Judges 21:1

Wives for the Benjamites

1 The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

Judges 21:1 in Other Translations

KJV
1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
ESV
1 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, "No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin."
NLT
1 The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.”
MSG
1 Back at Mizpah the men of Israel had taken an oath: "No man among us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage."
CSB
1 The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: "None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage."

Judges 21:1 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 21:1

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh
Where they were there convened, before the war began; after they had heard the account the Levite gave of the affair, which brought them thither; and after they had sent messengers to Benjamin to deliver up the men of Gibeah, that had committed the wickedness; and after they perceived that Benjamin did not hearken to their demand, but prepared to make war with them; then, as they resolved on the destruction of Gibeah, and of all the cities that sent out men against them, even all the inhabitants of them, men, women, and children, entered into an oath, that they would use those men that remained as Heathens, and not intermarry with them, as follows:

saying, there shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to
wife;
seeing those that used the wife of the Levite in such a base manner, and those that protected and defended them, deserved to have no wives.

Judges 21:1 In-Context

1 The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
2 The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly.
3 “LORD, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”
4 Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
5 Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah was to be put to death.

Cross References 3

  • 1. S Joshua 9:18
  • 2. S Joshua 11:3; Judges 20:1
  • 3. ver 18,22; ver 7,18
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