Discovery BoxJudges 20:48--21:1 
Context20:48 The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns 1 and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, 2 the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. 3
600 Brides for 600 Brothers
21:1 The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.”
1 tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.”
2 tc The translation is based on the reading מֵעִיר מְתִים (me’ir mÿtim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (me’ir mÿtom, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L).
3 tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”
