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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it.

Context of Judges 21:4

2The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3“Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?” Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the Lord?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death. 6Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said.

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 78:34Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.
• Hosea 5:15Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face— in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”
• Judges 6:26Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”
• Exodus 20:24“ ‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.
• 2 Samuel 24:18On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
• 1 Kings 8:64On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
• Hebrews 13:10We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

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