21:1 Now the men of Yisra’ĕl had sworn an oath at Mitzpah, saying, "None of us shall give his daughter to Benyamin as a wife."
21:2* Then the people came to the house of Elohim, and remained there before Elohim till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,
21:3 and said, "O ADONAI (יהוה) Elohei Yisra’ĕl, why has this come to pass in Yisra’ĕl, that today there should be shevet echad (one tribe) missing in Yisra’ĕl?"
21:4 So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built a Mizbe'ach (altar) there, and offered Olot and Shalom offerings.
21:5 And Benai Yisra’ĕl said:
"Who is there among all the Shivtei (tribes) of Yisra’ĕl who did not come up with the kahal (assembly) to ADONAI (יהוה)?
For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to ADONAI (יהוה) to Mitzpah, saying,
"He shall surely be put to death."
21:6 And Benai Yisra’ĕl had compassion for Benyamin their brother, and said, "There is shevet echad (one tribe) cut off from Yisra’ĕl this day."
21:7 What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by ADONAI (יהוה) that we will not give them our banot as wives?"
21:8 And they said, "What one is there from the Shivtei (tribes) Yisra’ĕl who did not come up to Mitzpah to ADONAI (יהוה) ?" And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Yavesh-Gil'ad to the assembly.
21:9 For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil'ad was there.
21:10 So haEdah (congregation) sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying,
"Go and strike the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil'ad with the edge of the sword, including the women and children.
21:11 And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately."
21:12 So they found among the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil'ad four hundred na'arah betulah (virgins) who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Kena'an.
21:13 Then kol haEdah (whole congregation) sent word to Benai Benyamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced shalom to them.
21:14 So Benyamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Yavesh-Gil'ad; and yet they had not found enough for them.
21:15 And the people had compassion for Benyamin, because ADONAI (יהוה) had made a void in the Shivtei (tribes) Yisra’ĕl.
21:16 Then ziknei (elders) haEdah (congregation) said,
"What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benyamin have been destroyed?"
21:17 And they said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benyamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Yisra’ĕl.
21:18 However, we cannot give them wives from our banot, for Benai Yisra’ĕl have sworn an oath, saying, 'Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benyamin.' "
21:19 Then they said, "In fact, there is a yearly feast of ADONAI (יהוה) in Shiloh, which is tzaphon (north) Beit El, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beit El to Sh'khem, and negev (south) Levonah."
21:20 Therefore they instructed Benai Benyamin, saying, "Go, lie in wait in the avel-kramim (vineyards),
21:21 and watch; and just when the banot of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the avel-kramim (vineyards), and every man seize a wife for himself from the banot of Shiloh; then go to the Eretz Benyamin.
21:22 Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, 'Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.' "
21:23 And Benai Benyamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they have seized. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.
21:24 So Benai Yisra’ĕl departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and mishpakhah (his family); they went out from there, every man to his inheritance.
21:25 In those days there was no king in Yisra’ĕl: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6)
an oath at Mitzpah. The Yisraelites made an unwise oath not to "give" their daughters to the 600 surviving Benjamites (Jdg 20:47). But they realized that the latter would fade as a tribe unless they had wives (cf. Jdg 21:6-7), since the Benyamite women had died in the sack of Gibeah (Jdg 20:37). Cf. verse Jdg 21:9.
Mitzpah = “watchtower” look out
1) a place in Gilead north of Yabbok and location of Lavan’s cairn
2) a place in Gilead south of Yabbok; site unknown
3) a place near Mount Hermon
4) an old sacred place in Benyamin
21:19 The festival of Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) must have been on the pilgrimage route between Beit el in the south and Shechem (Tell Balatah, about thirty miles north of Jerusalem) to the north. Lebonah was located north of Shiloh (possibly either El-Lubban or Lubban Sherqujeh). All of these directions by the elders suggest that none of them had been to this Canaanite festival.
The Civil War Against Benyamin - Judges 19:1-21:25
Jdg 21:21-23. girls of Shiloh. The idea of stealing brides also occurs in early Greek and Roman traditions and probably reflects a practice that was not uncommon in the ancient world. The festival in question was apparently a Canaanite fertility ritual associated with the harvest.