Judges 21:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

NIV: Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

NASB: And it came about the next day that the people got up early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

CSB: The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

NLT: Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Eleven tribes of Israel came together and nearly wiped out the twelfth tribe, Benjamin. They have done so in a zeal to purge evil from the Promised Land (Judges 20:12–13). God commanded they attack, but did not indicate they should exterminate every man, woman, and child. Israel's rage has left only six hundred men, barricaded and trapped, as the last of the tribe of Benjamin.

Making the situation even worse, the eleven tribes had made a foolish promise prior to the start of the war (Judges 21:1). This was a vow not to intermarry with the men of Benjamin. God gave such commands to Israel with respect to pagan Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:1–5), but not among their own people. Yet vows made to God were taken very seriously (Deuteronomy 23:21–23).

This verse notes a second day of mourning and making sacrifices to God, seeking His will. On the first day, the people asked God "why" such a thing had happened, though they were the ones who chose to do it. Perhaps they hope that worshiping God will cause Him to break His silence and tell them how to save the tribe of Benjamin. God will not speak, leaving Israel to clean up their own mess, in this case.

The eleven tribes think of a partial solution, further complicated by yet another poorly-thought-out promise (Judges 21:5).

Judges 21:1–7 finds Israel mourning. After the other eleven tribes raged through the territory in a civil war, only six hundred men survive from the tribe of Benjamin. Cities, animals, women, and children have been wiped out. Beyond that, the Israelites made an unwise oath not to give wives to Benjamin. The people weep and make sacrifices to God, but He remains silent. Israel's leaders investigate which clans did not send anyone to fight in the war. This might give them a way to honor their oath while sparing Benjamin from extinction.

Israel grieves the near extinction of the tribe of Benjamin, though the situation is the result of their own excessive force. Worse, the other eleven tribes vowed not to give wives to Benjamin. To prevent the loss of a tribe, two schemes are enacted. First, the Israelites of Jabesh-gilead are wiped out for not sending anyone to support the civil war; the young women are spared and given as wives to Benjamin. Next, the remaining unmarried men of Benjamin stage an arranged kidnapping to "take" wives they cannot be "given." The book ends with another reminder of Israel's lawlessness in this era.

Judges 21 finds the people of Israel reeling after they killed nearly every person in the tribe of Benjamin. This began as an effort to enact justice and turned into a wide-ranging massacre. To keep Benjamin from dying out, Israel's leaders must work around their own mistakes and two ill-considered vows. The book ends with another reminder that Israel was without a king in this era. The nation was literally leaderless, and spiritually rebellious. Soon, the judge-and-prophet Samuel will rise to guide the people into the era of kings.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).