Each man caught
one and carried her off to be his wife (Judges 21:23).
Chapter 19 gives the
gory details of a heinous crime – the rape-murder of a Levite’s wife. Chapter
20 chronicles the punishment dealt to the perpetrator – nearly a death sentence
for an entire tribe of Israel. Benjamin was reduced to 600 men, their wives and
families butchered, and the rest of Israel vowed not to give those surviving
men wives with which to continue their family lines.
As the gravity of
the situation hit them and clearer heads prevailed (that’s debatable), they
hatched a plan to get wives for the survivors. Jabesh Gilead had not shown up
to support their action against Benjamin, so that city now became a target. Its
men, women and children were killed, and only its young unmarried women were
spared. Those 400 women were given to the men of Benjamin as wives.
Problem: There were
still 200 Benjamites [3] who needed wives. You can’t make this stuff up.
The Israelites realized that the young women of Shiloh were enjoying a festival
in the fields near their city. They determined to look the other way while the
remaining Benjamites each captured a woman. This gives a whole different
meaning to Hi ho the derry-o, the farmer takes a wife.
And the story ends: In
those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit (21:25).
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Have you ever done what you
thought was right only to realize later it was a bad decision? Now that you
know better, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to make a
better choice next time?
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