28 And he said unto her, Up, | her bones, into twelve pieces, and let us be going. But none and sent her into all the coasts answered. Then the man took of Israel. her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.

29 T And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with

z ch. 20. 5. a ch. 20. 6. See 1 Sam. 11. 7.

hands of these ruthless monsters. We may hope, however, though it be almost hoping against hope, that her soul was touched with penitence at the eleventh hour, and that when she fell with outstretched arms upon the threshold, it was with a fervent supplication for the divine forgiveness. But the justice of God in this melancholy event does by no means extenuate the enormous wickedness of the men of Gibeah in executing it, than which nothing could be more barbarous and inhuman.

30 And it was so, that all that saw it, said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

b ch. 20. 7. Prov. 13. 10.

dealt with in the same manner, to avenge the horrible outrage. The whole nation accordingly instantly understood it as a universal anathema, and entered into an indissoluble covenant, to see justice done to the injured Levite. This appears from the fact of the tribes actually taking up arms, as they did-from their swearing before the ark not to return to their tents or into their houses, till they had punished the offenders, ch. 20. 8, 9-from their putting to the sword all that remained in Gibeah, both man and beast, and burning all the cities and towns of Benjamin, ch. 20. 48-from their swearing with an imprecation not to give their daughters in marriage to the sons of Benjamin, and cursing him who should do so, ch. 21. 1-18—and finally, from their engaging themselves by a terrible oath to kill every Israelite who should not take arms against the Benjamites, ch. 21. 5. These are all marks of a solemn act of anathema, and in no other light can the transaction be rightly viewed. See' Scripture Illustrations,' p. 146.

29. Divided her-into twelve pieces, and sent her, &c. It is to be presumed that with the pieces he sent to each tribe a circumstantial account of the barbarity of the men of Gibeah, which had deprived him of his wife. To our ideas there is something peculiarly shocking in the procedure, but it was doubtless in accordance with the notions of the times, and as there was no supreme magistrate to whom to appeal for redress, it was probably the most effectual method of rousing the nation to take up the Levite's cause as one that concerned them all. It was a measure, in fact, 30. There was no such deed done nor that seems to have been considered as seen, &c. Its enormity was unparalputting the twelve tribes under an leled, and they were struck dumb anathema, and solemnly binding and confounded, as it were, at the them, on pain of being themselves bare mention of it. It seems accord

CHAPTER XX.

land of Gilead, unto the LORD

HEN all the children of in Mizpeh.

THE

Israel went out, and the 2 And the chief of all the peo-
congregation was gathered to-ple, even of all the tribes of Is-
gether as one man, from Dan rael, presented themselves in
even to Beer-sheba, with the the assembly of the people of

a

Deut, 13. 12. Josh. 22. 12. ch. 21. 5.
1 Sam. 11. 7. b ch. 18. 29. 1 Sam. 3. 20. 2
Sam. 3. 10, and 24. 2.

ingly to have passed into a proverb,
They have deeply corrupted them-
selves as in the days of Gibeah,' Hos.
9. 9.- - Consider of it, take advice
and speak your minds. Heb. 'put it
to yourselves, take counsel upon it,
and speak.' This was the prelude to
the council held and the measures
adopted, which are recited in the fol-
lowing chapter.

CHAPTER XX.

c Judg. 10. 17, and 11. 11. 1 Sam. 7. 5,
and 10. 17.

unto

or before the Lord,' may
signify simply meeting in the name
of the Lord, to consult him and
offer up prayers and supplications.
But although it is true that God is
wherever his people are piously as-
sembled in his name, yet so uniform
throughout the Scriptures is the sense
of the phrase given above, that we are
averse to departing from it in this in-
stance. By comparing v. 18, it would
appear that they did not immediately
resort to the tabernacle, but assembled
first at Mizpeh, and thence went up
to the house of the Lord either at
Shiloh or Bethel. The expression,
however, were gathered unto the
Lord,' is warranted by the fact that it
formed a part of their plan to consult
the oracle in reference to their present
expedition. The Mizpeh here men-
tioned was a place in the borders of
Judah and Benjamin, and therefore
sometimes spoken of as belonging to
the one and sometimes to the other,
Josh. 15. 38 and 18. 26. It was but a
short distance from Shiloh.

