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a Gk: Heb lacks we will go up
b Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
c Verses 22 and 23 are transposed
d Gk Vg: Heb in the plain
e This sentence is continued by verse 45.
f Compare Vg and some Gk Mss: Heb cities
g Compare Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
h Gk: Heb Surrounding
i Gk: Heb pursued them at their resting place
20.1–48 The national assembly is stampeded into wrathful indignation by one man telling half of the truth.
20.1 From Dan to Beer-sheba, from the northern to the southern limits of Israel. Mizpah, Hebrew, “Lookout” or “Watchtower,” probably Tell en-Nasbeh, eight miles (thirteen kilometers) north of Jerusalem, not to be confused with the Mizpah east of the Jordan in 11.11.
20.3 Gibeah is a Benjaminite town (19.16), so the Levite’s personal quarrel grows into an intertribal conflict.
20.5 The Levite’s testimony passes over his own culpability in surrendering his concubine. They intended to kill me magnifies the threat to himself.
20.6 As a vile outrage (see note on 19.23–24), the rape and murder of the concubine was an affront to Israel’s foundational principles.
20.9 By lot is a reference to how the 10 percent of the next verse will be chosen.
20.11 All the men of Israel are united as never before in the book, except at Gideon’s ephod (8.27).
20.16 The grim odds against Benjamin (400, 000, v. 17, against 26, 000, v. 15) are offset by a contingent of elite troops who are superb marksmen. Benjamin was proverbially associated with left-handed or ambidextrous warriors (3.15; 1 Chr 12.2).
20.18 Bethel was the chief sanctuary of central Israel. Which of us…first is the same question as in 1.1. Judah is chosen, as in 1.2, but here it is chosen for civil war. The Lord answers either by the sacred lots or through a priestly oracle.
20.23 V. 26 suggests that this weeping before the LORD took place at Bethel.
20.25 The Israelite army is reduced to a decimated level, so that victory can only be attributed to the Lord.
20.26–28 Bethel is a fitting place for inquiry because the ark of the covenant of God was there (v. 27) in the keeping of a priest properly descended from Aaron (v. 28). Only now do the Israelites ask the appropriate prior question, Shall we go, and only here is the response reliable: tomorrow I will give them into your hand.
20.29–43 Two accounts of the victory are given (vv. 29–36a, 36b–43). There are strong resemblances to the takeover of Ai (Josh 8.3–23), where simulated retreat and ambush was also the strategy.
20.35 The LORD was not explicitly credited with Benjamin’s earlier victories. The scale of Benjamin’s defeat is clear when the number killed (25, 000, v. 46) is compared with Benjamin’s starting total (26, 000, v. 15).
20.42 Benjamin is trapped in between the main army of the Israelites and those who came out of the city.
20.47–48 A mere six hundred fled and went into hiding, to become the only Benjaminite survivors in the story and to set up the situation for the next chapter.
JUDGES 21
The Benjaminites Saved from Extinction
1Now the Israelites had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” 2And the people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3They said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has it come to pass that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4On the next day, the people got up early, and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being. 5Then the Israelites said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For a solemn oath had been taken concerning whoever did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “That one shall be put to death.” 6But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin their kin, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?”
8Then they said, “Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp, to the assembly. 9For when the roll was called among the people, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10So the congregation sent twelve thousand soldiers there and commanded them, “Go, put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword, including the women and the little ones. 11This is what you shall do; every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man and brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. 14Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead; but they did not suffice for them.
15The people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16So the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since there are no women left in Benjamin?” 17And they said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, in order that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel. 18Yet we cannot give any of our daughters to them as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.” 19So they said, “Look, the yearly festival of the LORD is taking place at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20And they instructed the Benjaminites, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, 21and watch; when the young women of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and each of you carry off a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22Then if their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Be generous and allow us to have them; because we did not capture in battle a wife for each man. But neither did you incur guilt by giving your daughters to them.’” 23The Benjaminites did so; they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they abducted. Then they went and returned to their territory, and rebuilt the towns, and lived in them. 24So the Israelites departed from there at that time by tribes and families, and they went out from there to their own territories.
25In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
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21.1–25 This concluding chapter brings together two stories: one concerning a punitive expedition against Jabesh-gilead, the other a custom involving young women during a vintage festival at Shiloh.
21.1–5 The problem of finding wives for the Benjaminites is emphasized by framing it with repeated mention of the oath at Mizpah in vv. 1, 5.
21.1 The prohibition of marriage with Benjaminites is previously unmentioned.
21.3 Lacking, lit. “counted out.” The Hebrew verb paqad has to do with setting quotas for military service.
21.5 One more small-scale civil war will be necessary.
21.6–12 These verses restate the problem and describe the proposal and implementation of a solution.
21.8 Jabesh-gilead lay east of the Jordan. This city would later be friendly and faithful to Saul, who was a Benjaminite from Gibeah (1 Sam 10.27–11.15; 31.11–13).
21.11 Devote to destruction, or put under the ban (Hebrew cherem). As a result of their vow (v. 5), the Israelites decide to treat this as a sacral war.
21.14–15 Four hundred captive women are not enough for the six hundred surviving men, reinforcing the reality that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
21.19 This yearly festival at Shiloh (cf. 1 Sam 1.3) seems to have celebrated the grape harvest.
21.21 These instructions may re
flect an ongoing custom of obtaining wives by simulated “capture” at Shiloh.
