Judges 21:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction."

NIV: "This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin."

NASB: And this is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has slept with a male.'

CSB: This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every woman who has gone to bed with a man."

NLT: This is what you are to do,' they said. 'Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.'

KJV: And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.

NKJV: And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.”

The terminology used by the Israelites here is specific, which makes it even more tragic. God had repeatedly commanded Israel to use this absolute, harsh approach against the Canaanite people of the Promised Land (Joshua 6:17–18; 10:28; 11:11, 20). This was not an issue of cruelty, but of purging deep evil from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–4; 12:29–31). Israel was to be God's instrument of judgment for the wickedness practiced for so long in Canaan. Israel often failed to carry this duty out.

Here, the same language describe what Israel intends for the people of Jabesh-gilead, their own kinsmen. The city's crime is failure to send anyone to the assembly against Gibeah and Benjamin (Judges 20:11–13; 21:5). Scripture gives no indication the Lord has directed Israel to do this. Everything in the passage indicates Israel is doing this to solve a problem they created. First, they were overly severe in punishing the Benjaminites (Judges 20:47–48). Second, they made foolish promises to God that put the tribe on the verge of extinction.

In summary, Israel seeks to solve a problem caused by too much killing with even more killing. A large force of soldiers are sent to kill every man, child, and married woman of the people of Jabesh-gilead (Judges 21:8–10).

Judges 21:8–25 closes the book of Judges by describing a convoluted process. Israel has made several ill-considered vows and gone too far in punishing the tribe of Benjamin. Without a creative way to find wives for the surviving men, the tribe will quickly die out. First, Israel destroys Jabesh-gilead for not joining in the war. The young women are spared and given to Benjaminites. The remaining two hundred men of Benjamin obtain wives through a staged kidnapping near Shiloh, so Israel can claim they never "gave" wives to Benjamin. The book ends with a reminder that Israel was without a king during this era.

Israel grieves the near extinction of the tribe of Benjamin, though the situation is the result of their own excessive force. Worse, the other eleven tribes vowed not to give wives to Benjamin. To prevent the loss of a tribe, two schemes are enacted. First, the Israelites of Jabesh-gilead are wiped out for not sending anyone to support the civil war; the young women are spared and given as wives to Benjamin. Next, the remaining unmarried men of Benjamin stage an arranged kidnapping to "take" wives they cannot be "given." The book ends with another reminder of Israel's lawlessness in this era.

Judges 21 finds the people of Israel reeling after they killed nearly every person in the tribe of Benjamin. This began as an effort to enact justice and turned into a wide-ranging massacre. To keep Benjamin from dying out, Israel's leaders must work around their own mistakes and two ill-considered vows. The book ends with another reminder that Israel was without a king in this era. The nation was literally leaderless, and spiritually rebellious. Soon, the judge-and-prophet Samuel will rise to guide the people into the era of kings.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).