Judges 21:4

Judges 21:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
• New International Version (NIV)Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Context of Judges 21:4

2After the war against Benjamin's army, the people went to Bethel to meet with God. They sat there until evening. They could not stop weeping loudly. 3They said, ‘Lord, Israel's God, why has this terrible thing happened in Israel? We have lost one whole tribe of Israel.’ The next morning, the people got up early. They built an altar. They offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord there. 5Then the Israelites asked, ‘Which people from Israel's tribes did not join us when we all met together at Mizpah?’ They asked this because they had made a serious promise at Mizpah. They had said, ‘We must punish with death anyone who does not join us here to meet with the Lord.’ 6The Israelites were very upset about what had happened to Benjamin's tribe. They said, ‘We have destroyed a whole tribe of Israel. They were our relatives.

Judges 21:4 word by word

וַֽיְהִי֙ מִֽמָּחֳרָ֔ת וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣ימוּ הָעָ֔ם וַיִּבְנוּ־שָׁ֖ם מִזְבֵּ֑חַ וַיַּעֲל֥וּ עֹל֖וֹת וּשְׁלָמִֽים׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And it came to pass on the morrowמׇחֳרָתmochŏrâth mochŏrâthâm · morrowH4283
• that the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• rose earlyשָׁכַםshâkam · to riseH7925
• and builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• there an altarמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• and offeredעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: offer upH5927
• burnt offeringsעֹלָה‛ôlâh ‛ôlâh · burnt offeringH5930
• and peace offeringsשֶׁ֫לֶםshelem · peace offeringH8002

Cross-references for Judges 21:4

• Psalms 78:34When God killed some of them, the other people turned to God. They were sorry and they prayed to him.
• Hosea 5:15Then I will return to my place. I will leave them to receive their full punishment. When they have suffered enough, they will turn back to me. They will want to serve me again.’
• Judges 6:26Then build an altar in their place to give honour to the Lord your God. Build it in the proper way, on top of that hill. Then use the wood from the Asherah pole to burn the second bull as a burnt offering to me.’
• Exodus 20:24Instead, use earth to make an altar for me. You must offer sacrifices to me on the altar. You may take your sheep, your goats or your cows to make burnt offerings or friendship offerings or other sacrifices to me. Make an altar like this in any place that I choose for you to worship me. In those places, I will come to you and I will bless you.
• 2 Samuel 24:18That day, Gad went to David. He said to David, ‘Go up to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Build an altar there to worship the Lord.’
• 1 Kings 8:64On the same day, the king gave to the Lord the yard that was in front of the temple. King Solomon offered burnt offerings and grain offerings to the Lord. He also offered the fat from the friendship offerings. The bronze altar in front of the temple was too small to contain all these offerings. So Solomon made these sacrifices in the middle of the yard instead.
• Hebrews 13:10Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that saves us. Jewish priests do not have the authority to receive anything from his sacrifice.

Commentaries on Judges 21:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Built there an altar - This affords some evidence that this was not a regular place of worship, else an altar would have been found in the place; and their act was not according to the law, as may be seen in several places of the Pentateuch. But there was neither king nor law among them, and they did whatever appeared right in their own eyes.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4It is not certain whether the brass altar was at Bethel at this time, or whether it may not have been elsewhere, e. g., at Shiloh with the tabernacle. Some, however, think that the altar here mentioned was “additional” to the brass altar, in consequence of the unusual number of sacrifices caused by the presence of the whole congregation (compare 1 Kings 8:64 note).Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-25These two epilogues (Judges 17–18 and 19–21) show that inspired but unstructured leadership cannot last. As society moved toward chaos and civil war, the phrase, In those days there was no king in Israel appears four times. The phrase, everyone did what was right in his own eyes is added twice (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The era of inspired leadership declined and ended in disorder. Something important was missing.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-152-5. the people came to the house of God, ... and lifted up their voices, and wept sore--The characteristic fickleness of the Israelites was not long in being displayed; for scarcely had they cooled from the fierceness of their sanguinary vengeance, than they began to relent and rushed to the opposite extreme of self-accusation and grief at the desolation which their impetuous zeal had produced. Their victory saddened and humbled them. Their feelings on…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 21:4

• Nation
• Rashness

In the dictionaries

• Peace offerings
• JabeshGilead
• Spring
• Wolf
• Israel, History of
• Jabesh-Gilead
• Judges, Book of
• Judges, Period of
• Bethel

Commentaries on Judges 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary