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 Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 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 Jabesh-gilead 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 Jabesh-gilead: 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 Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el 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.

1Nowe the men of Israel had sworne in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of vs giue his daughter vnto Beniamin to wife.

2And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till euen before God, and lift vp their voices, and wept sore:

3And said, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to passe in Israel, that there should bee to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

4And it came to passe 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 sayd, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel, that came not vp with the congregation vnto the Lord ? for they had made a great oath concerning him that came not vp to the Lord to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

6And the children of Israel repented them for Beniamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day:

7How shall wee doe for wiues for them that remaine, seeing wee haue sworne by the Lord, that wee will not giue them of our daughters to wiues?

8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel, that came not vp to Mizpeh to the Lord ? And beholde, there came none to the campe from Iabesh Gilead to the assembly.

9For the people were numbred, and behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead there.

10And the congregation sent thither twelue thousand men of the valiantest, and commaunded them, saying, Goe, and smite the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.

11And this is the thing that yee shall doe, Yee shall vtterly destroy euery male, and euery woman that hath lien by man.

12And they found among the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead, foure hundred yong virgins that had knowen no man, by lying with any male: and they brought them vnto the campe to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13And the whole Congregation sent some to speake to the children of Beniamin that were in the rocke Rimmon, and to call peaceably vnto them.

14And Beniamin came againe at that time, and they gaue them wiues which they had saued aliue of the women of Iabesh Gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

15And the people repented them for Beniamin, because that the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the Elders of the Congregation said, How shall we doe for wiues for them that remaine? seeing the women are destroyed out of Beniamin.

17And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that bee escaped of Beniamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

18Howbeit wee may not giue them wiues of our daughters. For the children of Israel haue sworne, saying, Cursed be he that giueth a wife to Beniamin.

19Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yerely, in a place which is on the Northside of Bethel on the East side of the hie way that goeth vp from Bethel to Shechem, and on the South of Lebanon.

20Therefore they commanded the children of Beniamin, saying, Goe and lie in wait in the vineyards.

21And see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to daunce in daunces, then come yee out of the vineyards, and catch you euery man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and goe to the land of Beniamin.

22And it shall bee when their fathers or their brethren come vnto vs to complaine, that we will say vnto them, Bee fauourable vnto them for our sakes: because we reserued not to each man his wife in the warre: for yee did not giue vnto them at this time, that you should be guiltie.

23And the children of Beniamin did so, and tooke them wiues according to their number, of them that daunced, whome they caught: and they went and returned vnto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.

24And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, euery man to his tribe, and to his family, and they went out from thence euery man to his inheritance.

25In those dayes there was no King in Israel: euery man did that which was right in his owne eyes.

I == Judg 20:1

 

II == Judg 20:18 , 26

 

 

 

 

IV == 2nd Sam 24:25

 

 

V == Judg 5:23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIII == 1st Sam 11:1 ; 31:11

 

 

 

 

 

X == Judg 5:23 ; 21:5 ; 1st Sam 11:7

 

 

XI == Num 31:17

 

XII == Josh 18:1

 

 

 

XIII == Deut 20:10 ; Judg 20:47

 

 

 

 

 

XV == Judg 21:6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVIII == Judg 11:35 ; 21:1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXI == Judg 11:34 ; 1st Sam 18:6 ; Jer 31:13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXIII == Judg 20:48

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXV == Deut 12:8 ; Judg 17:6 ; 18:1 ; 19:1

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah that none of them would give his daughter in marriage to anyone from Benjamin.

2 So the people went to Bethel and remained there before God until evening, raising their voices in bitter lament.

3 They said, "LORD, God of Israel, why has it come to pass in Israel that today one tribe of Israel should be lacking?"

4 Early the next day the people built an altar there and offered holocausts and peace offerings.

5 Then the Israelites asked, "Are there any among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD for the assembly?" For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who did not go up to the LORD at Mizpah should be put to death without fail.

6 The Israelites were disconsolate over their brother Benjamin and said, "Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off.

7 What can we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"

8 And when they asked whether anyone among the tribes of Israel had not come up to the LORD in Mizpah, they found that none of the men of Jabesh-gilead had come to the encampment for the assembly.

9 A roll call of the army established that none of the inhabitants of that city were present.

10 The community, therefore, sent twelve thousand warriors with orders to go to Jabesh-gilead and put those who lived there to the sword, including the women and children.

11 They were told to include under the ban all males and every woman who was not still a virgin.

12 Finding among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had had no relations with men, they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole community sent a message to the Benjaminites at the rock Rimmon, offering them peace.

14 When Benjamin returned at that time, they gave them as wives the women of Jabesh-gilead whom they had spared; but these proved to be not enough for them.

15 The people were still disconsolate over Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.

16 And the elders of the community said, "What shall we do for wives for the survivors? For every woman in Benjamin has been put to death."

17 They said, "Those of Benjamin who survive must have heirs, else one of the Israelite tribes will be wiped out.

18 Yet we cannot give them any of our daughters in marriage, because the Israelites have sworn, 'Cursed be he who gives a woman to Benjamin!'"

19 Then they thought of the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.

20 And they instructed the Benjaminites, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards.

21 When you see the girls of Shiloh come out to do their dancing, leave the vineyards and each of you seize one of the girls of Shiloh for a wife, and go to the land of Benjamin.

22 When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, 'Release them to us as a kindness, since we did not take a woman apiece in the war. Had you yourselves given them these wives, you would now be guilty.'"

23 The Benjaminites did this; they carried off a wife for each of them from their raid on the dancers, and went back to their own territory, where they rebuilt and occupied the cities.

24 Also at that time the Israelites dispersed; each of them left for his own heritage in his own clan and tribe.

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what he thought best.

v 1-7. When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah before battle, 20:1, they made a rash unspiritual vow that none of them would give of their daughters to Benjamin. They had even gone further, v 5 and swore that they would kill anyone who did not come to join them in battle against Benjamin. Now they realize the folly of these vows and grieve that their can be no wives given to Benjamin to perpetuate the tribe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 8-15. A census was taken and it was found that no men from Jabesh-Gilead had come to the battle. So they sent 12,000 of their most valiant men there to kill every man woman and child except the marriageable virgins. There were 400 of these who were brought to Shiloh. A peace representation was sent to Rimmon to talk to the men of Benjamin, and they were given the 400 virgins from Jabesh-Gilead for wives. This was not enough for the 600 men so Israel repented of what they had done to Benjamin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 16-22. The elders of Israel did not call on God for the solution to the problem, or if it was even essential that all the men of Benjamin be given wives. Instead, they came up with a scheme to be enacted at the yearly feast in Shiloh. The men of Benjamin were told to lay wait in the vineyards till the young women came out to dance. Then each one was to grab a girl and run off with her. Israel would not be giving them, as they would be stolen, but when relatives came to their defense, the elders would persuade them to just let them go as wives for Benjamin. No regard was given for heart break in the families or the break up of already anticipated marriages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 23,24. The scheme went off as planned, the Benjamites returned to the repair of their burned cities, and the other Israelites returned to their homes.

 

v 25. A king would not be needed if the people relied on God for leadership, but in the last few chapters of Judges, we see the injustice and corruption when everyone is doing what seems right in his own eyes. Compare this with Prov. 14:12. There is a way  which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Doing their own thing was especially forbidden regarding the place where they worship, which at this time was to be at Shiloh, later Jerusalem. Failure in this led to other spiritual decline and bad decisions.
To illustrate this last verse, we can draw arrows pointing all directions, indicating lack of leadership, each one doing what seems to him to do right. Opposite that draw a cluster of arrows focused on one point, the king, actually Christ.