Judges21

After nearly annihilating the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites repented, lamenting the loss of a tribe and their oath not to give their daughters as wives. To provide wives for the remaining 600 Benjamite men, they first destroyed Jabesh-Gilead, taking 400 virgins. When these were insufficient, they devised a plan for the Benjamites to seize wives from the dancing daughters of Shiloh during a feast, thus circumventing their oath.

Israel Laments the Loss of Benjamin

1
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin as wife.” ​
2
The people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely. ​
3
They said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?” ​
4
On the next day, the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5
The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn’t come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” ​
6
The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
7
How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?”

The Judgment on Jabesh-gilead

8
They said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” Behold, no one came from Jabesh Gilead to the camp to the assembly. ​
9
For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there.
10
The congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike 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 shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.” ​
12
They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. ​
13
The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. ​
14
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 weren’t enough for them.
15
The people grieved for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. ​

Seeking Wives at the Shiloh Festival

16
Then the elders of the congregation said, “How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ​
17
They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.
18
However we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’”
19
They said, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” ​
20
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 out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ​
22
It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, otherwise you would now be guilty.’” ​
23
The children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.
24
The children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. ​

Conclusion: Everyone Did What Was Right in His Own Eyes

25
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. ​

Study Notes for Judges 21

Verse 1

The tribes of Israel had sworn a rash vow at Mizpeh, forbidding any intermarriage with the tribe of Benjamin. This oath, made in the heat of war and vengeance, now directly threatens the existence of one of God’s tribes.

Verse 2

The people came to the 'house of God,' likely Shiloh, the location of the Tabernacle. Their intense weeping reflects a genuine, though tragically delayed, remorse over the near-destruction of the tribe.

Verse 3

The irony here is profound: the tribes ask why God allowed this breach, failing to fully acknowledge that their own zealous actions and adherence to a human oath were the immediate cause of the crisis.

Verse 5

The solution to the marriage dilemma is sought through another act of violence. The Israelites prioritize finding a loophole to uphold their oath of vengeance against non-participants over finding a straightforward way to preserve Benjamin.

Verse 8

Jabesh-gilead, located across the Jordan, was identified as the only community that failed to participate in the judgment against Benjamin. According to the prior oath (v. 5), they were now subject to the death penalty.

Verse 11

The command for *herem* (utter destruction) is ruthlessly applied, yet it is modified for pragmatic purposes. Only virgins are spared, demonstrating that the primary motive was not justice alone, but securing biological continuity for Benjamin.

Verse 12

The four hundred virgins provided wives for only two-thirds of the six hundred Benjamite survivors. This insufficiency necessitated the second, more ethically troubling plan later in the chapter.

Verse 13

The survivors of Benjamin had fled to the Rock Rimmon (20:47). Having satisfied their vengeance and secured some wives, the congregation now seeks peace and reconciliation with their brothers.

Verse 15

The repetition of the people's repentance emphasizes the theological gravity of the situation. The preservation of the twelve tribes was essential for the integrity of the covenant nation.

Verse 16

The elders faced a legal dilemma: they must save Benjamin (v. 17) but cannot violate the oath sworn to God (v. 18). This conflict drives them to devise a complex, morally compromising scheme.

Verse 19

The 'feast of the LORD' refers to one of the annual pilgrimage festivals (likely Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths), held in Shiloh, the central location of the Tabernacle during the early period of the Judges.

Verse 21

This plan involves a mass abduction (a 'raid marriage'), justified by the legal loophole created by their earlier oath. They are commanded to 'catch' (or seize) the women while they are dancing outside the city.

Verse 22

The elders rationalize the abduction: since the fathers of Shiloh did not *give* their daughters, they did not violate the oath. This legalistic maneuvering highlights the moral relativism prevalent during the period of the Judges.

Verse 24

The chapter concludes the horrific civil war narrative. The Israelites return home, believing they have successfully resolved the crisis and preserved the tribal structure, though by profoundly flawed means.

Verse 25

This verse serves as the editorial thesis statement for the entire Book of Judges. It explains the cycle of moral decay and violence: without a king (central authority/covenant fidelity), Israel lacked a standard of righteousness, resulting in chaos and self-serving morality.

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