The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.” – Judges 21:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 25, 2019): Judges 21

Gandalf, in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring,” says “Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” The comment is made about Gollum, the “Stoor Hobbit” of the River-folk, who became obsessed with the Ring, which he calls his “precious.” The conversation between Gandalf and Frodo is a conversation about justice, specifically if it might be just for Gollum to die. Gandalf replies that if Frodo is unable to give those who die deserving life their life back, then he should not be too eager to give death to those who deserve death. After all, even the very wise struggle with understanding all of the outcomes which life and death present to us.

In the wake of Israel’s first civil war, one tribe, that of Benjamin who was the lone member of the losing side of the war, stands on the brink of extinction. Complicating the dark future of the Benjaminites is an oath that the other tribes had made, refusing to give their daughters in marriage to the sons of Benjamin. It was this oath that made the extinction of the Tribe of Benjamin almost certain. There is no doubt that the sin of Gibeah was deeply wrong. And the city of Gibeah paid for their sin in a manner that was very similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, except that the destruction of Gibeah was at the hands of the other tribes of Israel rather than God. What is questioned is whether the tribe of Benjamin needed to suffer a similar fate to that of Gibeah. Their wrongdoing was not the lack of hospitality, rape, and murder that was evident in Gibeah. Benjamin’s wrongdoing is that they felt they needed to come to the defense of their brothers in Gibeah, even though Gibeah, at least in this case, stood in the wrong.

Justice, as Gandalf seemed to understand, is tricky. Justice means punishing those who do evil while protecting those who are innocent. But justice also means making sure that the punishment for evil is appropriate. Condemning someone to death for stealing a loaf of bread is as much against the idea of justice as whatever circumstances might have existed to cause the crime to be committed in the first place. And, in the mind of Gandalf, if we cannot enforce justice by giving life to those who did not deserve to die, then maybe we should not be too swift in delivering death to those that we might think deserve to suffer the end of their lives.

In the heat of the moment, the decision not to allow the daughters of Israel to intermarry with the sons of Benjamin might have seemed like justice. But even the wisest among us cannot see all of the ends of such a decision, and there is a great injustice in making the price to be paid for a crime higher than it really needs to be.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges 1