Judges 21

⁴⁰ In a time when men had multiple wives, it was important to distinguish between one’s brothers and one’s half-brothers.

⁴¹ The original ephod was a garment worn by the high priest (Exodus 28:6–14); to this ephod a breastpiece was attached (Exodus 28:15–28), in which were kept the Urim and the Thummim (Exodus 28:29–30), small objects by which God’s will could be determined. Since Gideon had acknowledged God’s rule over Israel (verse 23), perhaps he thought that by making this gold ephod he could provide Israel with an additional means of discerning God’s will.

⁴² Shechem was an ancient Canaanite city; its citizens had once been murdered and plundered by the sons of Jacob because of the rape of their sister Dinah (Genesis Chapter 34). It lay between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where Joshua first renewed the covenant between God and Israel (Joshua 8:30–35). And Shechem was the place where Joshua renewed the covenant a second time, his final act as Israel’s leader (Joshua 24:1–27).

The citizens of Shechem were Baal worshipers. Their local deity was Baal-Berith (verse 4); “Baal” means “lord.” (In verse 46, this god is called El-Berith; “El” is the Hebrew word for “god.”) After Gideon’s death the Israelites themselves began to worship Baal-Berith (Judges 8:33). Abimelech was given seventy shekels (almost a kilogram) of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith to hire mercenaries-reckless adventurers (verse 4)—to help him carry out his schemes.

⁴³ Earlier Mount Gerizim had been the site from which blessings had been pronounced (Deuteronomy 27:12).

⁴⁴ Thorn bushes are easily set on fire and burn quickly.

⁴⁵ The oppression by the Philistines will be the subject of Judges Chapters 13–16. In this and the next chapter, the oppression by the Ammonites is described. The Ammonites (together with the Moabites) were descendants of Lot (Genesis 19:36–38). They lived to the east of the tribal lands of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh (eastern Manasseh), the so-called “trans-Jordan tribes.” These two and a half tribes had settled east of the Jordan River on land formerly belonging to the Amorites (verse 8) and their two kings, Sihon and Og (Numbers 21:21–35). The northern two thirds of the trans-Jordan area became known as Gilead (verse 8).

⁴⁶ Gilead included the tribal area of Gad and part of eastern Manasseh. The territory of the Ammonites was situated just east of Gilead, and therefore Gilead was the first Israelite area to come under Ammonite attack.

⁴⁷True repentance means not only confessing sin with our lips but also turning from sin in our hearts and in our actions.

⁴⁸ It is not our parentage that qualifies or disqualifies us for God’s service. The only qualification is our faith (see Word List: Faith). Faith is not inherited; it is something we ourselves must exercise. Jephthah’s story illustrates once again how God often chooses unlikely people to carryout His work.

⁴⁹ Jephthah’s early life is instructive for us. Like other Old Testament leaders, Jephthah suffered rejection and hardship, and God used these experiences to prepare him to lead Israel. Today many worthy men and women continue to experience rejection and ill treatment. Let them bear these things with patience and humility; in due time God will raise them up (1 Peter 5:6).

⁵⁰ Jephthah’s formal appointment as head and commander took place at Mizpah, where the Israelites had assembled (Judges 10:17). The name Mizpah means “watchtower”; there were several towns in Gilead with this name, so its identification is uncertain.

⁵¹ Moses had given this land to the tribes of Gad and Reuben, after seizing it from Sihon king of the Amorites (Numbers 21:21–31). Sihon had originally captured that land from the Moabites (Numbers 21:26). The Ammonites, however, had recently taken control of Moab, and so they were demanding from Israel the return of this former Moabite land.

⁵² Chemosh was the main Moabite god; but since the Ammonites had taken over Moab, they had also “taken over” Moab’s god and made it their own. Jephthah was not suggesting here that he believed in Chemosh; he was only mentioning Chemosh for the sake of argument.

⁵³ One is reminded of another only child, Isaac, who allowed his father to offer him as a sacrifice (Genesis Chapter 22). But that situation was totally different: God had commanded Abraham to offer his son in order to test Abraham; God had no intention of letting Abraham actually kill his son.

