Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 21:25
In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
25. there was no king in Israel ] Cf. Jdg 17:6 n. A suitable transition to the history of Samuel which relates the beginning of the monarchy.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The repetition of this characteristic phrase (compare Jdg 17:6; Jdg 18:1; Jdg 19:1) is probably intended to impress upon us the idea that these disorders arose from the want of a sufficient authority to suppress them. The preservation of such a story, of which the Israelites must have been ashamed, is a striking evidence of the divine superintendence and direction as regards the Holy Scriptures.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 25. In those days there was no king in Israel] Let no one suppose that the sacred writer, by relating the atrocities in this and the preceding chapters, justifies the actions themselves; by no means. Indeed, they cannot be justified; and the writer by relating them gives the strongest proof of the authenticity of the whole, by such an impartial relation of facts that were highly to be discredit of his country.
I HAVE already referred to the rape of the Sabine virgins. The story is told by Livy, Hist. lib. i., cap. 9, the substance of which is as follows: Romulus having opened an asylum at his new-built city of Rome for all kinds of persons, the number of men who flocked to his standard was soon very considerable; but as they had few women, or, as Livy says, penuria mulierum, a dearth of women, he sent to all the neighbouring states to invite them to make inter-marriages with his people. Not one of the tribes around him received the proposal; and some of them insulted his ambassador, and said, Ecquod feminis quoque asylum aperuissent? Id enim demum compar connubium fore? “Why have you not also opened an asylum for WOMEN, which would have afforded you suitable matches?” This exasperated Romulus, but he concealed his resentment, and, having published that he intended a great feast to Neptune Equester, invited all the neighbouring tribes to come to it: they did so, and were received by the Romans with the greatest cordiality and friendship. The Sabines, with their wives and children, came in great numbers, and each Roman citizen entertained a stranger. When the games began, and each was intent on the spectacle before them, at a signal given, the young Romans rushed in among the Sabine women, and each carried off one, whom however they used in the kindest manner, marrying them according to their own rites with due solemnity, and admitting them to all the rights and privileges of the new commonwealth. The number carried off on this occasion amounted to near seven hundred; but this act of violence produced disastrous wars between the Romans and the Sabines, which were at last happily terminated by the mediation of the very women whose rape had been the cause of their commencement. The story may be seen at large in Livy, Plutarch, and others.
Thus ends the book of Judges; a work which, while it introduces the history of Samuel and that of the kings of Judah and Israel, forms in some sort a supplement to the book of Joshua, and furnishes the only account we have of those times of anarchy and confusion, which extended nearly from the times of the elders who survived Joshua, to the establishment of the Jewish monarchy under Saul, David, and their successors. For other uses of this book, see the preface.
MASORETIC NOTES ON THE BOOK OF JUDGES
The number of verses in this book is six hundred and eighteen.
Its Masoretic chapters are fourteen.
And its middle verse is Jdg 10:8: And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel, &c.
Corrected for a new edition, December 1, 1827. – A. C.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel,…. No supreme magistrate, Joshua being dead, and as yet no judge in Israel had risen up; for all related in the five last chapters of this book were done between the death of Joshua and the time of the judges:
every man did that which was right in his own eyes; there being none to restrain him from it, or punish him for it; and this accounts for the many evil things related, as the idolatry of Micah and the Danites, the base usage of the Levite’s concubine, the extreme rigour and severity with which the Israelites treated their brethren the Benjaminites, the slaughter of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead, and the rape of the daughters of Shiloh.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(25) In those days . . . This verse, already occurring in Jdg. 17:6; Jdg. 18:1; Jdg. 19:1, is here added once more by way of apology for the lawless crimes, terrible disasters, evaded vows, and unhallowed excesses of retribution, which it has been the painful duty of the sacred historian thus faithfully and impartially to narrate. Out of these depths the subsequent Judges, whose deeds have been recorded in the earlier chapters, partially raised their countrymen, until the dread lessons of calamity had been fully learnt, and the nation was ripe for the heroic splendour and more enlightened faithfulness of the earlier monarchy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. In those days there was no king in Israel With this familiar text, in part or in whole so frequently repeated in this book, the historian of the Dark Ages of Israel appropriately closes his narrative. And thus, says Wordsworth, “he prepares the way for the record of a better condition of things under David, the king of Judah and Israel, whose genealogy and history are described in the next following books of Ruth and Samuel, and who was the ancestor and type of the Divine King of Israel, JESUS CHRIST, to whom, with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST, be ascribed all honour and glory, now and forever. Amen.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes.’
