Judges 21:16 Themes and Topics

The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife." And the people of Bethel came and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted their voices and {wept bitterly}. And they said, "Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has it happened today in Israel that one tribe is lacking from Israel?" read more.
On the next day the people rose early, and they built there an altar and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. And the {Israelites} said, "Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?" For a solemn oath was [taken] concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, "He will certainly be put to death." But the {Israelites} had compassion for Benjamin, their relatives, and they said, "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel. What will we do for them--for the [ones] being left over--for wives? For we have sworn by Yahweh not to give to them our daughters as wives." They asked, "Which one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?" And behold, no one came from Jabesh-gilead to the camp, to the assembly. The people were counted, and no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men from the troops, and they commanded them, saying, "Go, strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with {the edge of the sword}, and the women and children. This is the thing you will do: {you will destroy} every man and {every woman who had sex with a man}." And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not {had sex with a man}, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan. Then the congregation sent and spoke all [this] to the descendants of Benjamin who [were] at the rock of Rimmon, and {they assured them they would not be hurt}. And Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave to them the women whom they kept alive from Jabesh-gilead; but they were not enough for them. And the people felt sorry for Benjamin because {Yahweh weakened the tribes of Israel}. So the elders of the congregation said, "What should we do for the remaining [ones] for wives, since the women from Benjamin have been destroyed?" And they said, "[There must be] a remnant for Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. But we cannot give them wives from our daughters." (For the {Israelites} swore, saying, "Cursed be [anyone] who gives a wife to Benjamin.") And they said, "Look, the annual feast of Yahweh [is] in Shiloh, which [is] to the north of Bethel, {east} of [the] main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah. They instructed the descendants of Benjamin, saying, "Go, lie in ambush in the vineyards, and watch and look; when the daughters of Shiloh dance in the dances, come out from the vineyards and seize for yourselves a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. And if their fathers or their brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Allow us to have them, because we did not capture a wife for each man in the battle, and because you did not give [them] to them, {or else} you would have been guilty.'" The descendants of Benjamin did likewise, and they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they seized, and they went and returned to their territory, and they rebuilt the cities and they lived in them.

And to Moses he said, "Go up to Yahweh--you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy from the elders of Israel--and you will worship at a distance. Verse Concepts

Go and gather the elders of Israel and say to them, 'Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, "I have carefully attended to you and what has been done to you in Egypt." Verse Concepts

And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the {Israelites}. Verse Concepts

And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he placed before them all these words that Yahweh had commanded him. Verse Concepts

Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, heads, judges, and officials, and he said to them, "I am old and {well-advanced in years}, Verse Concepts

So the elders of the congregation said, "What should we do for the remaining [ones] for wives, since the women from Benjamin have been destroyed?" Verse Concepts

And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat. Verse Concepts

So she wrote letters in the name of Ahab and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who [were] dwelling with Naboth in his city. Verse Concepts

Her husband is known at the gates, in his seat among the elders of the land. Verse Concepts