Which were numbered seven hundred chosen men— It is said in the 46th verse, that there fell of the Benjamites on the third day twenty-five thousand. In the 47th verse, that there remained from the slaughter six hundred, which number makes twenty-five thousand six hundred men; there remained therefore four hundred to make up the twenty-six thousand, besides the Gibeathites: we may suppose these men to have perished in the two battles of the first and second day; for the sacred history does not relate how many fell in the victorious army. For the phrase, left-handed, see the note on chap. Judges 3:15. The excellence of the Benjamites, noted in the next clause, has been remarkable in men of other countries, particularly in the men of the islands anciently called Baleares, where they were bred from children to hit a mark with a stone slung out of a sling, or else to lose their breakfast. See Strabo in Boch. Hieroz. pars 1: lib. 3 cap. 10 and Calmet on the place. This warlike disposition of the Benjamites was foretold, Genesis 49:27. We should just observe, that the men of Israel, in the embassy they sent, and the whole method of their proceedings, acted agreeably to the law of nature and nations, while the Benjamites shewed themselves extremely depraved, and most deficient in justice. But for more on this subject, we refer to Grotius de Bell. et Pace, lib. 2: cap. 21 sect. 4.
REFLECTIONS.—As wise men, who, not for revenge, but for the glory of God, desired the execution of the criminals; 1. They sent to their brethren of the tribe of Benjamin, to admonish them of the great wickedness that had been perpetrated among them, and to demand the delivery of the offenders, to put them to death. Note; (1.) We are bound to follow peace with all men, and must with reluctance have recourse to severer methods. (2.) If our traitor-sins are withheld, there can be no hopes of peace with God. (3.) It is cruelty to the community to spare those who, for atrocious crimes, are deserving of death.
2. The men of Benjamin reject their reasonable demand, thinking it beneath them to submit. They are, indeed, unequal in numbers, and more unequal in the badness of their cause; yet such confidence have they in the courage and dexterity of their slingers, that they dare meet their brethren in the field. Note; (1.) They who countenance others in their sins are justly reckoned alike criminal with them. (2.) Proud self-dependence is the ruin of the sinner's soul. (3.) They who draw the sword in a bad cause, may expect to see it bathed in their own blood.