The writer was clearly disillusioned. Even in this matter of Benjamin the people had stooped to subterfuge and hypocrisy, not seeking Yahweh’s voice when they had the final difficult decisions to make. From Jdg 21:4 onwards there had been no consultation of Yahweh. They had done what was right in their own eyes without looking to Yahweh as King. What they had done as a confederacy had been on His behalf, and yet when it came to the crunch they had ignored Him. Once again it was apparent that there was no King in Israel, neither divine nor human.
And that was the continual problem. They just would not give Yahweh His true place. Central government was loose, the central sanctuary was marginalised, justice was left to the clan, who tended to favour their own, God’s law was only applied as seemed fit to them (Jdg 19:1 on). And individuals went their own way in matters of religion (Jdg 17:5-6). That was not how God had intended it to be.
There are, however, those who claim that the writer is writing in order to recommend kingship in Israel. But can that really be so? Could the man who demonstrated the final failure of Gideon through multiplying wives as a result of his princeship (Jdg 8:30), who described the rule of kings as being like a tree waving its branches aimlessly over other trees (Jdg 9:9; Jdg 9:11; Jdg 9:13), be finishing off with a panegyric to kingship? Was he not rather longing for the true application of the kingl rule of God, for his people to turn to Yahweh and really treat Him as king?
We can contrast with all this the change that took place when Samuel became priest at the central sanctuary. Then Yahweh was acknowledged as King and Israel prospered. There was a King in Israel and men did what was right in His eyes. And all the problems slipped away. It was not the system that was at fault but those who ran it. So what was he trying to do? He was trying to wake Israel up to its need to respond to the Kingly Rule of God. He was preaching a message that would not be preached again for a thousand years when another would come proclaiming the Kingly Rule of God.
So it may well be that this book was written by Samuel, for he too protested against earthly kingship. He too warned of the dangers of appointing an earthly king who would simply prove to be like Gideon and Abimelech (1Sa 8:10-18). He too recommended trust in the Kingly Rule of God. And when the people sought a king like the nations no one was more against it than Samuel, except perhaps for Yahweh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 21:25. In those days there was no king in Israel, &c. The sacred writer, no doubt, repeats this observation to account for the disorders and enormities mentioned in the four preceding chapters, which, as they exhibit a most depraved state of things, so are they, we apprehend, by no means to be justified. It is a natural inference, that men ought to be extremely thankful for lawful authority: and, if they would preserve their happiness, ought to be zealous to support that authority, as well as to discourage all licentious approaches toward its dissolution. The Persians have a custom which justifies this reflection. When any of their kings die, they suffer the people to do as they please for five days; that, by the disorders then committed, they may see the necessity of legal government, and learn submission to it. In general, the four chapters which conclude this book shew us to what a degree the Israelites were degenerated, in the short space from the death of Caleb to the election of his younger brother to be their judge: we discover the true cause of the chastisements wherewith God punished them from time to time, though he delivered them from their enemies, under whose yoke they must infallibly have fallen, if God had not beheld them with compassion, and raised them up judges to save them from ruin. We just remark, in conclusion, that it would be unreasonable to draw any inference from the tumultuous and irregular actions of a tribe or people to the lessening of the authority of the writer of any history. The writer of the present book ought rather to be admired for the impartiality with which he relates facts so little to the credit of his nation.
