Suci 21
Biblija: suvremeni hrvatski prijevod
Otmica žena za Benjaminovce
21 Kad su Izraelci bili u gradu Mispi, zakleli su se: »Nitko od nas neće udati svoju kćer za Benjaminovca.«
2 Nakon toga su otišli u Betel. Sjedili su ondje pred Bogom do večeri, glasno naričući i gorko plačući.
3 »O, BOŽE Izraelov«, govorili su, »zašto se nešto ovako strašno moralo dogoditi? Zašto je jedno čitavo izraelsko pleme trebalo nestati?«
4 Sutradan su rano ujutro ljudi ustali i ondje napravili žrtvenik. Na njemu su prinijeli žrtve paljenice i slavljenice.
5 Potom su Izraelci pitali: »Koje Izraelovo pleme nije došlo na skup pred BOGOM?« Bili su se, naime, čvrsto zakleli da će svatko tko ne dođe na skup u Mispu biti pogubljen.
6 No Izraelcima je bilo žao njihove braće Benjaminovaca.
»Danas je jedno pleme odsječeno od Izraela«, rekli su. 7 »Zakleli smo se BOGOM da nećemo davati svoje kćeri Benjaminovcima za žene. Kako ćemo onda pronaći žene za preostale Benjaminovce?«
8 Pitali su se: »Koje Izraelovo pleme nije došlo pred BOGA u Mispu?«
Pokazalo se da na skup plemena nije došao nitko iz grada Jabeš u Gileadu. 9 Kad se vršilo prebrojavanje, vidjelo se da nema ni jednog stanovnika odande.
10 Zato je zajednica poslala onamo dvanaest tisuća najhrabrijih ratnika. Bilo im je zapovjeđeno: »Idite u Jabeš u Gileadu i pobijte mačevima stanovnike grada, uključujući žene i djecu. 11 Ubijte svakog muškarca i svaku ženu koja je spavala s muškarcem, a djevice ostavite na životu.«
12 Među stanovnicima Jabeša u Gileadu pronašli su četiristo mladih žena koje nisu spavale s muškarcem. Doveli su ih u tabor kod grada Šila, u zemlji Kanaan. 13 Tada je cijela zajednica poručila Benjaminovcima, koji su bili na Rimonskoj stijeni, da proglašavaju mir s njima. 14 Benjaminovci su se tada vratili. Izraelci su im predali žene kojima je pošteđen život u pokolju u Jabešu u Gileadu. No nije ih bilo dovoljno za sve.
15 Izraelcima je bilo žao Benjaminovog plemena jer ih je BOG odcijepio od drugih izraelskih plemena.
16 Starješine zajednice su se pitali: »Žene iz Benjaminovog plemena pobijene su. Gdje da nađemo žene za preostale Benjaminovce? 17 Preživjelim Benjaminovcima treba osigurati nasljednike da pleme ne bi izumrlo. 18 Svoje im kćeri ne možemo i dati za žene jer smo se zakleli: ‘Proklet bio onaj tko Benjaminovcu dâ ženu.’ 19 No svake godine u Šilu održava se svetkovina u čast BOGU. Taj grad nalazi se sjeverno od grada Betela, istočno od puta koji vodi iz Betela u Šekem, te južno od grada Lebone.«
20 Zato su zapovjedili Benjaminovcima: »Idite i sakrijte se u vinogradima. 21 Odande gledajte kad će djevojke iz Šila izaći na ples. Iskočite iz vinograda i svatko neka sebi ugrabi ženu od djevojaka iz Šila. Zatim se s njima vratite u Benjaminovu zemlju. 22 Kad njihovi očevi ili braća dođu kod nas žaliti se, reći ćemo im: ‘Budite ljubazni i ostavite im djevojke za žene. Tijekom rata nismo uspjeli za svakog od njih pribaviti ženu. Vi niste krivi za kršenje zakletve jer svoje kćeri niste dali svojevoljno.’«
23 Benjaminovci su učinili kako im je rečeno. Svaki je sebi ugrabio jednu od djevojaka koje su plesale. Potom su se vratili u svoju zemlju, obnovili gradove i nastanili se ondje. 24 Tada su se Izraelci razišli. Svaki se čovjek vratio u svoje pleme, u svoj rod, na svoju zemlju.
