Israel Secures Survival of Tribe Benjamin

Smoke clears from the destroyed towns of the central hills in the late twelfth century b.c. Eleven tribes gather at the assembly at Mizpah to assess the massive death toll. Only six hundred Benjamite men remain alive in the limestone caves at Rimmon. The tribal leaders suddenly realize an entire ancestral line faces total extinction.

The military camp soon moves out toward Jabesh-gilead across the Jordan River. This isolated settlement sits roughly forty miles away from the main assembly. Soldiers strike the town to secure four hundred young women for the surviving men. They march these captives back across the dry scrub of the rift valley. The elders still need two hundred more wives to restore the depleted tribe.

Shiloh rests in a sheltered valley surrounded by terraced vineyards and rock walls. The town holds an annual harvest festival honoring the God of Israel. Young local women dance in the open spaces between the heavy grape vines. Benjamite men hide quietly among the thick leaves waiting for the celebration. They rush out to capture two hundred dancers to take as their wives.

In those days there was no king ruling over the nation of Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes.

The bitter tribal conflict finally concludes with the men returning to their own lands. They rebuild their ruined stone houses and plant new fields of winter wheat. The nation survives this internal slaughter without any central government to guide them. A deep need for stable leadership grows across the scattered farming communities.