REFLECTIONS.We have here the expedient used to provide wives for the remaining two hundred men of Benjamin without violation of their oaths. A bad expedient, it is true; but better than none.
1. At one of the annual feasts, probably the feast of tabernacles, the daughters of Shiloh used to meet, in a place at some distance from the city, to rejoice before the Lord, as David afterwards did, with sacred music and dancing. It was not a mixed company or lewd assembly; all men were excluded, which made the following scheme more easily put in execution. Note; They who plead Scripture to countenance the modern mixed assemblies, neither consider the manner nor the end of the precedents they quote.
2. The elders advise the two hundred men to lie in wait near the place where this solemnity was kept, and, when the virgins came thither, to rush in, take each a wife, and retire; promising to be their advocates with the enraged fathers of the damsels, whose oath was not broken, because they were forcibly taken; and who need not think their daughters ill disposed of, when among these few survivors the whole inheritance of Benjamin must now be divided. Note; (1.) One rash step draws on a train of bad consequences. Had they been more considerate in their vow, they had not been reduced to so disagreeable an expedient. (2.) Though a stolen match is both sinful before God, and unjust towards man, parents must not be implacable in their resentments, but, on proper submission, receive their children into favour again.
3. The men of Benjamin followed the advice, and succeeded; and thus the survivors of the tribe are again settled, and in a way to repair its desolations. The children of Israel disband; every man returns to his inheritance; and it is again repeated, that there was no king in Israel, as the cause of all the evil and confusions related in the foregoing chapters. Note; Next to a good ministry, we have reason to esteem magistracy among the chief of earthly blessings; and if we know our own mercies, we have much reason to be thankful to God, that there is not only a king in England, but such a King!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 277
THE BENJAMITES WICKEDNESS
Jdg 21:25. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
SUCH is the depravity of human nature, that man is always prone to depart from God; and departures once begun, extend rapidly through individuals, communities, and kingdoms: the departure of a few righteous persons, like the removal of a dam, soon opens a way for iniquity to inundate a whole country. During the life of Joshua and his co-adjutors in the government, the Israelites retained a good measure of piety: but no sooner were they called to their eternal rest, than impiety began to deluge the land. The transactions recorded respecting the Danites in the 17th and 18th chapters, and of the Benjamites in the three last chapters, though placed after the history of the Judges, all took place whilst Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was high-priest; and consequently, very soon after the death of Joshua, and before any Judge in Israel had been raised up [Note: Jdg 20:27-28.]: and it is repeatedly noticed in all those chapters, that these overflowings of ungodliness were occasioned by the want of those salutary restraints, which a wise and righteous governor would have imposed upon the people. This is particularly specified in our text; from whence we are very forcibly led to shew,
I.
The obligations we owe to Civil Government
Where there is no government, all manner of iniquities will prevail
[This is most remarkably illustrated in the history before us. The idolatry of the Danites is ascribed to that [Note: Jdg 17:6; Jdg 18:1.]. The ease with which the inhabitants of Laish fell a prey to a small handful of invaders, was owing to the dissoluteness of its inhabitants, and a total want of magistrates to enforce some salutary laws [Note: Jdg 18:7.]. The whole account also of the Levite and his concubine, as connected with the horrid wickedness of the Benjamites, and the extensive miseries consequent upon it, are all referred to the same cause, a want of a civil governor, who should exercise a watchful care over the people, and impose such restraints as should keep them within the bounds of decency and order [Note: Jdg 19:1 with the text.]. To appreciate these evils aright, the three last chapters should be attentively perused: the unheard-of wickedness of the Benjamites; the determination of the whole tribe of Benjamin to protect the offenders; the civil war arising from it; the repeated defeats of the tribe of Judah; the ultimate destruction of the whole tribe of Benjamin, men, women, and children, with the exception of six hundred men who had fled from the field of battle; the demolition of all their cities; the destruction also of the whole population of Jabesh Gilead, except four hundred virgins, who were preserved in order to prevent the utter extinction of the tribe of Benjamin; these and other miseries all arose out of this single circumstance, a want of a regular government sufficiently strong to prevent or punish the violations of the laws.