21.22 Fathers would lose both honor and money if marriage bypassed the usual negotiations. Brothers would be the natural protectors of their unmarried sisters (Song 8.8–9).
21.25 Looking back at chs. 17–21, this verse sees the idolatrous shrine, rape and murder, civil war, and genocide all as a consequence of having no king. In this way, the conclusion of Judges looks forward to Samuel, who will establish the monarchy.
RUTH
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
THE BOOK OF RUTH, a short narrative with a pastoral tone, is one of the most beautiful pieces of literature in the Bible. The few characters in the story, with the exception of Boaz (1 Chr 2.11–12), are unmentioned elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, and, in contrast to most other biblical narratives, the concern seems to be with a private family rather than national or international affairs. The plot revolves around family relationships—between husbands, wives, children, in-laws, and kinsmen—and the role each member plays in fulfilling the needs of other members and hence the family as a whole. The characters’ names seem highly symbolic of their roles. Elimelech, “My God is King,” suggests the period before human kings ruled Israel—the time of the judges in which the story is set. The epilogue ends with the human king par excellence, King David. Mahlon and Chilion mean “Sickness” and “Spent” Orpah, “Back of the Neck,” turns her back to Naomi. Naomi, whose name means “Pleasant,” calls herself Mara, “Bitter,” when she re turns bereaved and impoverished to Bethlehem. Ruth has been interpreted as deriving from the word meaning “Friend, Companion,” and Boaz from two words meaning “In Him is Strength.” But the apparent simplicity of the plot and characters belie the seriousness of the book’s themes.
Major Themes
ACCORDING TO RABBINIC TRADITION, the main theme is chesed (Hebrew), loyalty or faithful ness arising from commitment. Chesed may pertain between God and a human community and between members of a family or community. The main characters, Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, all manifest acts of chesed. Naomi shows concern for the welfare of her widowed daughters-in-law, especially Ruth, although technically she has no obligation toward them. Ruth’s chesed in cleaving to Naomi goes beyond all expectation, and her seeking marriage with Boaz, the family protector, underlines her loyalty to the family. Boaz too acts with chesed when he accepts the double responsibility of land purchase and marriage, thereby preserving the lineage and inheritance of a family that were almost lost.
The idea of family continuity, which motivates all the characters and is present in all the acts of chesed, is clearly central to the story. Moreover, the continuity is achieved largely by women. In this Ruth echoes the stories of the matriarchs and the story of Judah and Tamar (Gen 38); it is no accident that Boaz is blessed with the words, “May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel…. May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah” (4.11–12). But the book of Ruth goes even further, for here the family is preserved not by the wives of patriarchs, but by an elderly widow and her non-Israelite daughter-in-law.
The preservation and continuity of the family is closely related to the preservation and continuity of the nation (cf. Ex 1–2, where the fertility and quick action of women ensure the survival and growth of Israel). Although the plot does not operate on the national level, the ending of the epilogue with the name of David suggests that a royal or national interest may lie below the surface. The Judean elements of the story are strong: a Judean family from Bethlehem; the mention of Judah, Perez, and Tamar; and the genealogy of David. To some readers this suggests that the book may have been intended as a glorification of David through a glorification of his ancestors or perhaps as a kind of “prologue” to the royal dynasty that began with David and remained so crucial in the history of the kingdom of Judah. Others see the main theme as the continuity of the nation, an extension of the idea of family continuity. The Judeans, like the family of Naomi, returned from exile and rebuilt their community.
Literary scholars have observed the theme of emptiness and fullness as it plays out on both the agricultural level, from famine to harvest (both are important settings motivating the action), and the personal level, from Naomi’s loss of family to her acquiring a new family through Ruth and Boaz and the birth of their son.
Date and Placement in the Bible
THE DETERMINATION OF THE MAIN THEME or message cannot be separated from the dating of the book, but its date is difficult to ascertain. Basing their assertions on linguistic criteria, some modern scholars place it between 950 and 700 BCE, that is, between the time of David (it could not be earlier) and the end of the Northern Kingdom, Israel (722 BCE). It would then be the product of the cultural flourishing of the United Monarchy or a glorification of the Judean dynasty during the Divided Monarchy. More recent opinions, taking account of certain late linguistic features, especially Aramaisms, date the book to the exilic or postexilic period. Concern with national continuity and the preservation of the Davidic dynasty would naturally have been high when Judah lost its political autonomy and the existence of its community was in danger. The postexilic period saw the rise of short fictional works, like the books of Jonah and Esther, and it seems appropriate to place Ruth among these books. Earlier generations of scholars, who also placed the writing of the book after the exile, thought it was a polemic against the prohibition on taking foreign wives that was a keystone of Ezra’s policy. This explanation does not appear so compelling today.
In Christian Bibles, which derive their order from the Septuagint and Vulgate, the book of Ruth is found after Judges, for the story is set in the period of the judges. The placement is thus a chronological one, according to the time of the events of the story. The placement in Jewish Bibles is liturgical; Ruth is located in the Writings, among the Five Scrolls, each of which is read publicly on a specific festival or day of commemoration. Ruth is associated with the festival of Shavuoth, “Weeks,” or Pentecost, which marks the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. [ADELE BERLIN]
RUTH 1
Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab
1In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Her Moabite Daughters-in-Law
6Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had considered his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9The LORD grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 10They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned again
st me.” 14Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 113
