Judges 21: Wives for Benjamin from Jabesh Gilead and Shiloh

In plain English: Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."

In plain English: The people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly (literally: wept a great weeping).

In plain English: They said, "Yahweh, God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today one tribe should be missing from Israel?"

In plain English: The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

In plain English: The Israelites said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the assembly to Yahweh?" For they had sworn a great oath about anyone who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah: "He must be put to death."

In plain English: The Israelites felt sorry (this Bible: grieved) for Benjamin their brother, and said, "Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.

In plain English: How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by Yahweh not to give them any of our daughters as wives?"

In plain English: They said, "Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?" And look, no one had come to the camp, to the assembly, from Jabesh Gilead.

In plain English: For when the people were counted, there was no one there from the people of Jabesh Gilead.

In plain English: So the community sent twelve thousand of their bravest men there and commanded them, "Go and strike the people of Jabesh Gilead with the sword (literally: the mouth of the sword), with the women and the little ones.

In plain English: This is what you are to do: you are to completely destroy (this Bible: utterly destroy) every male, and every woman who has slept with a man."

The Hebrew word: "Utterly destroy" is charam, the word explained in the note on Deuteronomy 2:34.

In plain English: Among the people of Jabesh Gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had not slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

In plain English: Then the whole community sent word to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon, and offered them peace.

In plain English: Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women of Jabesh Gilead whom they had kept alive. But there were not enough for them.

In plain English: The people felt sorry for Benjamin, because Yahweh had made a gap (this Bible: a breach) in the tribes of Israel.

In plain English: Then the elders of the community said, "How can we provide wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?"

In plain English: They said, "Those of Benjamin who escaped must have an inheritance, so that a tribe is not wiped out from Israel.

In plain English: But we cannot give them our daughters as wives, because the Israelites have sworn, 'Cursed is anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.'"

In plain English: Then they said, "Look, there is a feast of Yahweh every year at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."

In plain English: They commanded the Benjamites, "Go and hide and wait (this Bible: lie in wait) in the vineyards,

In plain English: and watch. When the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, come out of the vineyards, and each of you catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

In plain English: When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Be kind to us about them (this Bible: grant them graciously to us), because we did not take a wife for each man in the battle, and you did not give them to them, or you would now be guilty.'"

The Hebrew words: The Hebrew of this verse is short and can be read in more than one way. Word for word it says: "Show us favor with them, because we did not take each man his wife in the battle, because you did not give to them; at this time you would be guilty."

What changes: "We didn't take for each man his wife in battle" can be read as "in the war we did not get a wife for every man" (verse 14 says there were not enough), or as "we did not take these women as captives of war". The last words can be read as "you did not give them, so you are not guilty of breaking your oath" (verse 18); this Bible says "otherwise you would now be guilty". The old Greek (Brenton) reads them differently: "because ye did not give to them according to the occasion, ye transgressed". The text does not say what the fathers answered.

In plain English: The Benjamites did so. They took wives for themselves, as many as there were men (literally: by their number), from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went back to their inheritance, rebuilt the cities, and lived in them.

In plain English: At that time the Israelites left there, each man to his tribe and his clan, and each went out from there to his own inheritance.

In plain English: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Good to know: The book ends as chapter 17 began, with the narrator's comment (see the note on 17:6). Chapters 17 to 21 tell of Micah's images, the Danites and Laish, the Levite and his concubine, the war against Benjamin, and the wives for Benjamin from Jabesh Gilead and Shiloh. These chapters are the book's own record of these events, and the book ends with this refrain. Jewish and Christian readers differ on how to read them now.