⁵⁴ Life is not all “black and white”; throughout our lives we encounter moral dilemmas in which we are obliged to choose the lesser of two evils. For further discussion of moral dilemmas, see comment on Exodus 20:16 and second footnote to comment.

⁵⁵ Jephthah’s sins were his failure to trust God for victory and his attempt to manipulate or bribe God to get what he desired.

⁵⁶ It should be noted that some Bible scholars do not believe that Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter, but rather dedicated her to the Lord’s service as a perpetual virgin; in Old Testament times, women did serve at the entrance to the tabernacle (Exodus 38:8; 1 Samuel 2:22). Furthermore, these scholars argue that the law concerning vows permitted substitution when dedicating humans to the Lord (Leviticus 27:1–8). However, here it is best to take the plain meaning of the text, which clearly indicates that Jephthah’s daughter was indeed sacrificed.

⁵⁷ Notice that Jephthah had a valid complaint against the Ephraimites: they had refused to come to the aid of their fellow Israelites in Gilead. It’s a common thing for those who are themselves guilty of wrong to be most aggressive in accusing those who are innocent.

⁵⁸ It is not certain what the word Shibboleth means. The point is that the Israelites on either side of the Jordan had lived apart for so long that their pronunciation had become different. Thus it was easy to distinguish the Ephraimites from the Gileadites by their speech.

⁵⁹ The Philistines were a strong, warlike people who had settled along the Mediterranean coast in southwestern Canaan (present-day Gaza). They oppressed the Israelites for forty years until God raised up Samson to deliver Israel. Samson, however, would only begin the deliverance (verse 5); the final defeat of the Philistines would take place a hundred years later during the reign of King David (2 Samuel 5:17–25; 8:1).

⁶⁰ Samson is one of the few characters in Scripture whose birth was announced in advance. Others are Ishmael (Genesis 16:11), Isaac (Genesis 18:10), John the Baptist (Luke 1:13), and Jesus (Luke 1:30–31).

⁶¹ The Nazirite vow is discussed in detail in Numbers 6:1–21. The vow was usually voluntary and made only for a limited period of time, not for life. But in Samson’s case, the Lord made him a lifelong Nazirite even before he was born. For a similar example, see 1 Samuel 1:10–11.

The word “Nazirite” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to separate” or “to consecrate.” A Nazirite was to be consecrated to the Lord. As a sign of this consecration, he was not to drink alcoholic beverages or cut his hair for the duration of the vow. For additional restrictions, see Numbers 6:2–8.

⁶² For a discussion of clean and unclean foods, see Leviticus 11:1,44–45 and comment.

⁶³ The Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew language.

⁶⁴ For a discussion of the burnt offering and grain offering, see Leviticus 1:1–17; 2:1–16 and comments.

⁶⁵ As with other people (Judges 6:34; 11:29), the Holy Spirit came on Samson to enable him to accomplish a particular task—in Samson’s case, to kill a lion (see Judges 3:9–11 and comment). The Holy Spirit did not “fill” Samson in the New Testament sense (Ephesians 5:18), because Samson was never under the control of the Spirit; after all, he was on his way to marry a Philistine girl in disobedience to God. But the Spirit did give Samson one specific gift, the gift of physical strength; it was through Samson’s strength that God intended to punish the Philistines.

⁶⁶ In New Testament times, such companions were called guests of the bridegroom (Mark 2:19).

⁶⁷ In a similar incident, Shamgar killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad (Judges 3:31).

⁶⁸ City gates were often two stories high and were made of heavy wood reinforced with metal.

⁶⁹ The secret of Samson’s strength was not in his hair; it was in his relationship with God. His uncut hair was simply a sign of that relationship, a sign of the Nazirite vow that had set him apart to God. When Samson virtually “invited” Delilah to cut off his hair, his relationship with God was broken; and God left him (verse 20). Therefore his strength left him as well (verse 19).

⁷⁰ The image was made of wood overlaid with silver; the idol was solid metal-probably a cheap metal which was then overlaid with silver.

