Judges 21
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Brides for Benjamin
21 The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”(A) 2 So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God(B) until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, 3 and cried out, “Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurred[a] that one tribe is missing in Israel today?” 4 The next day the people got up early, built an altar there,(C) and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5 The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord with the assembly?” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.
6 But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, “Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives.” 8 They asked, “Which city among the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord at Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. 9 For when the people were counted, no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.
10 The congregation sent 12,000 brave warriors[b] there and commanded them: “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword,(D) including women and children. 11 This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept with a man.” 12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young women, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 The whole congregation sent a message of peace(E) to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon. 14 Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them.
15 The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.” 19 They also said, “Look, there’s an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh,(F) which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 Then they commanded the Benjaminites: “Go and hide in the vineyards. 21 Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances,(G) each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn’t actually give the women to them, so[c] you are not guilty of breaking your oath.’”
23 The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities,(H) and lived in them. 24 At that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and family. Each returned from there to his own inheritance.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel;(I) everyone did whatever he wanted.[d]
Footnotes
- Judges 21:3 Lit has this occurred in Israel
- Judges 21:10 Lit 12,000 of their sons of valor
- Judges 21:22 Lit at this time
- Judges 21:25 Lit did what was right in his eyes
Judges 21
International Standard Version
The Israelis Mourn the Tribe of Benjamin
21 Now the people of Israel had taken a vow in Mizpah that went like this: “Not even one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a descendant of Benjamin!” 2 So the people went to Bethel, sat before God until dusk, where they cried out loud and wept bitterly. 3 “Why, Lord God of Israel,” they asked him, “is one tribe missing[a] from Israel?”
4 The next day, the people got up early, built an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 The Israelis asked themselves, “Who didn’t come up in our assembly in the Lord’s presence from among all of the tribes of Israel?” They had taken a solemn oath concerning those who didn’t come up to meet with the Lord at Mizpah that “They will certainly be executed.”
6 But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, “One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today! 7 What can we do to find wives for the survivors who remain, since we’ve already taken an oath in the Lord’s presence not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?”
The Israelis Attempt to Mitigate Their Disaster
8 They asked, “What one group of the tribes of Israel didn’t come up to meet the Lord at Mizpah?” It turned out that no one had come to the encampment from Jabesh-gilead, 9 since when they took a census of the assembly, not even one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was in attendance. 10 So the congregation sent out 12,000 of their valiant soldiers, issuing these orders to them: “Go and attack the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with swords, including the women and little ones. 11 You’re to completely destroy every man and every married woman.”[b]
12 They discovered among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who hadn’t had sex with a man, and they brought them to the encampment at Shiloh in the territory of Canaan. 13 Then the entire congregation sent for the surviving[c] descendants of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon and assured them that their intentions toward them were peaceful.[d] 14 So the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin[e] returned at that time, and the Israelis[f] gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the raid on[g] Jabesh-gilead. Even so, there weren’t enough for them.
15 The people felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin because the Lord had broken one of the tribes of Israel. 16 So the elders of the congregation asked, “What will we do to obtain wives for the survivors, since the women of Benjamin have been devastated?” 17 They continued, “Let’s make sure that there’s an inheritance for the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin, so that a tribe won’t be blotted out from Israel. 18 But we can’t give them wives from our own daughters, since we’ve[h] taken this vow: ‘May the Lord curse[i] anyone who gives his daughter as[j] a wife to the tribe of Benjamin!’”
19 So they concluded, “Look, there’s a festival to the Lord every year in Shiloh on the north side of Bethel, south of Lebonah and on the east side of the highway that runs from Bethel to Shechem…” 20 So they told the descendants of Benjamin, “Go and hide in the vineyards. 21 Watch when the unmarried women[k] from Shiloh come out to participate in the dances. Then come out of the vineyards and each of you grab a wife from the unmarried women[l] from Shiloh. Then go back home to the territory of Benjamin. 22 If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we’ll tell them ‘Be generous! Give them to us voluntarily, because we didn’t take anyone to be a wife for the men of the tribe of Benjamin[m] as a result of the battle. And you haven’t incurred guilt by giving your daughters to them.’”
23 So the descendants of Benjamin did all of this: they chose and carried away just enough wives from those who danced to meet the number needed, then they left to return to their inheritance, to rebuild their cities, and to live there. 24 The Israelis left there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each of them went down from there to his territorial allotment.
25 Back in those days, Israel didn’t yet have a king, so each person did whatever seemed right in his own opinion.
Footnotes
- Judges 21:3 The Heb. lacks missing
- Judges 21:11 Lit. woman who has had sexual relations with a man
- Judges 21:13 The Heb. lacks surviving
- Judges 21:13 Lit. and proclaimed peace
- Judges 21:14 The Heb. lacks the survivors of the tribe of
- Judges 21:14 Lit. and they
- Judges 21:14 Lit. the women of
- Judges 21:18 Lit. since the Israelis had
- Judges 21:18 Lit. vow: ‘Cursed be
- Judges 21:18 The Heb. lacks his daughter as
- Judges 21:21 Lit. the daughters
- Judges 21:21 Lit. the daughters
- Judges 21:22 The Heb. lacks of the tribe of Benjamin
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