1 The men of Israel swore at Mizpah: "None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to any Benjaminite."
2 The people went to Bethel. There they sat before Yahweh until evening, called on him and wept with great lamentation.
3 They said, "Yahweh, God of Israel, why has this misfortune happened to Israel, that one of its tribes has perished today?"
4 On the next day, the people rose early, built an altar there and offered holocausts and peace offerings.
5 The Israelites then asked, "Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly of Yahweh?" For they had sol-emnly sworn that whoever would not come up to Mizpah before Yahweh should die.
6 The sons of Israel had compassion on their brother Benjamin and they said, "Today a tribe of Israel has been cut off,
7 what shall we do to provide wives for those that remain, for we have sworn to Yahweh not to give them our daughters in marriage?"
8 Because of this they asked, "Did any tribe of Israel not come up to Mizpah before Yahweh?" And they found out that none from Yabesh of Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.
9 They made the census and saw that there was no one from Yabesh of Gilead.
10 Then the community sent there twelve thousand of their valiant men with this order: "Go and put to the sword the inhabitants of Yabesh of Gilead, including women and children.
11 This is what you shall do: kill every man and every woman who has had a relation with a man, but let the maidens live."
12 So they did. They found four hundred young virgins among the inhabitants of Yabesh in Gilead (who had not had any relations with man), and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the community sent messengers to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon to make peace with them,
14 and the Benjaminites returned. The Israelites gave them the women of Yabesh of Gilead they had spared, but there were not enough for all.
15 The people had compassion again on Benjamin for Yahweh had let one of the tribes of Israel perish.
16 So the community elders said, "What can we do to provide wives for those that are left, for the women of Benjamin were killed?"
17 and they added, "How can the survival of Benjamin be assured that a tribe of Israel may not perish?
18 We cannot give them our daughters since we have made this oath: Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin?"
19 But they said, "It is now the feast of Yahweh which is celebrated annually at Shiloh, north of Bethel, east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."
20 So they advised the Benjaminites: "Go and wait in ambush in the vineyards.
21 Be ready and when the maidens of Shiloh come dancing in groups, come out of the vineyards and each man seize a wife and go to the land of Benjamin.
22 If their fathers or brothers come to complain against you, we shall tell them: "Try to understand them; see, the war left us with no means of giving a wife to each one of them. You are not the ones who gave them your maidens, otherwise you would have broken your vow."
23 So the Benjaminites did and seized the women they needed. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, rebuilt their cities and dwelt in them.
24 The Israelites then marched from there to their homes, every man to his tribe and family.
25 At that time, there was no king in Israel and everyone did what seemed good to him.
Versículos relacionados com Judges, 21:
Chapter 21 of the book of Judges narrates the outcome of a war between the Israelites and the tribe of Benjamin, which resulted in the almost extinction of the latter. Faced with the situation, the Israelites seek a way to ensure the continuity of Benjamin's tribe without disrespecting God's law, which prohibited marriage between Israelites and Benjamites. In this context, controversial decisions are made involving kidnapping of women and violation of the inheritance law. Below are five verses related to the topics covered in judges 21:
Deuteronomy 25:5: "If brothers live together, and one of them die, and have no son, the deceased's wife will not marry a strange man; his brother -in -law will join her, take her for a woman and thus fulfill the duty brother -in -law. " This verse mentions the Levirat marriage law, which established that a man should marry the widow of his deceased brother if he had not left male children. This law is cited in Judges chapter 21 as a possible solution to the problem of lack of women available for marriage among Benjamites.
Judges 21:1: "The men of Israel had sworn in Mispá, saying, 'None of us will give their daughter a wife to a Benjamite." This verse illustrates the restriction that the Israelites had imposed themselves as to marriage to the Benjamites.
Leviticus 18:16: "Do not dishonor your brother, having relationships with his wife." This verse refers to the law that prohibited adultery and the violation of another man's marriage relationship. In Judges chapter 21, this law is violated when Jabes-Gilead women are kidnapped to be surviving Benjamites' wives.
Deuteronomy 24:16: "Parents will not be killed because of their children, nor their children because of their parents; each one will be killed by their own sin." This verse highlights the principle of individual justice, according to which each person must answer for his own acts. In Judges chapter 21, this principle is violated when the Israelites decide to kill the inhabitants of Jabes-Gilead, who had not participated in the war against Benjamin, to provide wives to surviving Benjamites.
Judges 21:25: "In those days there was no king in Israel; each one did what he thought was most straight." This verse is a repetition of the chorus that appears several times in the book of Judges and summarizes the situation of anarchy and lack of leadership that characterized this period of the history of Israel. Judges chapter 21 is another example of chaos and violence that was due to the lack of centralized authority.
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