Judges 21

Mourning Lost Tribe

1 Now the men of Israel ¹had sworn in Mizpah, saying, "None * of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage."

2 ²So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly *.

3 They said, "Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?"

4 It came about the next day that the people arose early and built ³an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 Then the sons of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?" For they had taken a great oath concerning him ⁴who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."

6 And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, "One tribe is cut off from Israel today.

7 "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have ⁵sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"

Provision for Their Survival

8 And they said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah?" And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead * to the assembly.

9 For when the people were numbered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead * was there.

10 And the congregation sent 12,000 * * of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, "Go and ⁶strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead * with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.

11 "This is the thing that you shall do: you ⁷shall utterly destroy every man and every woman who has lain * with a man."

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead * 400 * young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were ⁸at the rock of Rimmon, and ⁹proclaimed peace to them.

14 Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead *; yet they were not enough for them.

15 And the people were sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?"

17 They said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.

18 "But we cannot * give them wives of our daughters." For the sons of Israel ¹⁰had sworn, saying, "Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin."

19 So they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in ¹¹Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east * side * of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah."

20 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

21 and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to ¹²take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

22 "It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, 'Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, ¹³nor * did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.' "

23 The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and ¹⁴rebuilt the cities and lived in them.

24 The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance.

25 ¹⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 21 Commentary

Chapter 21

The Israelites lament for the Benjamites.

- Israel lamented for the Benjamites, and were perplexed by the oath they had taken, not to give their daughters to them in marriage. Men are more zealous to support their own authority than that of God. They would have acted better if they had repented of their rash oaths, brought sin-offerings, and sought forgiveness in the appointed way, rather than attempt to avoid the guilt of perjury by actions quite as wrong. That men can advise others to acts of treachery or violence, out of a sense of duty, forms a strong proof of the blindness of the human mind when left to itself, and of the fatal effects of a conscience under ignorance and error.

Cross References

• 1. Judges 21:7, 18
• 2. Judges 20:26
• 3. Deuteronomy 12:5; 2 Samuel 24:25
• 4. Judges 5:23
• 5. Judges 21:1
• 6. Numbers 31:17; Judges 5:23; 1 Samuel 11:7
• 7. Numbers 31:17
• 8. Judges 20:47
• 9. Deuteronomy 20:10
• 10. Judges 21:1
• 11. Joshua 18:1; Judges 18:31; 1 Samuel 1:3
• 12. Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34
• 13. Judges 21:1, 18
• 14. Judges 20:48
• 15. Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "for a wife"
• [b]. Lit "with great weeping"
• [c]. Lit "there was a great oath"
• [d]. Or "mustered"
• [e]. Lit "known lying with"
• [f]. Lit "a male"
• [g]. Lit "did not find it so"
• [h]. Lit "dance"
• [i]. Lit "his"
• [j]. Lit "because"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 21

This chapter relates how that when the Israelites calmed down, and seriously to reflect on what had passed, they were sore grieved, and much lamented the case of Benjamin, and were particularly concerned what they should do for wives for those few men that remained, that the tribe might be built up again, Jud 21:1-7 and for these they provided wives, partly out of Jabeshgilead, the inhabitants of which came not up to the convention at Mizpeh, and therefore they smote them, men, women, and children, only reserved four hundred virgins, whom they gave to the men of Benjamin, Jud 21:8-15, and partly from among the daughters of Shiloh, taken at a yearly feast there, the taking of whom was connived at, the other number not being sufficient, Jud 21:16-25.