There is one circumstance in this history which seems unaccountable; namely, That when the eleven tribes were united against Benjamin solely for the purpose of demanding justice against the perpetrators of that enormous wickedness, and when Judah led the battle by divine appointment, no less than forty thousand of that tribe should be slain by Benjamin in two battles, whilst the impious Benjamites suffered no loss at all. But God intended by this to punish the supineness of all the tribes, who had neglected to espouse his cause against the idolatrous Danites. They had united as one man, when the interests of society demanded their interposition; but they had taken no steps to vindicate Gods honour against the introduction of idolatry, though God had expressly required in his law their most determined interference in his behalf [Note: Deu 13:12-16.]. On this account God first made use of the Benjamites to punish them, and then delivered the Benjamites into their hands, that justice should be executed on them also.
But whatever was Gods design in these desolating judgments, they must still be all referred to that cause which we have already noticed.
If any further illustration of the point be wanted, we need only behold the evils which are perpetrated even in the best regulated governments, in defiance of the laws; and then we shall see what evils would obtain, if all the restraints of law and justice were withdrawn ]
But a vigilant and energetic magistracy stems the torrent of iniquity
[Where a good government is, there are known and established laws, to which the highest, as well as the lowest in the state, are amenable. Our persons, our property, yea even our reputation, are secured from injury; or, if any injure them, the law affords us suitable redress. If any sons of Belial will break through the restraints which the law has imposed upon them, no sooner are they convicted of the crime, than they pay the penalty with the loss of their liberties or lives. Hence every man feels himself secure: the weak fears not the invasion of his rights any more than the strong; but all sit under their own vine and fig-tree, none making them afraid.
This security we are apt to overlook: but we can never in reality be too thankful for it. If we were to estimate our state according to truth, we should all consider ourselves like Daniel in the lions den: the lions have not lost their nature; but they feel a restraint, which, though invisible, operates for our preservation: if that were once withdrawn, we should then, like Daniels persecutors, soon become a prey to the violent and oppressive.]
But the subject may justly lead us also to consider,
II.
The obligations we owe to the Gospel of Christ
The restraints of Civil Government are external only, and have respect chiefly to the welfare of society: they cannot reach to the thoughts or dispositions of the heart. Hence
Ungodly men do precisely what they please
[They keep within the regulations of human laws, so far at least as to avoid a criminal prosecution; but they will indulge their lusts in ways which come not within the cognizance of the civil magistrate, and will live altogether without God in the world. All indeed do not run to the same excess of riot; but all will equally do what is right in their own eyes. All mark out a line for themselves: some give themselves a greater latitude; and some are circumscribed within narrower bounds; but all lay down to themselves certain rules, to which they annex the idea of propriety: and if a minister of the Most High God stand forth to testify against their ways as evil, they will find an host to vindicate their cause, and to inflict the deadliest wounds also on those who dare to assault them in the name of God. The language of their hearts is, Who is Lord over us? In vain do we endeavour to convince them of their errors; they are determined to think themselves right: to be right in their own eyes is with them a perfect vindication of their conduct: they will not come to the word and the testimony of Scripture; that is a test to which they will not submit: and, if only they are free from gross and open sin, they despise the sword of the Spirit, and defy the sharpest arrows that are taken from his quiver.
