Judges 21:18-25

21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them,¹ for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’² 21:19 However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel³ (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.” 21:20 So they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go hide in the vineyards, 21:21 and keep your eyes open.⁴ When you see⁵ the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration,⁶ 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. 21:22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us,⁷ we’ll say to them, “Do us a favor and let them be,⁸ for we could not get each one a wife through battle.⁹ Don’t worry about breaking your oath!¹⁰ You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’”¹¹

21:23 The Benjaminites did as instructed.¹² They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives.¹³ They went home¹⁴ to their own territory,¹⁵ rebuilt their cities, and settled down.¹⁶ 21:24 Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property.¹⁷ 21:25 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.¹⁸

¹tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

²tn Heb “is cursed.”

³map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁴tn Heb “and look.”

⁵tn Heb “and look, when.”

⁶tn Heb “in the dances.”

⁷tc The (original) LXX and Vulgate read “to you.”

⁸tn The words “and let them be” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁹tn 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.

¹⁰tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement.

¹¹tc 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.

¹²tn Heb “did so.”

¹³tn Heb “And they took wives according to their number from the dancing girls whom they abducted.”

¹⁴tn Heb “went and returned.”

¹⁵tn Heb “inheritance.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and lived in them.”

¹⁷tn Heb “his inheritance.”

¹⁸tn 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.