1. From Dan even to Beersheba,
with the land of Gilead. From the
utmost borders of the land in every
direction. By the land of Gilead is
meant the trans-Jordanic region,
where were planted the tribes of
Reuben and Gad and the half tribe
of Manasseh. The convention seems
not to have been summoned together
by any superintending head, but by
the consent and agreement, as it
were, of one common heart, prompted
by a holy zeal for the Lord of hosts
and the honor of Israel. Unto
the Lord in Mizpeh. The usual im-
port of the phrase
el Yeho-
vah, to the Lord, is the same with
¬¬ liphnë Yehovah, before the
Lord, i. e. before the tabernacle, or in
the presence of the ark of the cove-noth) of the people, all the tribes of
nant, where God was wont to be in- Israel,' where the 'corners' or chiefs
quired of by his people. But as the of the people are identified with the
ark was now at Shiloh and not at tribes themselves, instead of being
Mizpeh, it has been supposed by distinguished from them, as is erro-
many commentators that the phrase Ineously done in our translation by

2. The chief of all the people, even
of all the tribes of Israel. The origi-
ual exhibits a very remarkable phra-
seology ;-'The corners ( pin-

God, four hundred thousand of the woman that was slain, footmen that drew sword. answered and said, I came into 3 (Now the children of Benja- Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin heard that the children of min, I and my concubine, to Israel were gone up to Mizpeh). | lodge. Then said the children of Israel,

Tell us, how was ness?

5 And the men of Gibeah this wicked-rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain

4 And the Levite, the husband

d ch. 8. 10.

the gratuitous insertion of the word 'of' before 'all the tribes.' This is evident from its being immediately said that they were assembled to the number of four hundred thousand, which certainly cannot be meant of the chiefs alone. See on ch. 10. 18. The leaders of a community, as the Scriptures represent government, are merely the executive organs of the mass of the people, having no interest or will separate from theirs. The term 'corner' here employed is a metaphor taken from the cornerstones of a building, which are its main support.

e ch. 19. 15. f ch. 19. 22.

consequently act very much out of character.

3. The children of Benjamin heard, &c. But they paid little or no attention to it. Though they had probably received a formal summons like the rest of their brethren, yet they heeded it not; they took no steps towards healing the breach that had occurred, and preventing the consequences that ensued; on the contrary, they were rather hardened and exasperated than otherwise by the proceedings of the other tribes.- -¶Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, &c. Heb. What these corner-17 dabberu, tell ye us, pl., a general

challenge to any one, or to all who
were acquainted with the facts, to
come forward and testify to them.
4. And the Levite.

stones are to a material fabric, the
chiefs of the tribes were to the tribes
themselves. Comp. 1 Sam. 14. 38;
Is. 19. 13.¶ In the assembly of the
people of God. Heb. p ka'hal, Gr.73
Skλŋσia, the usual word for church, as
if from the object of their meeting
they had convened ecclesiastically,
or as a religious assembly. This is
confirmed by the qualifying adjunct,
'people of God.' Though the occa-
sion was a very exciting one, and
they were in danger of giving way to
unhallowed passion, yet they did not
forget that they came together as
'the people of God,' and were bound
to demean themselves accordingly.
Christians sometimes lose sight of
this in their public assemblies, and

הארש .Heb

hâish hallēvi, and the man, the Levite. He and his servant, and the old man his host, were undoubtedly all present, prepared to unite in the same statement. The Levite's nar-ration of facts, made' without preface or passion,' is remarkable for its brevity and directness. He speaks like a man who felt that he had no need to employ oratorical arts to work upon the feelings of his hearers and excite their just indignation. The bare recital of the facts themselves would be sufficient.

