Judges 21
1 and man Israel to swear in/on/with Mizpah to/for to say man: anyone from us not to give: give(marriage) daughter his to/for Benjamin to/for woman: wife
When the Israeli men gathered at Mizpah [before the battle started], they vowed, “None of us will ever allow one of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin!”
2 and to come (in): come [the] people Bethel Bethel and to dwell there till [the] evening to/for face: before [the] God and to lift: loud voice their and to weep weeping great: large
But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
3 and to say to/for what? LORD God Israel to be this in/on/with Israel to/for to reckon: missing [the] day: today from Israel tribe one
They kept saying, “Yahweh, God of us Israeli people, [it is as though] one of the tribes of us Israelis does not exist any more! (Why has this happened to us?/It is terrible that this has happened to us!)” [RHQ]
4 and to be from morrow and to rise [the] people and to build there altar and to ascend: offer up burnt offering and peace offering
Early the next morning the people built an altar. Then they completely burned some sacrifices [on the altar], and also offered other sacrifices to maintain fellowship with God.
5 and to say son: descendant/people Israel who? which not to ascend: rise in/on/with assembly from all tribe Israel to(wards) LORD for [the] oath [the] great: large to be to/for which not to ascend: rise to(wards) LORD [the] Mizpah to/for to say to die to die
Then, because they had vowed that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah [to help fight the men of the tribe of Benjamin] would be killed, they asked among themselves, “Were there any of the tribes of Israel who did not come to Mizpah to meet with us in the presence of Yahweh?”
6 and to be sorry: comfort son: descendant/people Israel to(wards) Benjamin brother: male-sibling his and to say to cut down/off [the] day: today tribe one from Israel
The Israelis felt sorry for their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Benjamin. They said, “Today one of our Israeli tribes (has disappeared/no longer exists).
7 what? to make: do to/for them to/for to remain to/for woman: wife and we to swear in/on/with LORD to/for lest to give: give(marriage) to/for them from daughter our to/for woman: wife
Yahweh heard us solemnly declare that we would not allow any of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin. What can we do to make certain that the men of the tribe of Benjamin who were not killed will have wives?”
8 and to say who? one from tribe Israel which not to ascend: rise to(wards) LORD [the] Mizpah and behold not to come (in): come man: anyone to(wards) [the] camp from Jabesh (Jabesh)-gilead to(wards) [the] assembly
Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9 and to reckon: list [the] people: soldiers and behold nothing there man: anyone from to dwell Jabesh (Jabesh)-gilead
[They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
10 and to send: depart there [the] congregation two ten thousand man from son: warrior [the] strength and to command [obj] them to/for to say to go: went and to smite [obj] to dwell Jabesh (Jabesh)-gilead to/for lip: edge sword and [the] woman and [the] child
So all the Israelis decided to send 12,000 very good soldiers to Jabesh-Gilead to kill the people there with their swords, even to kill the married women and children.
11 and this [the] word: thing which to make: do all male and all woman to know bed male to devote/destroy
[They told this to those men]: “This is what you must do: You must kill every man in Jabesh-Gilead. You must also kill every married woman. [But do not kill the unmarried women].”
12 and to find from to dwell Jabesh (Gilead) (Jabesh)-gilead four hundred maiden virgin which not to know man to/for bed male and to come (in): bring [obj] them to(wards) [the] camp Shiloh which in/on/with land: country/planet Canaan
So those soldiers [went to Jabesh-Gilead and killed all the men, married women, and children. But they] found 400 unmarried young women there. So they brought them to their camp at Shiloh, in Canaan, [across the river from the Gilead area that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin].
13 and to send: depart all [the] congregation and to speak: speak to(wards) son: descendant/people Benjamin which in/on/with crag (Rock of) Rimmon and to call: call out to/for them peace
Then all the Israelis [who had gathered] sent a message to the 600 men who were at Rimmon Rock. They said that they would like to make peace with them.
