Israel Mourns for Benjamin
Study note
During the assembly at Mizpah, the Israelites had sworn an oath that none of them would give a daughter in marriage to anyone from Benjamin. Now, after nearly destroying the tribe, they gathered at Bethel and wept bitterly. They built an altar and offered sacrifices, asking God why one tribe of Israel was about to disappear. They were caught between their oath and their desire to preserve all twelve tribes. They could not simply break their oath, so they looked for a way around it.
1 At Mizpah, Israel's men had sworn an oath. "None of us will let his daughter marry a man from Benjamin." Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
2 The people traveled to Bethel and sat in God's presence until evening. They broke down and cried with deep, bitter tears. 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 They prayed, "Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened to us? How is it that today an entire tribe is missing from Israel?" 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 The next morning, the people got up early and built an altar. They brought their burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 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 Then the Israelites asked, "Did any tribe from all of Israel skip this meeting before the Lord?" This mattered because they had made a very serious promise. Anyone who did not come to the gathering at Mizpah would be put to death. 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 The Israelites were heartbroken over what had happened to their brother tribe, Benjamin. They said, "An entire tribe has been cut off from Israel today." 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 can we find wives for the men who survived? We took a solemn oath before the Lord that we would never give our own daughters to anyone from Benjamin." 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?
Wives from Jabesh-gilead
Study note
The Israelites discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the assembly at Mizpah. Since another oath required the death of anyone who failed to come, they sent twelve thousand soldiers to Jabesh-gilead. They found four hundred young unmarried women and brought them to Shiloh for the surviving Benjaminite men. But four hundred wives were not enough for six hundred men.
8 So they asked, "Did any tribe fail to show up at Mizpah to stand before the Lord?" They discovered that nobody from the town of Jabesh-gilead had come to the assembly. 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 They did a head count of the people, and sure enough, not a single person from Jabesh-gilead was there. For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
10 So the group sent twelve thousand of their best fighters. They told them, "Go to Jabesh-gilead. Strike down all who live there with the sword." 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 "Here is what you must do: wipe out every man and every woman who has been with a man." And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
12 Among the people of Jabesh-gilead, they found four hundred young women who had never been with a man. They brought these women back to their camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. 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 The whole group then sent a peace offer to the six hundred surviving men of Benjamin. They were hiding at the rock of Rimmon. 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 The Benjaminites came back, and they were given the women from Jabesh-gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough women for all the surviving men. 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 Everyone felt terrible about what had happened to Benjamin. The Lord had torn a gap in the tribes of Israel. And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
Wives from the Festival at Shiloh
Study note
The elders devised another plan to provide wives for the remaining two hundred Benjaminite men. They told them to hide in the vineyards near Shiloh during an annual festival. When the young women of Shiloh came out to dance, each Benjaminite man should grab one as a wife. If the fathers or brothers complained, the elders would ask them to be understanding, arguing that since the women were not 'given' voluntarily, the oath was not technically broken. The Benjaminites did this, rebuilt their towns, and settled down. The book ends with its central theme: 'In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.'
16 The elders of the assembly wondered aloud, "What can we do to find wives for the men who are left? All the women of Benjamin are gone." 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 They said, "The men of Benjamin who survived must have land passed down to them. Otherwise a whole tribe of Israel will be lost forever." 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 "But we cannot give them our own daughters. Every Israelite swore a binding oath. 'Cursed is anyone who gives a wife to a man from Benjamin.'" 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 someone came up with an idea. They said, "You know, there is a festival for the Lord held every year in Shiloh." The town of Shiloh sits north of Bethel, east of the road running from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah. 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 So they told the Benjaminite survivors, "Go hide yourselves in the vineyards near Shiloh." Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 "When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance at the festival, rush out from the vineyards. Each of you grab one of them to be your wife. Then hurry back to Benjamin's territory." 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 "If their fathers or brothers come to complain, we will say, 'Please do this as a favor to us. We could not get them wives during the fighting. And you did not break your oath, since you did not hand your daughters over on purpose.'" 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 The Benjaminites did exactly that. During the dancing, each man grabbed one of the women and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, rebuilt their towns, and settled into their homes. 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 After all this, the Israelites went home, each person returning to their own tribe, family, and piece of land. 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 Israel had no king in those days. Every person simply did whatever they thought was right. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.