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English translations of the Bible call the tribe made up of the children of Benjamin either Benjamites or Benjaminites. Literally, the Hebrew is “of Benjamin”. The numerous English versions extant split about 60/40 in usage, with the older versions like the KJV mostly leaning toward the truncated form of the name. At this point, neither is really right or wrong.

I’ll go with the shorter version here because it’s … shorter. Having read Judges 19 as many as thirty times in the process of preparing this series, I’m inclined to dwell on the evil men of Gibeah as fleetingly as possible.

No King in Israel (43)

Years ago, my aunt appeared at her mother’s door only a few days into her honeymoon, wailing about her “impossible” new husband. My grandmother was a worthy old gal with a very traditional, even biblical view of the importance of keeping one’s word once given. She briskly turned her daughter around in the yard and pointed her right back where she had come from with the trenchant observation, “You married him.”

Hrm. I loved my aunt. She was quite a woman. But I’ve always enjoyed that story.

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One of the more interesting features of this final, very unsavory episode in Judges is that while it gives us both the spiritual nadir and narrative climax for the book, it is chronologically out of sequence. Rather than coming at the end of the period when the judges governed Israel, I believe the culling of the Benjamites actually occurred some 300 years prior; before Samson, Jephthah, Gideon and many others lived, fought and ruled.

How do we know this? By the major logistical difficulties placing it anywhere else creates.

No King in Israel (41)

The tribe of Ephraim was contrary, rebellious and idolatrous. The half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead refused to obey the judges God raised up to defend Israel, provoking a brief civil war. The histories in Judges reveal the persistent moral failings of Joseph’s children during this period.

However, Ephraim and Manasseh were hardly the only Israelite tribes whose cultures bottomed out during the rule of the judges.

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Others have noted Judges does not recount certain events in chronological order. The story in chapters 17 and 18 appears to have taken place after the death of Samson during a period in which Israel had no named judge, maintaining a more-or-less linear march through time to this point in the book. However, it’s evident the final three chapters (19-21) actually took place quite a bit earlier and probably find their place at the end of the book for theological, dramatic and/or thematic reasons.

Historically speaking, chapter 18 concludes Judges.

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Judges were not kings. We have seen that they performed some functions we expect of royalty: leading the army, delivering the nation from oppression, and rendering decisions in disagreements between Israelites. Some functions, but not all.

When God appointed Saul Israel’s first king, he had something more in mind for him than waving a sword, calling out the troops or sitting under a tree passing judgment. “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you,” God said. “He it is who shall restrain my people.”

Restrain. Hmm.

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Abraham gave Isaac to God and ended up the father of eight sons by three different women. He received Isaac back as well. Hannah dedicated Samuel to God, afterwards conceiving three more sons as well as two daughters. Rebekah was barren until her husband prayed for her, after which she conceived not one son but two, both of whom became fathers of nations. Mary said, “Let it be to me according to your word”, and conceived not only the Lord Jesus but also four other sons and unnumbered sisters.

Short version, you cannot out-give the Lord. We will see that again shortly.

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Truth is objective and its importance paramount. Technical precision is one aspect of truth and its importance situational. On several occasions the Lord Jesus was technically precise in quoting the Old Testament. On many others it would not be outrageous to say that he wildly paraphrased.

The standard for quoting a conversation as evidence in a court proceeding is not the same as the standard for reporting dialogue that took place during historical events for which the author could not possibly have been personally present. The former ought to be as close to word-to-word as possible. The latter permits or even necessitates some stylistic license, and everyone but a pedant makes allowance for it. Expecting an author to recount a conversation that took place a hundred years ago with the technical precision of a legal transcript is manifestly unreasonable; a paraphrase or summary in his own words is frequently more than adequate.

Well-constructed prose often makes for a better story anyway.

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In 2017-18, archeologist and historical geographer Dr. Chris McKinny published articles arguing that modern Bible scholars ought to rethink the purported location of Lehi, an ancient Israelite town prominent in today’s reading from Judges.

For fifty years prior, many considered the ruined Arab village of Khirbet Beit Lei the probable location for Lehi on the basis of a specious similarity in names advanced by Israeli anthropologist Joseph Ginat in a Brigham Young University academic symposium. Absent any better suggestions, many accepted Ginat’s conclusions about the town’s location.

No King in Israel (35)

Othniel led an army to drive out Israel’s oppressors in his generation. Ehud used a successful solo mission to raise an army to do the same. Deborah’s general Barak, Gideon and Jephthah were all leadership figures behind which the nation (or parts of it) rallied and successfully defeated invaders.

In every case to date, a judge’s appearance on the scene meant Israel entered a period of rest and relief from its enemies.

No King in Israel (34)

Bible students online differ concerning the extent to which Samson was truly heroic or any kind of role model for believers. The four chapters that chronicle his life and death portray him as impulsive, turbulent and temperamental, driven by his whims and easily pushed off course by events around him. Rarely do we see evidence of serious devotion to the Lord, or the fruit of such a relationship in his life, though there’s absolutely no question the Lord used him, and used him in a major way. Like Jehu centuries later, Samson was a wrecking ball when Israel needed one.

