Matthew Henry????? That man lived like 359 years ago. People back then still believed the Sun revolved around the earth.
But let’s continue anyway; Quote;
Notice given to the tribe of Benjamin of this meeting v.3 They heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpeh.-----------------------”PROBABLY” -------- they had legal summons sent to them to appear with their brethren, that the cause might be fairly debated, before resolutions were taken upon it.
Oh there’s that favorite word “Probably” that the Watchtower loves to revel in. Other words used by WT, (“more than likely, it seems, we can assume, etc.,”)
Instead of assuming, and saying PROBABLY, let’s see what exactly the bible says;
(Judges 20:1-3) Consequently all the sons of Israel went out and the assembly congregated themselves as one man, from Dan down to Be′er-she′ba along with the land of Gil′e·ad, to Jehovah at Miz′pah.
2So the keymen of all the people and all the tribes of Israel took their station in the congregation of the people of the [true] God, four hundred thousand men on foot who drew the sword. 3And the sons of Benjamin got to hear that the sons of Israel had gone up to Miz′pah..
That's it.
There is no mention in the Bible that a legal summons was sent to the tribe of Benjamin. PROBABLY IS AN ASSUMPTION BY Matthew Henry. No different than the Governing Body making an assumption that there will be NEW SCROLLS during the 1000 year reign of Christ.
The law given to Moses had already set detailed instructions on what EACH TRIBE had to do in cases of crimes like this one, which might occurred in their particular TRIBE.
God’s arrangement was that each tribe had a group of Older men that were qualified to judge these kinds of cases.
No tribal Judge could go out of his jurisdiction to another tribe and judge there. Each Tribe had their own Judges that would render justice to their own clan. No different than today around the world.
(Deuteronomy 16:18) You should appoint judges and officers FOR EACH TRIBE in all the cities that Jehovah your God is giving you, and they must judge the people with righteous judgment.
Any infraction against the law of Moses was judged by the LOCAL OLDER MEN OF THE PARTICULAR CITY WHERE THE LAW-BREAKER LIVED
(Deuteronomy 21:18-20) “In case a man happens to have a son who is stubborn and rebellious, he not listening to the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and they have corrected him but he will not listen to them, 19his father and his mother must also take hold of him and bring him out TO THE OLDER MEN OF HIS CITY and to the gate of his place, and they must say to the older men of his city,This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he is not listening to our voice, being a glutton and a drunkard
Notice is says----HIS CITY----THAT IS THE LAWBREAKER'S CITY!
Even if there was a horrendous murder and the body was found, but no evidence of who committed the murder, there was still instructions on how to handle it.
(Deuteronomy 21:1-9) .“In case someone is found slain on the ground that Jehovah your God is giving you to take possession of it, fallen on the field, and it has not become known who struck him fatally, 2your older men and your judges must also go out and measure to the cities that are all around the slain one; 3
AND IT MUST PROVE TO BE THE CITY NEAREST TO THE SLAIN ONE. AND THE OLDER MEN OF THAT CITY NEAREST THE SLAIN ONE. AND THE OLDER MEN OF THAT CITY
must take a young cow of the herd that has not been worked with, that has not pulled in a yoke; 4and the older men of that city must lead the young cow down to a torrent valley running with water in which there was customarily no tilling or sowing of seed, and they must break the neck of the young cow there in the torrent valley…...
6Then ALL THE OLDER MEN OF THAT CITY who are nearest to the slain one should wash their hands over the young cow, the neck of which was broken in the torrent valley; 7 and they must answer and say, ‘
Our hands did not shed this blood, neither did our eyes see [it shed]. 8Do not set it to the account of your people Israel, whom you redeemed, O Jehovah, and do not put the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.’ And the bloodguilt must not be set to their account. 9And you—you will clear away the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, because you will do what is right in Jehovah’s eyes.
Instead, what the bible really reads regarding the account of the rape and the war that followd, is this;
All the sons of Israel -----went out and the assembly congregated themselves as one man, from Dan down to Be′er-she′ba
This was a no-no. They should have followed the law of Moses and given the case to the Tribe of Benjamin and leave it at that. But instead they took it upon themselves to met out justice.
Still-----no excuse for an Almighty God to trick them into warfare thereby killing tons of innocent men, women, children, infants, and domestic animals. When all he had to do is just kill all the men involved in the rape.
And let’s not forget the hundreds of pubescent girls who were forced to have sex with old men under the guise of honorable marriage.
Honorable marriage is not the same thing as FORCED MARRIAGE of young children!
How is it possible that the same God who supposedly killed hundreds of millions of wicked people with a global flood, couldn't kill a small group of men an avert a war that took the lives of many well intention-ed men, and who knows exactly how many innocent mothers, fathers, daughters, and children.
And if for some reason God was to busy, why couldn't he of sent the same angel that killed 185,000 well armed, military trained, hard -core Assyrian solders in just one night?????????