THE BOOK OF
JUDGES

Judges 21

1The people bewail the desolation of Benjamin, and seek to repair it. 8By the destruction of Jabesh-gilead they provide wives for four hundred of those who had taken shelter in the rock. 16The elders consult how to find wives for the remainder consistently with an oath that had been taken, and advise the Benjamites to carry off by surprise the virgins that danced at Shiloh.


1NOW the men of Israel had sworn in 1Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

1 See Judges 20 on verse 1.

2And the people came to 2the house of God, and abode there till even 3before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;

2 Or, Bethel.

3 See Judges 20 on verse 23.

3And said, O 4LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

4 Had they considered this before, and used their victory more moderately, they might easily have avoided all these troubles and grievances.

4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there 5an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 Understand, an extraordinary altar, besides the ordinary one, which was in the tent of the congregation; and this was done by reason of the great number of sacrifices of all the people. Compare 1 Kings 8:64.

5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation 6unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall 7surely be put to death.

6 See Judges 20 on verse 1.

7 Hebr. He shall dying be put to death, or, Dying he shall be made to die.

6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel 8this day.

8 Or, Should we this day cut off one tribe from Israel?

7How shall we do 9for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?

9 That is, in order that they may get wives and that the tribe may be preserved.

8¶And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from 10Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

10 Situated beyond the Jordan, where the same runs through the sea of Gennesaret, toward the east. See also 1 Sam. 11:1, 3, 9, etc.; 31:11, etc.

9For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.

10And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the 11valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.

11 Hebr. of the children or sons of valor or, of the army.

11And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly 12destroy everya male, and every woman that hath lain by man.

12 That is, exterminate, kill. See Deut. 2 on verse 34.

a Num. 31:17.

12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to 13Shiloh, 14which is in the land of 15Canaan.

13 See Joshua 18:1.

14 Or, the same (namely, camp) was, etc.

15 Beyond the Jordan toward the west, accounting from Gilead, this was situated on the other side Jordan toward the east.

13And the whole congregation 16sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rockb Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.

16 Hebr. send and spoke, etc. That is, they sent some, and by them did speak with them.

b Judges 20:47.

14And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives 17which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they 18sufficed them not.

17 The others being all exiled or killed, as was commanded in verse 10.

18 Hebr. they found not for them. See of this phrase, Num. 11 on verse 22; Joshua 17:16, etc.

15And the people 19repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

19 Because there seemed to be no means left to provide wives for the remainder.

16¶Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for 20them that remain, seeing 21the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

20 Meaning: the other, who were yet two hundred in number.

21 Hebr. the woman is destroyed.

17And they said, There must be an inheritance 22for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

22 Hebr. of the escaping, that is, of those who are escaped. The meaning is: Those who are escaped must keep the entire inheritance, which was allowed to the tribe of Benjamin, in the time of Joshua; no part thereof may be given to any other tribe. Now forasmuch as those who remain are few in number, therefore they ought to be provided of wives, that the tribe, being enlarged, may continue in existence, and may occupy and inhabit his inheritance. Other, Those that are escaped of Benjamin, must keep their possession; that no tribe, etc.

18Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

19Then they said, Behold, there is a 23feast of the LORD in Shiloh 24yearly in a place which is 25on the north side of 26Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

23 What kind of feast this was is uncertain. Some guess that it was the feast of tabernacles.

24 Hebr. from days to days, that is, from year to year; the meaning is: every year, or yearly. See this signification of the word days, Lev. 25:29, and the annotation there.

25 This is held by most expositors to be a description of the places where the people, coming up in great multitudes, from all quarters, were wont to spread, and entertain themselves, in regard that they had not enough room for that purpose in Shiloh. This description of the place was of use to the Benjamites, to make them heed the same, as follows.

26 Other, the house of God.

20Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;

21And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to 27dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and 28catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go 29to the land of Benjamin.

27 Or, to pipe with pipes, to flute with flutes.

28 Or, abduct, steal.

29 Unto the places, which they formerly inhabited, to build them up again. See verse 23.

22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, 30Be favourable unto them for our sakes: 31because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not 32give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.

30 The meaning is: Grant these Benjamites favorably, that we may favor them at this once; or (according to the opinion of some) Grant these daughters for this once, give, yield them out of mere favor; for the following reasons. Other, Be gracious unto them (these Benjamites) for our sakes, or, Have compassion on them for our sakes, have compassion on us for them.

31 That is, because we took no heed to reserve wives enough for all the remaining Benjamites, out of the inhabitants of the city of Jabesh in Gilead. See verses 11, 12. Thus they take upon themselves the guilt of having dealt inconsiderately and imprudently.

32 But they took them themselves, so that you are not in any wise guilty of the breach of the oath that you have made. See verses 1, 7, 18.

23And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the 33cities, and dwelt in them.

33 Which were burnt with fire, Judges 20:48.

24And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.

25Inc those days there was no 34king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own 35eyes.

c Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1.

34 See Judges 17 on verse 6.

35 That is, what seemed right to him, not what was right in the eyes of the Lord.