Judges 21:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

NIV: and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin.

NASB: and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards, and each of you shall seize his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

CSB: Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

NLT: When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife!

KJV: 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.

NKJV: and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin.

Scripture gives no details about the festival being held in Shiloh (Judges 21:19). The Israelite leaders called it a yearly feast of the Lord. It may be one of the three annual feasts commanded to be held by the Lord in Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. The law required every male of Israel to be in attendance. That this festival is known to feature dancing women, however, leads commentators to speculate. Perhaps Canaan's influence on the Israelites has changed the nature of this spiritual feast into more of regional celebration of food, wine, and dancing. It appears to be held near a vineyard, as well.

In any case, the Israelite leaders expect the daughters of Shiloh to come out during the festival and participate in the dances. Referring to them as the "daughters of Shiloh" may suggest that these young, unmarried women are part of a specific group of regional girls and not simply any daughters of any Israelites who attend the festival. They were a large group, apparently, since the Israelite leaders expected there to be enough for each of the two hundred unmarried Benjaminite men (Judges 21:12–14).

Israel commanded the men of Benjamin to wait in ambush. Each was to take a young lady while she is dancing and then carry her back to their territory in Benjamin as a wife. The Hebrew word translated "snatch" or "catch" literally means "to seize," and is sometimes translated as "abduct." The term implies force and violence, which of course this is. At the same time, Israel already plans to legitimize these as they would other arranged marriages—but after the women are "taken," so they can claim they did not "give" wives in violation of their senseless promise (Judges 21:1).

Part of the irony in this moment is that the tribe of Benjamin was judged for the gang rape of an unwilling young woman (Judges 19:22–28; 20:11–13). Now Israel is solving the problem created by their excessive application of judgment (Judges 20:47–48) through forced abduction of young women. These women will be made legitimate wives, and physical violation is not part of what's described here. However, the relationship begins without their consent or that of their fathers and families. That permission will be obtained after they are "seized," as a loophole in Israel's earlier vow (Judges 21:22).

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).