Judges 21:21-25
Judges 21:21
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.
Then
if they appear in dance, then the men of Benjamin were to break cover and go to
the place where the women were dancing and then they were to catch them and take
them for their wives and once they do that, then they were to go back to the
land of Benjamin and replenish the tribe so it would not go out of existence.
It must have worked because about a thousand years later the Apostle Paul
was descended from the tribe of Benjamin.
Circumcised the eighth day, of the
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching
the law, a Pharisee; (Philippians
3:5, KJV)
Judges 21:22
And
it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that
we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we
reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at
this time, that ye should be guilty.
Then
if the fathers or brothers of the women who the men of Benjamin had taken at
Shiloh make any type of complaint, they would ask them to be favorable unto them
since when they were at war with Benjamin, they did not leave any of the women
alive. The elders were the ones who
thought of this method to get the remaining 200 men their wives.
The fathers knew there was a curse on anyone who gave their daughters to
the men of Benjamin but the elders figured out that if the women were taken by
force from their dance, then it was not as if they were being given by their
fathers which means there would be no curse.
Judges 21:23
And
the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number,
of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their
inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
Then
the children of Benjamin did what the elders had told them and took the 200
wives from their dance. Then after
they took the wives they went back to their inheritance and rebuilt it and then
they lived in the repaired and rebuilt cities.
Judges 21:24
And
the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and
to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
So
then all the men of Benjamin had gone out from Shiloh to their inheritance and
also the children of Israel went back to their tribes and families, so all went
back to their rightful inheritances.
Judges 21:25
In
those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in
his own eyes.