Judges 21 Footnotes

21:1-24 Having decimated the tribe of Benjamin because of its immoral behavior, the Israelites realized that one of the twelve tribes was in danger of extinction (v. 3). Only six hundred warriors remained; all other men, women and children had been lost in the destruction of the Benjaminite towns. The number twelve needed to be preserved because it represented the fullness of the covenant with the Lord (hence Jesus chose twelve apostles, emblematic of the renewal of Israel). In their anger, however, the other tribes vowed not to permit their daughters to marry into the tribe of Benjamin (vv. 1,7). The “solution” was to let the Benjaminites seize wives from Jabesh-gilead, which had not participated in the battle against them. All the people of Jabesh-gilead were slain except the four hundred virgins allocated to the men of Benjamin. Israel justified the slaughter on the grounds that Jabesh-gilead had tacitly agreed with the Benjaminites’ sinful actions (vv. 8-12). It was the worst of times in Israel (17:6; 21:25).