The New Testament portrays Samson as a man who in at least one instance exercised remarkable faith. Even then, in typical Samson style, his faith basically amounted to the conviction that God would make an exception to his own rules by special request …

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The story of Samson is full of miraculous events. The narrative has a big, mythical quality to it: the robust young hero smiting his enemies in impossible numbers. A child reading it may find himself caught up in the action and missing the subtext. I certainly did. Nevertheless, like so many other Old Testament characters, this “hero” has feet of clay; he cannot seem to get out of his own way. His failures and temptations are all too human.

Never mind. God can use that too. We can take some encouragement from that fact at least.

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Ahab listened to a lying spirit sent out from the presence of God. He consequently perished in battle. It was inevitable. The Lord had purposed to put him to death. He knew Ahab would follow the word of four hundred false prophets telling him exactly what he already wanted to hear rather than one lone man with the truth of God in his mouth.

Thus, the will of God profoundly influenced Ahab without Ahab having the slightest personal insight into it, and without him deriving any benefit from it.

As we will see, our twelfth judge had far too much in common with Ahab.

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We have been examining the third and final appearance of the angel of the Lord in the book of Judges. In chapter 2, he rebuked Israel for its disobedience, setting the stage for both the judgments he would inflict on the nation throughout the book and the repeated miraculous deliverances these punishments would necessitate. In chapter 6, he appeared to Gideon, causing him to fear for his life. In this chapter, he appears to the woman who would shortly become Samson’s mother, and to her husband Manoah.

Manoah’s wife described the angel of the Lord as “very awesome”. She and her husband were shortly to discover he was much more than that.

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Judges is a grim book. It shows fallen man the way he truly is, even when favored with a level of access to divine revelation that many nations never experienced. Few of its chapters are consistently uplifting or their positive aspects unmitigated by reminders of human wickedness and fallibility. Jephthah’s story, which we have just finished, mingled God-given victory with bad judgment, betrayal and brother-against-brother violence. Our final judge’s life was a notorious mess, and the book gets even bleaker from there.

In between, chapter 13 is a brief, cheery respite from the darkness. From verse 2 on, it’s all wonderful, including a rare pre-incarnate glimpse of Christ himself.

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Today’s instalment takes us to the eleventh of our twelve judges of Israel. We are getting there.

At least eight tribes provided Israel with leadership and deliverance during the period of the judges, and perhaps as many as ten.* The tribal affiliation of at least two judges is questionable, so we cannot confirm precisely which tribes did not receive representation in leadership during the period. We can say with certainty that Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Gad go unmentioned.

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Joseph had two sons during his glory years in Egypt, Ephraim and Manasseh. When his father Jacob was old and full of years, he blessed the two boys and adopted them as his own sons, meaning that Joseph effectively received the birthright in his generation, the double portion of Jacob’s inheritance that Reuben, his older brother, had forfeited by sleeping with his father’s concubine. In Canaan, Ephraim and Manasseh grew to be among Israel’s most powerful and numerous tribes, and Manasseh held territory on both sides of the Jordan.

We have previously mentioned irony in Judges: there’s lots and lots of it. We come to more of it today. The last chapter of Jephthah’s story involves conflict between two brother tribes.

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I find it interesting that the scriptures rarely spend much time describing the conflicts in which Israel engaged (Jericho and Ai being exceptions). In a Tolkien novel, a battle may take multiple chapters to cover. Same with a secular history. But the writers of scripture are teaching moral lessons, and are not interested in martial minutiae unless it serves their spiritual purpose in writing.

In this case, the writer dispenses with a great victory over Ammon in a single verse.

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I try very hard never to negotiate with God.

Perhaps you struggle with that too. The habit is hard to kick, especially when you want some particular outcome very badly and believe only Heaven can deliver it. But promising God this or that provided he does what I want for me is a pagan instinct, not a Christian one. In his Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus instructed his Jewish followers, for whom vows and oaths were commonplace, not to take oaths at all.

Keeping that in mind, I try never to put myself in the position of promising the Lord things I may not be able to deliver.

No King in Israel (25)

New readers of Old Testament history may occasionally find themselves lost in a sea of names, places and peoples. Ammonites and Amorites both begin with the letter “A”, but seasoned readers know the Ammonites were fellow Hebrews descended from Lot, as Israel was descended from Abraham, whereas the Amorites were descendants of Canaan son of Ham. They founded the Old Babylonian Empire and ruled Mesopotamia, the Levant and parts of Egypt for four centuries prior to and including Israel’s time in Egypt.

In fact, one reason the Lord obliged Israel to spend so long in Egypt was to give the Amorites opportunity to repent. God told Abraham their iniquity was “not yet complete”. He would judge their sin at the appropriate time, and not before.