What we here speak is as applicable to the most righteous among them, as to the most unrighteous. Solomon tells us that there is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, who are not washed from their filthiness [Note: Pro 30:12.]. Their standard of duty, be it what it may, is of their own making: and they follow the laws of God no further than will consist with the regulations which they have formed for themselves ]
But the Gospel produces in them a most blessed change
[This establishes a King in Israel: it represents the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer and the Lord of all; and erects his throne in the hearts of men The Gospel rectifies the views also, of all that receive it. His law, and not our own vain conceits, becomes now the rule of judgment: the smallest deviation from that, whether by excess or defect, is regarded as evil, and nothing is approved any further than it agrees with that perfect standard We may also add, It regulates the conduct. Those who receive the Gospel aright, instantly give themselves up to the Lord Jesus Christ, accounting his service to be perfect freedom, and desiring to live no longer to themselves, but unto Him that died for them and rose again. Of course, we must not be understood to say that these effects are produced equally in all, or in any to their full extent. Men are still corrupt creatures, even the best of men; and consequently they will, like brands out of a fire, still bear the mark of the fire, though the flame be extinguished: but still they differ as widely from the unconverted world, as those who live under a well-regulated government do from the most licentious savages: they are thankful for the restraints under which they live; and are ready to die in defence of that King whom they venerate, and that law which they account it their highest privilege to obey. In civilized society, men are happy in being secured from external violence; but, under the Gospel, they are happy in being secured from the assaults of Satan, and from the corruptions of their own hearts.]
From this subject we would take occasion to recommend,
1.
A self-diffident spirit
[By nothing are the delusions of men more strengthened than by a confidence in their own wisdom and judgment. No reasons will weigh in opposition to the conceits of self-opinionated men; nor will an appeal to the Scriptures themselves be allowed to be of any force. Hence men perish in their errors, till it becomes too late to rectify them. How happy would it be if men would distrust their own judgment; and if, when they see how thousands of their neighbours err, they would admit the possibility of error in themselves I God has given us an unerring standard of truth: to that let us refer all our pre-conceived opinions; and remember, that, if we walk not according to that rule, there is no light in us.]
2.
A cautious judgment
[Persons are apt to form their judgment on very inadequate grounds. Any one who should have seen the two defeats of Judah, would be ready to conclude, that the cause for which victory had decided, was the right: but we are not to judge from events: righteousness is not always triumphant in this world: it may be oppressed; and the supporters of it may be trodden under foot: but there is a time when God will vindicate his own cause, and evince the equity of all his dispensations. The unalterable word of God must be our only rule of judgment in every thing: if we suffer in following that, let us not doubt the goodness of our cause, but betake ourselves to fasting and prayer, and, above all, to that great Sacrifice which was once offered for sin. Then, though suffering, we shall reap good to our souls; and, though vanquished now, we shall surely triumph at last.]
3.
An unreserved submission to the King of Israel
[This is true happiness: this once attained, no enemy can hurt us, no occurrence can disturb our peace. I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me, because he trusteth in me. O that we were all brought to surrender up ourselves unfeignedly to him! Whether we will submit to him or not, God has set him as his King upon his holy hill of Zion; and He will reign, till all his enemies be put under his feet. Kiss the Son then, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way: and let every imagination that is contrary to his will be cast down, and every thought be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
May a gracious God, be pleased to follow up his own blessed designs, in recording the sad relations of Israel in this book, to, make both the Writer, and Reader of this Commentary upon it, wise, under his divine teaching, from what is written. If, Reader, the page of Israel’s transgressions, in this book of the Judges, be so blessed of God the Holy Ghost, as to prompt both your heart, and mine, to behold in it, what it really is, the history of all men according to nature, and unrestrained by grace: and, if the consciousness of the whole, tends to endear Jesus, in all his Person, Offices, Relations, and Characters, as the only remedy for sin; and, if our hearts are led to him for salvation; then let us both bless the Great Author of our mercies, who hath given this, as well as all scripture, by inspiration of God; and made it profitable, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 21:25 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
Ver. 25. In those days, &c. ] See Jdg 17:6 .
