1. Judges 21:19 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What do we know about this feast?

Judges 21:19 (ESV)

19 So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

We do not know much about this particular feast. It is a yearly feast, which could make it one of the three festivals mentioned in the Law, in Exodus 23:14–19 and Deuteronomy 16:1–17. The only detail we have about this feast, that there is dancing in the vineyards, does not give any link with the three annual festivals. At most we could possibly link the feast to the vintage festival associated with Baal-berith at Shechem, 19 kilometres (12 miles) further north from Shiloh (Judges 9:26–27).1 But by no means can we be certain.