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1Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, "No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin." 2And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3And they said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?" 4And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5And 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." 6And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, "One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7What 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?"
8And 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. 9For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10So 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. 11This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction." 12And 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.
13Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. 14And 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. 15And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16Then 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?" 17And they said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. 18Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters." For the people of Israel had sworn, "Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin." 19So 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." 20And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards 21and 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. 22And 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.'" 23And 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. 24And 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.
25In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
The last chapter is the most absurd of them all. The battle is over. The Israelites rest in their camp and stare at each other, with plenty of time to reflect. They reconsider the wisdom of their decision to wipe out a whole tribe, and they feel sorry for Benjamin. But the damage has already been done. The women of the tribe have all been slaughtered, and the remaining 600 warriors are doomed to disappear from history, because Israel has foolishly sworn that none would ever give his daughter to a man from Benjamin.
When God refuses to clean up the mess, they scramble for a "creative" solution, and the closing chapter is about what happens when God's people draw on their own resources. The Israelites go over previous decisions and oaths in search for any loopholes. As they think on these matters, someone remembers yet another reckless oath pledged in the heat of anger. The pledge was that anyone who had failed to join ranks would die by the sword. Could this be the answer to their plight? Why yes, they could destroy the deserters and take their virgins for wives for the poor Benjamites!
The men are relieved to discover one clan that had not come to war. The text is silent as to why the warriors of Jabesh-Gilead stayed at home. But they are not afforded the privilege to account for their absence. The town is stormed, and all are killed, except for the virgins, whose count comes to 400. But this means that they are still 200 virgins short of supplying the Benjamites with wives. At this point, the men of Israel decide to keep matters simple: 200 virgins can be kidnapped from somewhere. This is truly grotesque. In order to protect their vow, they will command the Benjamites to burst into a festival of Yahweh at Shiloh and abduct their women. In the midst of joyful celebration these young women will be kidnapped, dragged away from home, and forced into marriage so as to live for the rest of their lives at the side of their violators.
Israel is so busy fulfilling the "letter" of their religious oath that they seem to overlook the list of atrocious crimes they commit against their fellow Israelites. Their preoccupation with legalistic and technical obedience to (self-imposed) rules and laws is a recipe for disaster. Their bizarre hypocrisy reminds us of Jesus" words: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness…You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel" (Matt. 23:23-24). Israel had swallowed several camels in order to protect themselves against violating an oath.
We too are prone to preach our own principles or keep sacred cows that we refuse to sacrifice for the weightier matters of God. We can do things to earn favor with God or to be seen of men. We can be arrogant and contemptuous of those who do not labor in the same way or live the same way we do. But the most devastating effect of legalism—whatever form it may take—is that it stifles compassion. Legalistic concerns can make us do, say, or think things that contradict all norms of mercy and love. Though we may keep a vow of our own making, we practically break our vow to serve and love the Lord, and our neighbor as ourselves. But the fulfillment of the Law remains love from a pure heart.
The author of these devotionals, the Rev. Martin Emmrich, is an ordained OPC minister (Westminster OPC, Corvallis, Oregon) as well as the author of Pneumatological Concepts in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book on the teaching of Hebrews on the Holy Spirit. We are happy to make these devotionals on Ecclesiastes and other passages of Scripture available to you.
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