25 U to vrijeme nije bilo kralja u Izraelu pa je svatko činio što je mislio da je ispravno.
Judges 21
Expanded Bible
Wives for the Men of Benjamin
21 At Mizpah the men of Israel had sworn, “Not one of us will let his daughter marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin.”
2 The people went to the city of Bethel and sat before God until evening, ·crying loudly [L lifting their voices weeping greatly]. 3 They said, “Lord, God of Israel, why has this terrible thing happened to us so that one tribe ·of Israel is missing [has disappeared from Israel] today?”
4 Early the next day the people built an altar and put burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1] to God on it.
5 Then the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] asked, “Did any tribe of Israel not ·come here to meet [assemble] with us ·in the presence of [before] the Lord?” They asked this question because they had ·sworn [taken a solemn oath] that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah would be ·killed [put to death].
6 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] felt sorry for ·their relatives, the Benjaminites [L Benjamin, their brother]. They said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 We swore before the Lord that we would not ·allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite [give our daughters to them for wives]. How can we make sure that the remaining men of Benjamin will have wives?” 8 Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel did not ·meet with us [assemble] ·in the presence of [before] the Lord at Mizpah?” ·They found that [L And look/T behold] no one from the city of Jabesh Gilead had come. 9 The people of Israel counted everyone, but there was no one from Jabesh Gilead.
10 So the ·whole group of Israelites [assembly; congregation] sent twelve thousand ·soldiers [L men, sons of strength] to Jabesh Gilead to kill the people with ·their swords [the edge of the sword], even the women and children.
11 “This is what you must do: Kill every man in Jabesh Gilead and every ·married woman [L woman who has known the bed of a male].”[a] 12 The soldiers found four hundred young ·unmarried women [virgins; Num. 31:17–18] among the residents of Jabesh Gilead, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole ·group of Israelites [assembly; congregation] sent a message to the ·men [L sons; descendants] of Benjamin, who were at the rock of Rimmon, ·offering to make peace with [L calling/proclaiming peace to] them. 14 So the men of Benjamin came back at that time. The Israelites gave them the women from Jabesh Gilead who had ·not been killed [been spared/kept alive], but there were not enough women.
15 The people of Israel ·felt sorry [had compassion; grieved] for the Benjaminites because the Lord had ·separated [made a gap/breach in] the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the ·Israelites [L assembly; congregation] said, “The women of Benjamin have been ·killed [destroyed; wiped out]. ·Where can we get wives [L What shall we do] for the men of Benjamin who are still alive? 17 ·These men must have children to continue their families [L The survivors of Benjamin must have heirs/an inheritance] so a tribe in Israel will not ·die [be wiped/blotted] out. 18 But we cannot allow our daughters to marry them, because ·we swore [L the sons/T children of Israel had sworn], ‘Anyone who gives a wife to ·a man of Benjamin [L Benjamin] is cursed.’ 19 ·We have an idea [L Look; T Behold]! There is a yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of the city of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of the city of Lebonah.”
20 So ·the elders [L they] told the men of Benjamin, “Go and ·hide [lie in wait/ambush] in the vineyards. 21 Watch for the young women from Shiloh to come out to join the dancing. Then run out from the vineyards and ·take [seize; catch] ·one of the young Shiloh women [L each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh] and return to the land of Benjamin. 22 ·If [or When] their fathers or brothers come to us and complain, we will say: ‘·Be kind to the men of Benjamin [or Do us a favor], because we did not get wives for Benjamin during the war. And you are not guilty [C of breaking your oath; v. 18] because you did not [C voluntarily] give the women to the men from Benjamin.’”
23 So that is what the ·Benjaminites [L sons/descendants of Benjamin] did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them [L according to their number], ·took her away, and married her [L and carried her off]. Then they went back to ·the land God had given them [their inheritance] and rebuilt their cities and lived there.
24 Then the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] went home to their own tribes and ·family groups [clans], to their own ·land that God had given them [inheritance].
25 In those days Israel did not have a king. All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes [17:6; 18:1; 19:1].
Footnotes
- Judges 21:11 married woman Greek copies continue “But spare any who are virgins. This they did.”
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