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?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Then the elders of the congregation said, “How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?”
- KJV 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?
- BSB Then the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
- NASB Then the elders of the congregation said, “What are we to do for wives for those who are left, since the women have been eliminated from Benjamin?”
- NLT 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?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The elders again asked how to find wives for the remaining Benjamites, since Benjamin's own women were destroyed.
Overview
With 200 men still unmarried and the oath forbidding Israelite daughters, the leaders faced the dilemma anew. Their repeated questioning shows their commitment to preserving the tribe while honoring their vow. Yet the solution they devise reveals the moral murkiness of finding loopholes rather than repenting of the rash oath.
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 21:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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