1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
3 And 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?
4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 And 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.
6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
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?
8 And 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.
9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, [there were] none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
10 And 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.
11 And this [is] the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
12 And 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.
13 And the whole congregation sent [some] to speak to the children of Benjamin that [were] in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
14 And 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.
15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
17 And they said, [There must be] an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
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.
19 Then 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.
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.
22 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.
25 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
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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