Judges 21

Judges · Chapter 21

Judges 21:7

1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.2And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;3And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.7How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.9For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.10And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.11And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.13And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.14And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.15And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.16Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?17And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.18Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.19Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.20Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;21And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.23And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.24And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.25In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
7How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?”How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
what?מַה־mah-H4100
what

מָא (ma) 1) what, whatever 1a) what? 1b) whatever, what, whatsoever 1c) how?, why?, wherefore? (with prefixes)

will we doנַּעֲשֶׂ֥הna-'a-SEHH6213A
to make: do

עָשָׂה (a.sah) : do/perform 1) to do, fashion, accomplish, make 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to do, work, make, produce 1a1a) to do 1a1b) to work 1a1c) to deal (with) 1a1d) to act, act with effect, effect 1a2) to make 1a2a) to make 1a2b) to produce 1a2c) to prepare 1a2d) to make (an offering) 1a2e) to attend to, put in order 1a2f) to observe, celebrate 1a2g) to acquire (property) 1a2h) to appoint, ordain, institute 1a2i) to bring about 1a2j) to use 1a2k) to spend, pass 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be done 1b2) to be made 1b3) to be produced 1b4) to be offered 1b5) to be observed 1b6) to be used 1c) (Pual) to be made

for the [those who] remainלַנּוֹתָרִ֖יםla-no-ta-RIMH3498
to remain

יָתַר (ya.tar) 1) to be left over, remain, remain over, leave 1a) (Qal) remainder (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be left over, remain over, be left behind 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to leave over, leave 1c2) to save over, preserve alive 1c3) to excel, show pre-eminence 1c4) to show excess, have more than enough, have an excess

for wivesלְנָשִׁ֑יםle-na-SHIMH0802H
woman

אִשָּׁה (ish.shah) : woman 1) woman, wife, female 1a) woman (opposite of man) 1b) wife (woman married to a man) 1c) female (of animals) 1d) each, every (pronoun)

and weוַאֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙va-'a-NACH-nuH0587
we

אֲנוּ (a.nu) we (first pers. pl. -usually used for emphasis) Another spelling of a.nach.nu (אֲנַ֫חְנוּ "we" H0587)

we have swornנִשְׁבַּ֣עְנוּnish-BA'-nuH7650
to swear

שָׁבַע (sha.va) 1) to swear, adjure 1a) (Qal) sworn (participle) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to swear, take an oath 1b2) to swear (of Jehovah by Himself) 1b3) to curse 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to cause to take an oath 1c2) to adjure

by Yahwehבַֽיהוָ֔הba-YAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

to notלְבִלְתִּ֛יle-vil-TIH1115
lest

בִּלְתִּי (bil.ti) subst 1) not, except adv 2) not 3) except (after preceding negation) conj 4) except (after an implied or expressed negation) with prep 5) so as not, in order not 6) an account of not, because...not 7) until not

to giveתֵּת־tet-H5414O
to give: give

נָתַן (na.tan) : give/deliver/send/produce 1) to give, put, set 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ, devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report, mention, utter, stretch out, extend 1a2) to put, set, put on, put upon, set, appoint, assign, designate 1a3) to make, constitute 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be given, be bestowed, be provided, be entrusted to, be granted to, be permitted, be issued, be published, be uttered, be assigned 1b2) to be set, be put, be made, be inflicted …

any of daughters ourמִבְּנוֹתֵ֖ינוּmi-be-no-TEI-nuH1323G
daughter

בַּת (bat) : daughter 1) daughter 1a) daughter, girl, adopted daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, granddaughters, female child, cousin 1a1) as polite address 1a2) as designation of women of a particular place 2) young women, women 1a3) as personification 1a4) daughter-villages 1a5) description of character Also means: bat (בַּת ": village" H1323H)

to wivesלְנָשִֽׁים׃le-na-SHIMH0802H
woman

אִשָּׁה (ish.shah) : woman 1) woman, wife, female 1a) woman (opposite of man) 1b) wife (woman married to a man) 1c) female (of animals) 1d) each, every (pronoun)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.