Judges 21:1-4

600 Brides for 600 Brothers

21:1 The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.” 21:2 So the people came to Bethel ¹  and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably. ²  21:3 They said, “Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?” An entire ³  tribe has disappeared from Israel today!”

21:4 The next morning the people got up early and built an altar there. They offered up burnt sacrifices and token of peace. ⁴ 

[21:2]  ¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[21:2]  ² tn Heb “and they lifted up their voice[s] and wept with great weeping.” Both the cognate accusative בְּכִי (bekhi, “weeping”) and the attributive adjective גָדוֹל (gadol, “great”) emphasize their degree of sorrow.

[21:3]  ³ tn Heb “one.”

[21:4]  ⁴ tn Or “peace offerings.”