5. Thought to have slain me. In

me: and my concubine have
they forced, that she is dead.
6 And I took my concubine,
and cut her in pieces, and sent
her throughout all the country
of the inheritance of Israel: for
they have committed lewdness
and folly in Israel.

i

k

7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.

8 ¶ And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house:

9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah: we will go up by lot against it;

10 And we will take ten men

g ch. 19. 25, 26. h ch. 19. 29. i Josh. 7. 15. k ch. 19. 30.

case I should refuse to accede to their vile wishes.-Forced. Heb. innu, humbled.

8. We will not any of us go to his tent. We will have satisfaction for this wickedness before we return home.

would ourselves have acted the same part had we been present.' It is difficult to conceive a case of more hardened and aggravated depravity than this. 'Who would not have looked that the hands of Benjamin should have been first on Gibeah; and that they should have readily sent the heads of the offenders for a second service after the fragments of the concubine? But now instead of punishing the sin, they patronise the actors, and will rather die in resisting

10. To fetch victual for the people. A tenth part of them were selected to provide food and forage for the army, which might thus be wholly occupied in punishing the inhabitants of Gibeah. 13. The children of Benjamin | justice, than live and prosper in furwould not hearken. Thus in effect bringing the whole tribe to be partakers of the guilt of the men of Gibeah. By thus refusing to comply with the just and reasonable requisition of their brethren they virtually said; 'We will stand by them in what they have done; nay, we

thering it! The abetting of evil is worse than the commission; this may be on infirmity, but that must be on resolution. Easy punishment is too much favor to sin; connivance is much worse; but the defence of it, and that unto blood, is intolerable.' Bp. Hall.

put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:

0

were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling stones at an hair-breadth, and not miss.

17 And the men of Israel, be

14 But the children of Benja- sides Benjamin, were numbered min gathered themselves toge-four hundred thousand men that ther out of the cities unto Gibe- drew sword: all these were men ah, to go out to battle against of war. the children of Israel.

15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

16 Among all this people there

Deut. 17. 12.

18 T And the children of Israel arose, and P went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

p ver. 23, 26.

o ch.3. 15. 1 Chron, 12. 2. q Num. 27. 21. ch. 1. 1. occasion from Shiloh. And it must be admitted that there is some force in the remark of Rosenmüller, that the habitation of the ark is elsewhere uniformly called

bëth

16. Left handed. Heb. shut or obstructed of the right hand.' See Note on ch. 3. 15. It is somewhat of a curious circumstance, that Benjamin, which signifies the son of the right hand, should have had so much | hâelohim, and in no other instance, of a left handed posterity.— -T And beth-ël, as here. Still, as we not miss. Heb. Nun¬ 831 velo ya- can see no sufficient reason for such 'hati. Gr. Kaι ovx εžaμapтavovтes, and not a transfer of the tabernacle at this sin: thus affording a clue to the true time, we abide by the sense given in import of the word sin, viz. missing our translation, and suppose that the the mark, erring from one's scope.' house of God' at Shiloh is intendThis is well expressed in the New Testament by auаpтavw, from a negative, and μаprтw, to hit the mark. To love, serve, and enjoy God is 'our being's end and aim,' which the sin-gether too important to allow them ner in his course of transgression, misses, and too often, alas! to his final undoing.

ed. This place was very near to Mizpeh, where they were now assembled, and the enterprise in which they were now engaged was alto

to think of entering upon it without previously taking counsel of God. But the defective manner in which 18. The children of Israel arose, this was done will appear very strikand went up to the house of God. ingly in the sequel.¶ Which of Heb. beth-el, which some ex- us shall go up first, &c. It will be positors take to be the place so de- observed that they do not ask whethnominated, supposing that the arker they shall go up at all, which unhad been removed thither on this doubtedly ought to have been their