1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
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 Jabeshgilead to the assembly.
9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
18 Howbeit 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.
19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.
23 And 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 cities, and dwelt in them.
24 And 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.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
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View All Judges Chapter 21 Comments...
Richard H Priday's Judges Chapter 21 comment on 3/24/2022, 6:43pm...
This most depressing section of scripture; from Judges 19 thru 21 can be best summarized in the last verse of chapter 21- "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
Chapter 19 gives the miserable story of a man and his servant traveling with what had become his wayward concubine. Such a tradition of concubines was never really mentioned by God; it apparently was tolerated although hardly sanctioned as a marriage covenant was; or even as multiple wives was recognized despite the many troubles ensuing from such relationships. In any case; as we get to chapter 20; there is a narrative almost identical to that of Sodom; where the men decide to want to have relations with other men; and the "collateral damage" ends up being the concubine. This time there is no angelic reprieve and she is raped by multiple men; and left dead at the man's doorstep. The act of these "men of Belial" who are either a subset of the Benjamites themselves or integrated into their community bring the wrath of the rest of Israel after the concubine is cut into twelve pieces and sent out to the tribes. It is clear with the great casualties on both sides that it was not like the battles of old; although Israel was declared to have eventual victory; probably because of this tolerance of the Sodomites in the land. This left the perdicament of chapter 21 where it was promised no women would be given as wives to the Benjamites from other tribes. This left the kidnapping routine during a festival dance as the only way to obtain a wife for them. This is truly a sad period of time in Israel.
Chris's Judges Chapter 21 comment on 11/28/2021, 1:12am...
Hi Neil. Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob (Israel), by his wife Rachel. Each of the twelve sons of Israel (i.e. their descendants) were allocated portions in the Promised Land. Benjamin received his small portion which was located on the West side of the Jordan, just North of the Dead Sea. The name, Benjamites, apply to the people descended from Benjamin.
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