Every man did that which was right.
a Vatab.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
no king. Note the structural arrangement of the four occurrences of this expression. See note on Jdg 18:1.
did = did continually. This is the Divine summing up of the whole book, by way of Epilogue. All the evil follows as the result of the disobedience in Jdg 1:27-36.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
no: Jdg 17:6, Jdg 18:1, Jdg 19:1
right: Jdg 18:7, Deu 12:8, Psa 12:4, Pro 3:5, Pro 14:12, Ecc 11:9, Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2
Reciprocal: Hos 9:9 – Gibeah
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 21:25. In those days there was no king in Israel There were elders, (Jdg 21:16,) who had some authority, and there was a high-priest, (Jdg 20:28,) but there was no supreme governor, such as Moses and Joshua were, and after them the judges, and none that had power sufficient to punish public wrongs, whoredoms, and idolatries, and thereby check the progress of vice and profanenness, and keep the people in order. The sacred writer, says Dr. Dodd, no doubt, repeats this observation to account for the disorders and enormities mentioned in the four preceding chapters; which exhibit a most depraved state of things; every man doing what was right in his own eyes Or, following his own corrupt passions and inclinations. It is a natural inference from hence, that men ought to be extremely thankful for lawful authority: and, if they would preserve their felicity, ought to be zealous to support that authority, as well as to discourage all licentious approaches toward its dissolution. The Persians have a custom which justifies this reflection. When any of their kings die, they suffer the people to do as they please for five days, that by the disorders then committed, they may see the necessity of legal government, and learn submission to it. In general, the four chapters which finish this book show us to what a degree the Israelites were degenerated in the short space from the death of Caleb to the election of his younger brother to be their judge: we discover the true cause of the chastisements wherewith God punished them from time to time, though he delivered them from their enemies, under whose yoke they must infallibly have fallen, if God had not beheld them with compassion, and raised them up judges to save them from ruin. We just remark, in conclusion, that it would be unreasonable to draw any inference from the tumultuous and irregular actions of a tribe or people, to the lessening of the authority of the writer of any history. The writer of the present book ought rather to be admired for the impartiality with which he relates facts so little to the credit of his nation.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The concluding key 21:25
Jdg 21:25 concludes the story of the atrocity of the men of Gibeah and the Benjamites (chs. 19-21). This second vignette from the period of the judges began and ends with the same statement (cf. Jdg 19:1). It reflects the failure of Israel in this event in its history to acknowledge the sovereignty of Yahweh in a practical way.
"The motivation for including this second narrative of the Bethlehem trilogy is evident. It reflects badly on Benjamin and by implication on the Saulide ancestry and dynasty. The pro-David sentiment is crystal clear." [Note: Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., pp. 181-82.]
However, the verse also summarizes the whole period of the judges surveyed in this book. It forms a fitting concluding statement that explains why life in Israel was as it was during this era. For this reason many Bible students regard this verse as the key verse in the book. [Note: See Frederick E. Greenspahn, "An Egyptian Parallel to Judges 17:6 and 21:25," Journal of Biblical Literature 101:1 (1982):129-35.]
"Judges 19-21 gives us the ugliest story in the Bible. The key to it is that, at every stage, men were acting on the basis of what was right in their own eyes. As far as the men of Gibeah were concerned, rape was all right. To the farmer and the Levite in the house, homosexual rape was unthinkable, but other rape was acceptable. The men of Benjamin thought it was right to overlook sin and to defend evil men. To Israel, revenge and retaliation would be justified, and to solve their problems about marriage for the Benjamites, the massacre of innocent people and kidnapping could be condoned.
"The interesting thing is that none of this had anything [?] to do with idolatry or Baal worship. It began with individuals ignoring the law of God, doing what was right in their own eyes, and it led a whole nation into moral collapse." [Note: Inrig, p. 289.]
The Israelites needed no judge or king to lead them into apostasy or battle. They did both on their own.