Judges 21:22
20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 And 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.
And 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.
23 And 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.
24 And 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.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’”
- KJV
- And 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.
- WEB
- It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’”
- ASV
- And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to complain unto us, that we will say unto them, Grant them graciously unto us, because we took not for each man [of them] his wife in battle, neither did ye give them unto them, else would ye now be guilty.
- DARBY
- And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to complain to us, that we will say to them, Gratify us with them, because we did not take each man his wife in the war; for ye did not give them to them, that ye should now be guilty.
- BLB
- And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to plead to us, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them, since we did not take [to] each man a wife in the war, for you⁺—you⁺ not have given to them at this time—that you⁺ should be guilty.’”
- ÅB
- Og når deres fedre eller brødre kommer og vil gå i rette med oss, da skal vi si til dem: Unn oss dem! For vi har ikke alle fått oss hustruer i krigen[^1], og dere har jo ikke selv gitt dem pikene; da ville dere nå være skyldige[^2].
- OTB
- Når deres fedre eller brødre kommer for å klage til oss, vil vi si: ‘Gjør oss den tjenesten å tillate dem, fordi vi ikke tok koner til dem under krigen. Dere vil ikke være skyldige i å bryte deres ed, siden dere ikke ga deres døtre til dem.’»
- B1930
- Og når deres fedre eller brødre kommer og vil gå i rette med oss, da skal vi si til dem: Unn oss dem! For vi har ikke alle fått oss hustruer i krigen, og I har jo ikke selv gitt dem pikene; da vilde I nu være skyldige. / < nemlig mot Jabes (v. 10-14); de eldste taler disse første ord i benjaminittenes navn.> / < DMR 21, 1. 7.>
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Judges 21:1
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
Read in contextJudges 21:18
Howbeit 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.
Read in contextMark 10:6–8
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Read in contextProverbs 20:25
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
Read in contextJudges 21:7
How 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?
Read in context1 Corinthians 7:2
Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
Read in contextPhilemon 1:9–12
Yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
Read in contextGenesis 7:13
In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
Read in context