⁷¹The Levites had no tribal land of their own; they lived interspersed among the other tribes and were supposed to be supported by the tithes of the people (see Numbers 18:20–24; 35:1–5 and comments). However, since so many Israelites had stopped worshiping God, they probably also had stopped supporting the Levites. Thus this Levite was searching for some kind of livelihood, and happily he came upon Micah!

⁷² In Joshua 19:47, this same town is called Leshem. It was located beyond any of the land allotted to Israel’s tribes.

⁷³ It is uncertain which captivity the writer is referring to here. Some scholars believe he is referring to the Assyrian conquest of Israel’s northern kingdom in 722 B.C. But more likely the reference is to a local “captivity” that occurred earlier. The fact that Micah’s idols were used all during the time the house of God (tabernacle) was at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1) indicates an earlier captivity, because Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines in about 1050 B.C. (Jeremiah 7:12–15).

⁷⁴ A concubine was a secondary wife. She may have been sold to her husband (Exodus 21:7–11), or she may have married without a proper dowry. But she was considered a wife, not merely a mistress.

⁷⁵ Bethlehem in Judah was the birthplace of Christ (Luke 2:4–7). It is important to mention again that different towns were often given the same name; for example, the Bethlehem mentioned in Judges 12:8 is a different town altogether.

⁷⁶ Many years later, Gibeah would become home to Israel’s first king, Saul (1 Samuel 10:26).

⁷⁷ The Levite said he was on his way to the house of the LORD (verse 18)—that is, the tabernacle at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1; Judges 18:31). He was possibly planning to offer thanks there for the return of his concubine.

⁷⁸ The expression from Dan to Beersheba meant “all Israel from north (Dan) to south (Beersheba).” Gilead was on the east side of the Jordan and included the territories of Gad and the eastern half tribe of Manasseh. Mizpah (meaning “watchtower”) was the name of several towns; the town referred to here was near Jerusalem, not far from Gibeah. It became an important meeting place for all Israel during times of national crisis.

⁷⁹ Mention is made of seven hundred stones lingers (verse 16). The sling was an effective and deadly weapon (see 1 Samuel 17:48–49).

⁸⁰It was probably on this occasion that “the lot was cast” (verse 9). At that time the ark (Exodus 25:10–22) and the high priest were at Bethel (verses 27–28); the high priest’s use of the Urim and Thummim would have been the usual means of determining God’s will in such situations.

⁸¹ Though the writer does not tell us, we can surmise that the reason things were going badly for the Israelites had to do with their attitude—perhaps an attitude of self confidence or self righteousness. Their weeping and fasting may have reflected their repentance for any sin they may have been guilty of, and the burnt offerings would have provided atonement for their sin (see Leviticus 1:1–4 and comment). With their relationship with God restored, victory was assured.

⁸² Notice that most numbers are rounded off. The Benjamites started with an army of 26,700 (verse 15); 25,000—actually 25,100 (verse 35)—were killed on the third day of fighting. That leaves 1,600—600 of which escaped. That still leaves 1,000 Benjamites unaccounted for. These must have died during the first two days of fighting; the writer simply chose not to mention it.

⁸³ We must keep in mind that the situation facing Christians today is much different from the situation facing Old Testament Israel. Israel was geographically and (in the beginning) ethnically God’s holy nation—an example for other nations to follow. Therefore, it was necessary to keep Israel pure and holy, and God’s means of doing this was to drive out ungodly enemies and to severely punish ungodly Israelites. In Old Testament times, the wars that God sanctioned were indeed “holy wars.”

But Christians are under a new covenant; we are not a geographically and ethnically distinct people. Our true nation is the kingdom of God, and we have been dispersed throughout the world to be witnesses for Christ (Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 1:8). Christians are not called to take part in military “crusades” or “holy wars”; to do so is to seriously misunderstand the call of Christ. Our weapons are not swords and spears but rather love, prayer, and the word of God (see Romans 12:2021; Ephesians 6:17–18). For further discussion of the difference between ancient Israel and the Christian church, see Ezra 10:9–11 and comment.

⁸⁴ There was a precedent for sparing the virgins of a community which otherwise would have been completely destroyed: when Israel overcame the Midianites, Moses commanded that the Midianite virgins be spared (Numbers 31:17).