Judges 21 (NET)

600 Brides for 600 Brothers

1 The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.” 2 So the people came to Bethel1 and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably.2 3 They said, “Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?” An entire3 tribe has disappeared from Israel today!”

4 The next morning the people got up early and built an altar there. They offered up burnt sacrifices and token of peace.4 5 The Israelites asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes has not assembled before the Lord?” They had made a solemn oath that whoever did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah must certainly be executed.5 6 The Israelites regretted what had happened to6 their brother Benjamin. They said, “Today we cut off an entire7 tribe from Israel! 7 How can we find wives for those who are left?8 After all, we took an oath in the Lord’s name not to give them our daughters as wives.” 8 So they asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” Now it just so happened no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the gathering.9 9 When they took roll call,10 they noticed11 none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were there. 10 So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors12 against Jabesh Gilead.13 They commanded them, “Go and kill with your swords14 the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children. 11 Do this:15 exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male.16 But spare the lives of any virgins.” So they did as instructed.17 12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young girls who were virgins – they had never had sexual relations with a male.18 They brought them back to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

13 The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed.19 14 The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites20 gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around.21

15 The people regretted what had happened to22 Benjamin because the Lord had weakened23 the Israelite tribes. 16 The leaders24 of the assembly said, “How can we find wives for those who are left?25 After all, the Benjaminite women have been wiped out. 17 The26 remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out.27 18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them,28 for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’29 19 However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel30 (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.” 20 So they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go hide in the vineyards, 21 and keep your eyes open.31 When you see32 the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration,33 jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us,34 we’ll say to them, “Do us a favor and let them be,35 for we could not get each one a wife through battle.36 Don’t worry about breaking your oath!37 You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’”38

23 The Benjaminites did as instructed.39 They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives.40 They went home41 to their own territory,42 rebuilt their cities, and settled down.43 24 Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property.44 25 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.45

121:2map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. 221:2tn Heb “and they lifted up their voice[s] and wept with great weeping.” Both the cognate accusative בְּכִי (bekhi, “weeping”) and the attributive adjective גָדוֹל (gadol, “great”) emphasize their degree of sorrow. 321:3tn Heb “one.” 421:4tn Or “peace offerings.” 521:5tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’” 621:6tn Or “felt sorry for.” 721:6tn Heb “cut off one.” 821:7tn Heb “What should we do for them, for the remaining ones, concerning wives?” 921:8tn Heb “Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.” 1021:9tn Or “when the people were mustered.” 1121:9tn Heb “and look.” 1221:10tn Heb “men, sons of strength.” 1321:10tn Heb “there.” 1421:10tn Heb “the edge of the sword.” 1521:11tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.” 1621:11tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.” 1721:11tc Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, “‘But the virgins you should keep alive.’ And they did so.” These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: וְאֶת־הַבְּתוּלוֹת תְּחַיּוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן (ve’et-habbÿtulot tÿkhayyu vayya’asu khen). It is likely that a scribe’s eye jumped from the vav (ו) on וְאֶת (vÿ’et) to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction. 1821:12tn Heb “who had not known a man with respect to the bed of a male.” 1921:13tn Heb “And all the assembly sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the cliff of Rimmon and they proclaimed to them peace.” 2021:14tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 2121:14tn Heb “but they did not find for them enough.” 2221:15tn Or “felt sorry for.” 2321:15tn Heb “had made a gaping hole in.” The narrator uses imagery that compares Israel to a wall that has been breached. 2421:16tn Or “elders.” 2521:16tn Heb “What should we do for the remaining ones concerning wives?” 2621:17tn The Hebrew text has “and they said” at the beginning of the verse. For stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 17 as a continuation of the remarks of the leaders in v. 16. 2721:17tn Heb “An inheritance for the remnant belonging to Benjamin, and a tribe from Israel will not be wiped away.” The first statement lacks a verb. Some prefer to emend the text to read, “How can an inheritance remain for the remnant of Benjamin?” 2821:18tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.” 2921:18tn Heb “is cursed.” 3021:19map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. 3121:21tn Heb “and look.” 3221:21tn Heb “and look, when.” 3321:21tn Heb “in the dances.” 3421:22tc The (original) LXX and Vulgate read “to you.” 3521:22tn The words “and let them be” are supplied in the translation for clarification. 3621:22tn Heb “for we did not take each his wife in battle.”sn Through battle. This probably refers to the battle against Jabesh Gilead, which only produced four hundred of the six hundred wives needed. 3721:22tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement. 3821:22tc Heb “You did not give to them, now you are guilty.” The MT as it stands makes little sense. It is preferable to emend לֹא (lo’, “not”) to לוּא (lu’, “if”). This particle introduces a purely hypothetical condition, “If you had given to them [but you didn’t].” See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 453-54. 3921:23tn Heb “did so.” 4021:23tn Heb “And they took wives according to their number from the dancing girls whom they abducted.” 4121:23tn Heb “went and returned.” 4221:23tn Heb “inheritance.” 4321:23tn Heb “and lived in them.” 4421:24tn Heb “his inheritance.” 4521:25tn Heb “Each was doing what was right in his [own] eyes.”sn Each man did what he considered to be right. The Book of Judges closes with this note, which summarizes the situation of the Israelite tribes during this period.