The aftermath of the previous chapter's civil war left the tribe of Benjamin bearing on extinction, especially after the Israelite oath to refuse their daughters in marriage to the Benjamites. The dilemma was how to therefore provide wives for the Benjamites to make possible the tribe's survival. This problem was partially solved by killing all men and women of Jabesh Gilead who had failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah, except the virgins, and this provided 400 wives for Benjamin, though this was not enough. So a scheme was elaborated for the annual festival at Shiloh whereby the Benjamin men seized wives from the dancing girls of Shiloh without them actually being given! All this happened in the days that Israel had no king and when everyone did as they saw fit.
No comments:
Post a Comment