שופטים, פרק כ״א, פסוק ד׳

Following a day of intense weeping over the near-destruction of the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gather to reflect on the crisis and search for a path forward. The nation sits down to deeply examine their own actions, attempting to uncover the root cause of the disaster and understand why God's anger had flared against them [מלבי״ם].

Their first collective action is to build an altar. This raises a practical question, as the location where they gathered already housed a permanent altar. The primary approach among commentators is that the people constructed a new, additional altar alongside the regular one standing in the Tabernacle. Building this specific altar served as a dedicated way to seek God and offer prayers in the direct aftermath of the tragedy and ruin caused by the civil war [רד״ק, רלב״ג].

Upon this new altar, the Israelites bring burnt offerings and peace offerings. These sacrifices are intended to find favor with God and restore peace between the nation and Him. Furthermore, the people hope to merit divine inspiration and guidance to help them secure wives for the surviving Benjamites, thereby preventing the complete extinction of the tribe [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Another perspective suggests that these offerings are brought to fulfill a prior vow made by the Israelites, who had promised to honor God in this way if He granted them victory over Benjamin [רלב״ג].

Looking closer at the specific types of sacrifices, the burnt offerings are presented as an expression of gratitude to God for ultimately delivering Benjamin into their hands. In contrast, the peace offerings are brought to establish a renewed peace with God, rooted in the nation's profound recognition of their own guilt. The Israelites understand that the devastating defeats they suffered during the initial battles of the war are a direct result of their own sins. Logically, a massive army of four hundred thousand Israelite men should have easily defeated twenty-six thousand Benjamite fighters, leading the people to realize that their early failures are a clear sign of divine judgment [אברבנאל].