Wives for the Benjamites 1 UST (When the Israelites gathered at Mizpah before they started to fight the tribe of Benjamin, all of the men made a solemn promise. They had declared,“None of us will ever allow one of our daughters to marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin!”) BSB BSB: Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
2 UST { After destroying the people, animals, and property throughout the territory of Benjamin,} the Israelites went to Bethel where God’ s sacred tent was. They sat down and wept very loudly and sadly all day. BSB BSB: So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly.
3 UST They kept saying,“Yahweh, you are the God of us Israelite people. But one of our Israelite tribes does not exist anymore! This should not have happened to us!” BSB BSB: “Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!”
4 UST Early the next morning, the people built an altar at Bethel. The priests made sacrifices for them that they burned completely on the altar, and they also made fellowship sacrifices. BSB BSB: The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 UST Then the Israelites started asking whether the people of any city in one of the tribes of Israel had not come when they met to ask Yahweh for guidance. They were asking this because they had all sworn very solemnly that they would kill any group that did not come when they met with Yahweh at Mizpah. BSB BSB: The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death.
6 UST The Israelites{ were asking about this because they} felt sorry for their fellow Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin. They said,“Now one of our Israelite tribes no longer exists. BSB BSB: And the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites, and said, “Today a tribe is cut off from Israel.
7 UST Let us think about what we can do to make sure that the surviving men from the tribe of Benjamin have wives.{ This is a difficult problem, because} all of us here made a solemn promise to Yahweh that we would not allow any of our daughters to marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” BSB BSB: What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?”
8 UST That is why the people were asking whether the people from any city in one of the tribes of Israel had not sent anyone to Mizpah when the Israelites met with Yahweh there. They thought they recalled that no one had come from the city of Jabesh Gilead to the meeting at Mizpah. BSB BSB: So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.
9 UST So they checked everyone who was there in Bethel, and they found that no one who lived in the city of Jabesh Gilead was there.{ This seemed to prove that none of them had come to Mizpah.} BSB BSB: For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there.
10 UST So all the Israelites chose 12, 000 experienced soldiers and gave them orders to go and kill all of the people who lived in Jabesh Gilead, including the women and the children. BSB BSB: So the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men and commanded them: “Go and put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children.
11 UST They told those soldiers:“This is what we want you to do: kill all of the men in Jabesh Gilead. You must also kill every married woman.{ But do not kill the unmarried women.}” BSB BSB: This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.”
12 UST { So those soldiers went to Jabesh Gilead and killed all the men, married women, and children.} But in that city they found 400 young women there who had never been married. So they brought them to Shiloh{, where they had all gone by then}. That city was across the river from the region where the city of Jabesh Gilead was. BSB BSB: So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 UST Then all the Israelites who had gathered sent a message to the men from the tribe of Benjamin who had gone to the rock of Rimmon{ where they could protect themselves}. The Israelites said that they would not try to kill them. BSB BSB: Then the whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon.
14 UST So the Benjaminites then came back from the rock of Rimmon. The Israelites allowed them to marry the young women from Jabesh Gilead whom they had not killed. But{ there were only 400 women.} That was not enough women for those 600 men. BSB BSB: And at that time the Benjamites returned and were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough women for all of them.
15 UST So the Israelites still felt sorry for the men of the tribe of Benjamin. It seemed that one of the Israelite tribes would not exist any more because Yahweh had told the other Israelites to fight against that tribe. BSB BSB: The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
16 UST The Israelite leaders said,“We have killed all the women of the tribe of Benjamin. So where can we get women to be wives of the men who are still alive?” BSB BSB: Then the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
17 UST They continued,“These surviving Benjaminites must have wives{ who will give birth to children so that their family lines can continue}. Otherwise, the tribe of Benjamin will no longer exist in Israel. BSB BSB: They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
18 UST But we Israelites all solemnly asked Yahweh to curse anyone who gave one of his daughters to any man of the tribe of Benjamin as a wife. So we cannot allow our daughters to marry these men.” BSB BSB: But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.”
19 UST Then they had an idea. They remembered,“Every year there is a festival to honor Yahweh at Shiloh.”(That city is north of Bethel and east of the road that extends from Bethel to Shechem. It is south of the city of Lebonah.) BSB BSB: “But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 UST So the Israelite leaders told the surviving men of the tribe of Benjamin{ who did not yet have wives},“When it is the time for that festival, go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards around the city. BSB BSB: So they commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards
21 UST Keep watching for the young women to come out of Shiloh to dance. When they come out, run out from the vineyards. Each of you men can seize one of the young women of Shiloh. Then you can all return to your homes in the territory of Benjamin with those women as your wives. BSB BSB: and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22 UST If their fathers or brothers come to us and demand that you give the women back, we will say to them,‘Please allow us to give your young women to the men of Benjamin as wives. Do this because, when we fought them, we did not leave any women alive who could be their wives. And you are not giving your young women now to the men from the tribe of Benjamin as wives. They stole them. So you will not be guilty of breaking the oath that we all swore not to give any of our daughters as a wife to any of them.’” BSB 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.’”
23 UST So that is what the men of the tribe of Benjamin did. They went to Shiloh at the time of the festival. When the young women came out of the city to dance, each man grabbed one of them and took her away and married her. Then they took their wives back to the land that the Israelite leaders had assigned to them. They rebuilt their cities that the other Israelites had burned down, and they lived there. BSB BSB: The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them.
24 UST Then the other Israelites left Shiloh and all went back to where their families and tribes lived. They returned to the areas that the Israelite leaders had assigned to their tribes. BSB BSB: And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.