Judges 21
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 21
Ensuring a Future for Benjamin. 1 [a]The men of Israel took an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter in marriage to anyone from Benjamin.” 2 So the people went to Bethel and remained there before God until evening, raising their voices in bitter weeping.(A) 3 They said, “Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel that today one tribe of Israel should be lacking?” 4 Early the next day the people built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and communion offerings. 5 Then the Israelites asked, “Are there any among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord for the assembly?” For there was a solemn oath that anyone who did not go up to the Lord at Mizpah should be put to death.(B)
6 The Israelites were disconsolate over their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 What can we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” 8 And when they asked, “Is there one among the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord in Mizpah?” they found that none of the men of Jabesh-gilead had come to the encampment for the assembly. 9 A roll call of the people was taken, and none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead(C) was present. 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand warriors there with orders, “Go put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword. 11 This is what you are to do: Every male and every woman who has had relations with a male you shall put under the ban.”[b](D) 12 Finding among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgin women, who had not had relations with a man, they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan.(E) 13 Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites at the crag of Rimmon,(F) offering them peace. 14 [c]So Benjamin returned at that time, and they were given as wives the women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared; but these proved to be not enough for them.
15 The people had regrets about Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.(G) 16 The elders of the assembly said, “What shall we do for wives for the survivors? For the women of Benjamin have been annihilated.”(H) 17 They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give them any of our daughters in marriage.” For the Israelites had taken an oath, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin!” 19 Then they thought of the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh,(I) north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah. 20 And they instructed the Benjaminites, “Go and set an ambush in the vineyards. 21 When you see the women of Shiloh come out to join in the dances, come out of the vineyards and catch a wife for each of you from the women of Shiloh; then go on to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘Release them to us as a kindness, since we did not take a woman for every man in battle. Nor did you yourselves give your daughters to them, thus incurring guilt.’”[d]
23 The Benjaminites did this; they carried off wives for each of them from the dancers they had seized, and they went back each to his own heritage, where they rebuilt the cities and settled them. 24 At that time the Israelites dispersed from there for their own tribes and clans; they set out from there each to his own heritage.
25 [e]In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own sight.(J)
Footnotes
- 21:1–7 The victorious Israelites now become concerned about the survival of the tribe they have defeated. Despite the large number of Benjaminites killed in the final battle (20:46) and the general carnage that followed (20:48), there does not seem to be a shortage of men. The problem is rather a shortage of wives for the surviving men, the result of a previously unmentioned vow the Israelites took not to permit their daughters to marry Benjaminites.
- 21:11 Under the ban: see note on 1:17. In this case the sanction is imposed not because of the rules for the conquest of the promised land (cf. Dt 20:10–18) but because of the failure of the men of Jabesh-gilead to honor their oath and report for the assembly.
- 21:14 Very strong political ties existed between the people of Jabesh-gilead and the Benjaminites, especially those involving Saul, the Benjaminite king of Israel. See 1 Sm 11, where Saul rescues Jabesh from an Ammonite siege, and 1 Sm 31:11–13, where the people of Jabesh exert themselves to ensure that the bodies of Saul and his sons should receive honorable burial.
- 21:22 Release them…guilt: this verse is difficult. Evidently the elders intend to make two arguments in support of their request that the men of Shiloh release their claims on the abducted women. The first argument seems to be that an insufficient number of women were taken “in battle”—i.e., the raid on Jabesh-gilead—to provide “a woman for every man”—i.e., a wife for every Benjaminite. The second argument is that since the women have been kidnapped, the men of Shiloh will not be guilty of having violated the oath mentioned above in 21:1, 7, and 18.
- 21:25 See note on 17:6. This final editorial comment calls attention to the chaos that followed the Benjaminite civil war and the near anarchy that characterized the various efforts to meet the need for wives for the Benjaminites.
Judges 21
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 21
Preserving the Tribe of Benjamin. 1 The Israelites had sworn an oath at Mizpah saying, “None of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjaminite.” 2 The people went up to Bethel where they sat before God until the evening. They raised up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 They said, “O Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing from Israel?”
4 Early the next morning the people built an altar there and sacrificed burnt offerings and offered peace offerings. 5 The Israelites said, “Who from all of the tribes did not come up to the assembly of all of the tribes of Israel before the Lord?” (They had made a solemn oath that anyone who did not come before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.) 6 The Israelites grieved for Benjamin, their brother. They said, “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel. 7 How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn an oath to the Lord that we would not give them our daughters as their wives?”
8 Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes has not come to the Lord at Mizpah?” They found that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the assembly. 9 When they counted the people, they realized that none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead were there. 10 The assembly sent twelve thousand brave fighting men there, giving them the command, “Go and put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword, including women and children. 11 This is what you are to do. Wipe out every man and every woman who has slept with a man.” 12 They found four hundred young women who had never slept with a man among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. They brought them into the camp in Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan. 13 The whole assembly sent a message to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon, summoning them in peace. 14 The Benjaminites then returned and they were given wives from the women of Jabesh-gilead who had been kept alive. But there were not enough of them.
15 [a]The people grieved for Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders in the assembly said, “How are we going to provide wives for the rest of them? For the women of Benjamin have been annihilated.” 17 They said, “The Benjaminite survivors must have an inheritance, so that a tribe of Israel will not be blotted out. 18 We cannot give them our daughters as wives, for the Israelites have sworn an oath saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin!’ ” 19 They continued, “But look, there is an annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel and east of the road that runs from Bethel to Shechem and on to the south of Lebonah.” 20 They instructed the Benjaminites, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards and stay on watch. 21 When the young women of Shiloh come out dancing, rise up out of the vineyards and each man can seize a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh, and then return to Benjamin. 22 When their fathers and their brothers complain to us, we will say, ‘Please do us this favor, for we did not take a wife for each of them during the war. You are not guilty, for you did not really give your women to them.’ ”
23 This is what the Benjaminites did. Each man took a wife for himself from among the young women who were dancing. They then went and returned to their inheritance, rebuilding the cities and dwelling in them. 24 The Israelites then left that place and each man went to his own tribe, his own clan. Each man returned to his own inheritance. 25 In those days Israel had no king, and everyone did what in his own opinion he thought to be right.
Footnotes
- Judges 21:15 Despite their vow to withhold their women in marriage to the Benjaminite survivors, the Israelites seek a resolution to prevent the extinction of the tribe.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
