Judges 21

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¹Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.” ✦ ²So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly. ✦ ³“Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!” ✦ ⁴The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. ✦ ⁵The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death. ✦ ⁶And the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites, and said, “Today a tribe is cut off from Israel. ✦ ⁷What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?” ✦ ⁸So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. ✦ ⁹For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there. ¹⁰So the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men and commanded them: “Go and put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children. ✦ ¹¹This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.” ✦ ¹²So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. ✦ ¹³Then the whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon. ✦ ¹⁴And at that time the Benjamites returned and were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough women for all of them. ✦ ¹⁵The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel. ✦ ¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” ¹⁷They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. ✦ ¹⁸But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.” ✦ ¹⁹“But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” ✦ ²⁰So they commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards ²¹and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ✦ ²²When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’” ✦ ²³The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them. ✦ ²⁴And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance. ²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Judg 21 ·18 Judg 20 ·12 Lev 23 ·5 Judg 11 ·4 1 Sam 14 ·4 Judg 18 ·3 Josh 18 ·3 1 Sam 11 ·3

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Judges videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Judges 21YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Judges 21David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudgesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Judges 21Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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