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Judges 21

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Israel Laments the Loss of Benjamin 1–7

1
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. ​
2
And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore. ​
3
And they said, O Jehovah, the 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 in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah, 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 Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?

The Judgment on Jabesh-gilead 8–15

8
And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. ​
9
For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
10
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
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 Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. ​
13
And the whole congregation sent and spake to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace unto them. ​
14
And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
15
And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. ​

Seeking Wives at the Shiloh Festival 16–25

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 are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.
18
Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
19
And they said, Behold, there is a feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. ​
20
And 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 the 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 to complain unto us, that we will say unto them, Grant them graciously unto us, because we took not for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did ye give them unto them, else would ye now be guilty. ​
23
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built 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. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Judges 21

Verse 1

had sworn in Mizpeh — The oath, shaba, is reported only now; ch.20 does not mention it. It forbids giving a daughter 'unto Benjamin to wife'. The Law holds a sworn word binding: 'he shall not break his word' (Num 30:2). The rest of the chapter is built around keeping it.

Verse 2

the house of God — The Hebrew is the place-name Beth-el, the place of the inquiries in 20:18 and 20:26. The people 'abode there till even', as on the day of fasting in 20:26, 'before God', and 'wept sore'. Their prayer in v.3 is a question to the LORD about the loss.

Verse 3

why is this come to pass in Israel — The prayer is addressed to 'O LORD God of Israel'. It follows a war in which the LORD had said 'Go up' (20:23, 28) and 'smote Benjamin before Israel' (20:35). Their question is about the loss: 'one tribe lacking in Israel'.

Verse 5

a great oath — A second oath, shebuah, is now disclosed, against anyone who 'came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh': 'He shall surely be put to death.' Deborah's song had cursed Meroz for the same fault, because the town 'came not to the help of the LORD' (5:23). The oath supplies the reason for what follows at Jabesh.

Verse 8

Jabeshgilead — A town of Gilead, east of the Jordan, from which 'none' had come to the assembly. Saul of Benjamin later rescues it from Nahash the Ammonite (1 Sam 11:1–11), and its valiant men take Saul's body down from the wall of Bethshan and bury his bones there (1 Sam 31:11–13).

Verse 11

utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man — 'Utterly destroy' is charam, to put under the ban. The terms follow those given against Midian: 'kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him' (Num 31:17), while 'all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him', are to be kept alive (v.18).

Verse 12

four hundred young virgins — The count of those 'that had known no man by lying with any male' follows the standard of Num 31:18. They are brought 'to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan', where the tabernacle stood (Josh 18:1). Of the six hundred of 20:47, 200 are still without wives (v.14).

Verse 13

call peaceably unto them — 'Peaceably' is shalom, peace. The congregation sends to the 600 at the rock Rimmon, where they had stayed four months (20:47), with an offer of peace, as the Law directs for a city before a siege: 'proclaim peace unto it' (Deut 20:10).

Verse 15

the LORD had made a breach in the tribes — 'Breach' is perets, the word of 2 Sam 6:8, 'the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah'. 'Repented them' is nacham, as in v.6. The people give the LORD the credit for the division in the tribes and count it as loss.

Verse 16

How shall we do for wives for them that remain — The elders of the congregation take up the problem. The women of Benjamin were destroyed in 20:48, and the oath of v.1 closes the daughters of Israel to the remnant. The Jabesh plan has given 400, so the 600 survivors still need 200 more (v.14).

Verse 19

a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly — The text does not name the feast. Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood (Josh 18:1; Judg 18:31), is placed by the highway from Bethel to Shechem. Elkanah 'went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh' (1 Sam 1:3).

Verse 21

the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances — Machol, dancing, as in Miriam's company (Ex 15:20) and Jephthah's daughter, who came out 'with timbrels and with dances' (11:34). The Benjamites are told to 'catch' wives, not to receive them, which keeps clear of the words of v.1: 'give his daughter'.

Verse 22

ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty — 'Guilty' is asham, to bear guilt, as of a trespass (Num 5:6–7). The elders' argument rests on the wording of the oath: the fathers have not 'given' their daughters, so they have not broken the oath. The Benjamites 'took them wives, according to their number' (v.23).

Verse 24

every man to his inheritance — The words recall 2:6, 'the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land', after Joshua dismissed the people (Josh 24:28). The book opens with the tribes departing to possess the land and ends with them departing after a civil war.

Verse 25

no king in Israel — The closing refrain is the full form of 17:6, with the short forms in 18:1 and 19:1. Deut 17:14–15 had provided for a king, 'whom the LORD thy God shall choose', 'one from among thy brethren'. The words 'every man did that which was right in his own eyes' echo Deut 12:8.