Judges 21:16-21

21:16 The leaders ¹  of the assembly said, “How can we find wives for those who are left? ²  After all, the Benjaminite women have been wiped out. 21:17 The ³  remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out. ⁴  21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, ⁵  for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’ ⁶  21:19 However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel ⁷  (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.” 21:20 So they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go hide in the vineyards, 21:21 and keep your eyes open. ⁸  When you see ⁹  the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration, ¹⁰  jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin.

[21:16]  ¹ tn Or “elders.”

[21:16]  ² tn Heb “What should we do for the remaining ones concerning wives?”

[21:17]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has “and they said” at the beginning of the verse. For stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 17 as a continuation of the remarks of the leaders in v. 16.

[21:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “An inheritance for the remnant belonging to Benjamin, and a tribe from Israel will not be wiped away.” The first statement lacks a verb. Some prefer to emend the text to read, “How can an inheritance remain for the remnant of Benjamin?”

[21:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

[21:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “is cursed.”

[21:19]  ⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[21:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “and look.”

[21:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and look, when.”

[21:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the dances.”