21:1 The people bewail the desolation of Benjamin;
21:8 By the destruction of Jabesh-gilead they provide them four hundred wives;
21:16 They advise the remainder to surprise the virgins that danced at Shiloh. Verse 1had swornJudges 20:1, 20:8, 20:10; Jeremiah 4:2 ThereJudges 21:5, 11:30, 11:31; 1 Samuel 14:24, 14:28, 14:29; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Mark 6:23; Acts 23:12; Romans 10:2 his daughterExodus 34:12-16; Deuteronomy 7:2, 7:3ReciprocalJudges 11:35 - I cannot; 21:7 - sworn; 21:18 - sworn; 21:22 - give unto; Jeremiah 40:6 - Mizpah; Matthew 14:9 - the oath's Verse 2the houseJudges 21:12, 20:18, 20:23, 20:26; Joshua 18:1 liftedJudges 2:4; Genesis 27:38; 1 Samuel 30:4ReciprocalNumbers 11:18 - ye have wept; Joshua 7:6 - until the eventide; 1 Samuel 1:10 - wept sore; 11:4 - lifted up Verse 3why isDeuteronomy 29:24; Joshua 7:7-9; Psalm 74:1, 80:12; Proverbs 19:3; Isaiah 63:17; Jeremiah 12:1ReciprocalJudges 17:6 - no king Verse 4rose earlyPsalm 78:34, 78:35; Hosea 5:15 built thereJudges 6:26; Exodus 20:24, 20:25; 2 Samuel 24:18, 24:25; 1 Kings 8:64; Habakkuk 3:1ReciprocalLeviticus 3:1 - a sacrifice; Judges 6:24 - built; 1 Samuel 6:14 - offered; 14:35 - built; 1 Kings 18:32 - And with Verse 5a great oathJudges 21:1, 21:18, 5:23; Leviticus 27:28, 27:29; 1 Samuel 11:7; Jeremiah 48:10ReciprocalJoshua 11:3 - land; 15:38 - Mizpeh; Judges 20:1 - Then all; 20:8 - We will not; 21:10 - Go and smite; 1 Samuel 7:17 - he built; Ezra 10:8 - And that whosoever Verse 6repented themJudges 21:15, 11:35, 20:23; 2 Samuel 2:26; Hosea 11:8; Luke 19:41, 19:42ReciprocalPsalm 68:27 - little Verse 7swornJudges 21:1, 21:18; 1 Samuel 14:28, 14:29, 14:45ReciprocalLeviticus 5:4 - to do evil; Judges 21:22 - give unto; Matthew 14:9 - the oath's Verse 8JabeshgileadThis place, as its name imports, was situated in Gilead, east of Jordan. Eusebius and Jerome say it was a great town in their time, standing upon a hill, six miles south from Pella, in the way to Geresa, now Djerash. The Wady Yabes, mentioned by Burckhardt, which empties itself into the Jordan, in the neighbourhood of Bisan or Beth-shan - see note on 1 Samuel 31:11
and upon which Pella was situated - celebrated by Pliny, 1. v. c. 18, for its fine waters
seems to have taken its name from Jabesh. Near this spot, we must therefore look for its site; and the place called Kalaat Rabbad seems to correspond, very nearly, to the spot; though it probably still retains among the Arabs its ancient name. 11:1-3, 31:11-13; 2 Samuel 2:5, 2:6ReciprocalNumbers 21:24 - Israel; Joshua 11:3 - land Verse 9ReciprocalJudges 5:23 - they came Verse 10Go and smiteAs they had sworn to destroy those who would not assist in the war - Judges 21:5
they determined to destroy the men of Jabesh, and to leave none except the virgins; and to give these to the 600; Benjamites who had escaped to the rock of Rimmon. The whole account is dreadful. The crime of the men of Gibeah was of the deepest dye; the punishment involving both the guilty and innocent, was extended to the most criminal excess, and their mode of remedying the evil they had occasioned was equally abominable. 21:5, 5:23; Deuteronomy 13:15; Joshua 7:24; 1 Samuel 11:7, 15:3

Verse 11every maleNumbers 31:17, 31:18; Deuteronomy 2:34 hath lain by manHeb. knoweth the lying with manReciprocalLeviticus 27:28 - no devoted; Numbers 31:7 - all; Jeremiah 44:7 - to cut Verse 12virginsHeb. womenvirginsShiloh, Judges 20:18, 20:23; Joshua 18:1; Psalm 78:60; Jeremiah 7:12ReciprocalNumbers 31:17 - kill every male; Judges 21:2 - the house; 21:14 - sufficed them not; Jeremiah 7:5 - if ye thoroughly Verse 13to speakHeb. and spake and calledthe rock RimmonJudges 20:47; Joshua 15:32 call peaceablyor, proclaim peace, Deuteronomy 20:10; Isaiah 57:19; Luke 10:5; Ephesians 2:17ReciprocalZechariah 14:10 - Rimmon Verse 14sufficed them notJudges 21:12, 20:47; 1 Corinthians 7:2ReciprocalJudges 21:22 - each man Verse 15repentedJudges 21:6, 21:17 a breach1 Chronicles 13:11, 15:13; Isaiah 30:13, 58:12

Verse 17an inheritanceNumbers 26:55, 36:7ReciprocalJudges 21:15 - repented Verse 18swornJudges 21:1, 11:35ReciprocalLeviticus 5:4 - to do evil; 27:28 - no devoted; Judges 21:5 - a great oath; 21:7 - sworn; 21:22 - give unto; Matthew 26:74 - began Verse 19a feastExodus 23:14-16; Leviticus 23:2, 23:4, 23:6, 23:10, 23:34; Numbers 10:10, 28:16, 28:26, 29:12; Deuteronomy 16:1, 16:10, 16:13; Psalm 81:3; John 5:1, 7:2 yearlyHeb. from year to yearon the east sideor, toward the sun risingof the highwayor, onLebonahMaundrell supposes, that either Khan Leban, which is situated on the eastern side of a "delicious vale," four leagues south from Shechem, and two leagues north from Bethel, or the village of Leban, which is on the opposite side, occupies the site of the ancient Lebonah. It is eight hours, or about 24 miles, from Jerusalem, according to Dr. Richardson.ReciprocalJoshua 18:1 - Shiloh; 19:51 - in Shiloh; 2 Samuel 20:13 - the highway Verse 21danceJudges 11:34; Exodus 15:20; 1 Samuel 18:6; 2 Samuel 6:14, 6:21; Psalm 149:3, 150:4; Ecclesiastes 3:4; Jeremiah 31:13; Matthew 10:17; Luke 17:25ReciprocalJoshua 19:51 - in Shiloh; Judges 18:31 - all the time Verse 22Be favourable unto themor, Gratify us in them, Philemon 1:9-12 each manJudges 21:14; Genesis 1:27, 7:13; Mark 10:6-8; 1 Corinthians 7:2 give untoJudges 21:1, 21:7, 21:18; Proverbs 20:25

Verse 23and they wentIt appears that the Benjamites acted in the most honourable way to the women they had thus violently carried off, and we may rest assured, that they took them to an inheritance more than equal to their own. But this transaction, as well as the indiscriminate massacre of the people of Jabesh-gilead, as Dr. Gray observes, was certainly stamped with injustice and cruelty; and must be condemned on those principles which the Scriptures elsewhere furnish.repairedJudges 20:48

Verse 24Reciprocal1 Kings 22:36 - Every man Verse 25noJudges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1 right18:7; Deuteronomy 12:8; Psalm 12:4; Proverbs 3:5, 14:12; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Micah 2:1, 2:2 ReciprocalHosea 9:9 - Gibeah