14 and to return: return Benjamin in/on/with time [the] he/she/it and to give: give(marriage) to/for them [the] woman which to live from woman Jabesh (Gilead) (Jabesh)-gilead and not to find to/for them so
So the men came back from Rimmon Rock. The Israelis gave to them the women from Jabesh-Gilead whom they had not killed. But there were [only 400 women. But there were] not enough women [for those 600 men].
15 and [the] people to be sorry: comfort to/for Benjamin for to make LORD breach in/on/with tribe Israel
The Israelis [still] felt sorry for the men of the tribe of Benjamin, because Yahweh had (decimated/almost wiped out) one of the Israeli tribes.
16 and to say old: elder [the] congregation what? to make: do to/for to remain to/for woman: wife for to destroy from Benjamin woman
The Israeli leaders said, “We have killed all the married women of the tribe of Benjamin. Where can we get women to be wives of the men who are still alive?
17 and to say possession survivor to/for Benjamin and not to wipe tribe from Israel
These men must have wives to give birth to children, in order that their families will continue. If that does not happen, all the people of one of the tribes of Israel will die.
18 and we not be able to/for to give: give(marriage) to/for them woman: wife from daughter our for to swear son: descendant/people Israel to/for to say to curse to give: give(marriage) woman: wife to/for Benjamin
But we cannot allow our daughters to marry these men, because we vowed that Yahweh will curse anyone who gives one of his daughters to become a wife of any man of the tribe of Benjamin.”
19 and to say behold feast LORD in/on/with Shiloh from day: year day: year [to] which from north [to] to/for Bethel Bethel east [to] [the] sun to/for highway [the] to ascend: rise from Bethel Bethel Shechem [to] and from south to/for Lebonah
Then [one of] them (had an idea/thought of something that they could do). He said, “Every year there is a festival to honor Yahweh at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel and east of the road that extends from Bethel to Shechem, and it is south of Lebonah [city].”
20 (and to command *QK) [obj] son: descendant/people Benjamin to/for to say to go: went and to ambush in/on/with vineyard
So the Israeli leaders told the men of the tribe of Benjamin, “[When it is the time for that festival], go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards.
21 and to see: see and behold if to come out: come daughter Shiloh to/for to twist: dance in/on/with dance and to come out: come from [the] vineyard and to catch to/for you man: anyone woman: wife his from daughter Shiloh and to go: went land: country/planet Benjamin
Keep watching for the young women to come out of the city to dance. [When they come out], all of you should run out of the vineyards. Each of you can seize one of the young women of Shiloh. Then you can all return to your homes [with those women].
22 and to be for to come (in): come father their or brother: male-sibling their (to/for to contend *Qk) to(wards) us and to say to(wards) them be gracious us [obj] them for not to take: take man: anyone woman: wife his in/on/with battle for not you(m. p.) to give: give(marriage) to/for them like/as time be guilty
If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain [about what you have done], we will say to them, ‘Be kind to the men of the tribe of Benjamin. When we fought them, we did not leave any women alive to become their wives, and you did not give those young women to the men from the tribe of Benjamin. [They stole them]. So you will not be guilty, [even though you said that you would not allow any of your daughters to marry one of them].’”
23 and to make: do so son: descendant/people Benjamin and to lift: marry woman: wife to/for number their from [the] to twist: dance which to plunder and to go: went and to return: return to(wards) inheritance their and to build [obj] [the] city and to dwell in/on/with them
So that is what the men of the tribe of Benjamin did. [They went to Shiloh at the time of the festival]. And when the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them and took her away and married her. Then they took their wives back to the land that God had given to them. They rebuilt their cities [that had been burned down], and they lived there.
24 and to go: went from there son: descendant/people Israel in/on/with time [the] he/she/it man: anyone to/for tribe his and to/for family his and to come out: come from there man: anyone to/for inheritance his
The other Israelis went to their homes in the areas where their tribes and clans lived, the areas that God had allotted to them.
25 in/on/with day [the] they(masc.) nothing king in/on/with Israel man: anyone [the] upright in/on/with eye his to make: do
At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
