:6; Isaiah 45:7.
[16] Exodus 20:7; Ezekiel 17:18-19; 1 Samuel 14:45; Psalm 106:30; Judges 11:39.
[17] Deuteronomy 33:12.
[19] 1 Samuel 1:3.
[25] Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1.
-- 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 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death [dying he shall die].
6 And the children of Israel repented 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 daughters to wives?
8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.
9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest [sons of valor], and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain [knowing a bed] by man.
12 And found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they bought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly [from days to days] in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side [sunrise brilliance] of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters 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 to the land of Benjamin.
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 not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.
23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they 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 his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
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