The Plan for the Benjamites to Get Wives |
Judges 21:1-25 The Book of Judges [in Smaller Chunks] |
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh saying, [None of us] will give [our] daughter to [the tribe] of Benjamin [for a] wife. [Judges 20:4-6 And the Levite, the husband of the woman [who] was [killed,] answered & said, I & my [mistress] came [to lodge] in Gibeah, that belongs to Benjamin. |
And the men of Gibeah rose against me & [surrounded around] the house upon me [at] night & thought to kill me. And they have forced [& raped] my [mistress,] that she is dead.] |
And I took my [mistress] & cut her in [12] pieces & sent her throughout all the country of [Israel's] inheritance. For they have committed [an immoral & outrageous act] in Israel.] |
The people [of Israel] came to the house of God & [stayed] there [until evening] before God & [they] lifted up their voices & wept [sorely] & said, O Lord God of Israel, why [has] this [happened] in Israel, that there is 1 tribe [missing] in Israel, [like] it is today? |
It [happened, the next day,] the people rose early & built an altar there & offered [both] burnt offerings & Peace Offerings. The children [people] of Israel said, [Which tribe] among all of Israel [hasn’t come] up with the congregation to the Lord? |
For they had made a great oath concerning [those who didn’t come] up to the Lord in Mizpeh, saying, Surely, he [would] be put to death. The [people] of Israel were [grieved about] their brother, Benjamin & said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. |
How shall we [find] wives for [those who] remain, seeing that we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give our daughters to them [as] wives? They said, [Which] one of the tribes didn’t come up to Mizpeh to the Lord? |
And [they saw, no one] came to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. The people [of Israel] were [counted] & there were none of the inhabitants from Jabesh Gilead there. |
The congregation sent [there] 12,000 of the [most courageous] men & commanded them, saying, Go & [strike down] the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women & children. |
And this is the thing that you shall do, You shall [totally] destroy every male & female that has been [intimate with a] man. They found 400 young [maidens] among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gidead & brought them to the camp [of] Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. |
The whole congregation sent some to speak peaceably to the children [people] of Benjamin [who] were in Rock Rimmon & to call them. Benjamin came again at that time & they gave them wives, which they had saved alive [from] the women of Jabesh Gilead & [still they didn’t have enough.] |
The people [were grieved] for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a [gap] in the tribes of Israel. Then, the elders of the congregation said, How shall [we get] wives for [those who] remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? |
They said, There must be an inheritance for [those who] escaped of Benjamin., [so] that a tribe [isn’t] destroyed out of Israel. [However] we may not give them wives [from] our daughters: For the [people] of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [are those who give their daughters for] a wife to Benjamin. |
Then, they said, [Look,] there is a feast [for] the Lord in Shiloh [each year] in a place that is on the north of BethEl & on the east side of the highway that goes up from BethEl to Shechem & on the south of Lebonah. |
Therefore, they commanded the [people] of Benjamin, saying, Go & [hide] & lie in wait in the vineyards. [Watch for] the daughters of Shiloh to come out to dance, then you come out of the vineyard & [each of you] catch [one of them to be] his wife [from] the daughter of Shiloh & go to the land of Benjamin. |
And it shall be, when their fathers or [family] come to us to complain, we will say to them, [Be kind] to them for our [sake,] because in the war, we [didn’t save enough women] for each man to have a wife, at that time, [so] that, you [wouldn't] be guilty. |
The [people] of Benjamin did so & took wives [for themselves,] according to the number of [those] they caught [who] danced [in Shiloh] & [then] they returned to their inheritance [in the land of Benjamin] & [rebuilt] the cities & [lived] in them. |
And the [people] of Israel departed [from there,] at that time. Every man went to his tribe & to his family & to his inheritance. There was no king in Israel, those days & every man did [what] was right in his own eyes. |