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Israel Provides Wives for Benjamin
The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.”
The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.”
Wives Provided for the Benjamites
Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”
Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”
Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly.
“O LORD, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!”
and said, “O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?”
Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it.
So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Then they said, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the LORD?” At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the LORD’s presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death.
The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the Lord?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off.
And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today.
How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?”
What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters as wives?”
So they asked, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we assembled in the presence of the LORD?” And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended the assembly.
And they said, “What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord?” And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.
For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present.
For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there.
So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children.
So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children.
And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.”
Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found 400 young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon.
Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them.
Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the 400 women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them.
So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them.
The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made this gap among the tribes of Israel.
And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
So the elders of the assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead?
Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out.
And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel.
But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God’s curse.”
However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ”
Then they thought of the annual festival of the LORD held in Shiloh, south of Lebonah and north of Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.
Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards.
Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards,
When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife!
and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin.
And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ‘Please be sympathetic. Let them have your daughters, for we didn’t find wives for all of them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not actually give your daughters to them in marriage.’”
Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ”
So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.
And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.
Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes.
So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance.