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Saturday, August 2nd, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Amplified Bible

Judges 21:7

"What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn [an oath] by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Armies;   Discipline;   Rashness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Benjamin, Tribe of;   Oaths;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Mizpah;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Judges, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Benjamin;   Jabesh, Jabesh-Gilead;   Marriage;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Gibeah;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Oath;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Yiẓḥaḳ Bar Redifa;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives.”
Hebrew Names Version
How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
King James Version
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
Lexham English Bible
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."
English Standard Version
What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?"
New Century Version
We swore before the Lord that we would not allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite. How can we make sure that the remaining men of Benjamin will have wives?"
New English Translation
How can we find wives for those who are left? After all, we took an oath in the Lord 's name not to give them our daughters as wives."
New American Standard Bible
"What are we to do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
How shal we do for wiues to them that remaine, seeing we haue sworne by the Lorde, that we will not giue them of our daughters to wiues?
Legacy Standard Bible
Wat kan ons doen vir hulle wat oorgebly het, wat vroue aanbetref? Want ons het by die HERE gesweer dat ons nie van ons dogters aan hulle as vroue sal gee nie.
Contemporary English Version
Only a few men of Benjamin weren't killed in the war. We need to get wives for them, so the tribe won't completely disappear. But how can we do that, after promising in the Lord 's name that we wouldn't let them marry any of our daughters?"
Complete Jewish Bible
How are we going to obtain wives for those who remain alive, since we've sworn by Adonai that we won't let our daughters marry them?"
Darby Translation
What shall we do for wives for them that remain? since we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters for wives.
Easy-to-Read Version
We made a promise with an oath before the Lord . We promised not to allow our daughters to marry a man from Benjamin. How can we make sure that the men of Benjamin will have wives?"
George Lamsa Translation
And they said, What shall we do for those who are left without wives, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters to wife?
Good News Translation
What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters."
Literal Translation
What shall we do for them, for those who are left, for wives? For we surely have sworn by Jehovah not to give them of our daughters for wives.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
How wyll we do that the remnaunt maye haue wyues? For we haue sworne by the LORDE, that we wyl not geue the wyues of oure doughters.
American Standard Version
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
Bible in Basic English
What are we to do about wives for those who are still living? For we have taken an oath by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters for wives.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
What shall we do vnto the remnaunt of them, that they may haue wiues? we haue sworne by the Lorde, that we wyl not geue the of our daughters to wiues.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?'
King James Version (1611)
How shall wee doe for wiues for them that remaine, seeing wee haue sworne by the Lord, that wee will not giue them of our daughters to wiues?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
What shall we do for wives for the rest that remain? whereas we have sworn by the Lord, not to give them of our daughters for wives.
English Revised Version
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
Berean Standard Bible
What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
wherof schulen thei take wyues? for alle we sworen in comyn, that we schulen not yyue oure douytris to hem.
Young's Literal Translation
what do we do for them -- for those who are left -- for wives, and we -- we have sworn by Jehovah not to give to them of our daughters for wives?'
Update Bible Version
What shall we do for wives for those that remain, seeing we have sworn by Yahweh that we will not give them our daughters as wives?
Webster's Bible Translation
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD, that we will not give them of our daughters for wives?
World English Bible
How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by Yahweh that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
New King James Version
What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?"
New Living Translation
How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the Lord not to give them our daughters in marriage?"
New Life Bible
What will we do for wives for those who are left? We have promised by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage."
New Revised Standard
What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
What are we to do for them who remain, for wives, - seeing that, we ourselves, have sworn by Yahweh, not to give them of our daughters, for wives?
Douay-Rheims Bible
Whence shall they take wives? For we have all in general sworn, not to give our daughters to them.
Revised Standard Version
What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"

Contextual Overview

1Now the men of Israel had sworn [an oath] at Mizpah, "None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to [a man of] Benjamin." 2So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3They said, "O LORD, God of Israel, why has this come about in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?" 4And the next day the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5Then the sons of Israel said, "Which one from all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?" For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, "He shall certainly be put to death." 6And the sons of Israel felt sorry [and had compassion] for their brother Benjamin and said, "One tribe has been cut off from Israel today. 7"What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn [an oath] by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?"8And they said, "Which one is there of the tribes from Israel that did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?" And behold, [it was discovered that] no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. 9For when the people were assembled, behold, there was not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. 10And the congregation sent twelve thousand of the most courageous men there, and commanded them saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including the women and the children.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sworn: Judges 21:1, Judges 21:18, 1 Samuel 14:28, 1 Samuel 14:29, 1 Samuel 14:45

Reciprocal: Leviticus 5:4 - to do evil Judges 21:22 - give unto Matthew 14:9 - the oath's

Cross-References

Genesis 21:11
The situation distressed Abraham greatly because of his son [Ishmael].
Genesis 21:12
God said to Abraham, "Do not let it distress you because of Ishmael and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her and do what she asks, for your descendants will be named through Isaac.
Genesis 21:32
So they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
Genesis 21:34
And Abraham lived [as a resident alien] in the land of the Philistines for many days.
Numbers 23:23
"For there is no enchantment or omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel. At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what has God done!
Psalms 86:8
There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works [of wonder and majesty] like Yours.
Psalms 86:10
For You are great and do wondrous works! You alone are God.
Isaiah 49:21
"Then [Zion], you will say in your heart, 'Who has borne me these children, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Indeed, I was left alone; From where then did these children come?'"
Isaiah 66:8
"Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Or can a nation be brought forth in a moment? As soon as Zion was in labor, she also brought forth her sons.
Ephesians 3:10
So now through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God [in all its countless aspects] might now be made known [revealing the mystery] to the [angelic] rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

How shall we do for wives for them that remain,.... By which it seems, as well as by what is after related, that they knew of the six hundred men hid in the rock Rimmon:

seeing we have sworn by the Lord; by the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; and such an oath with them was a sacred thing, and to be kept inviolable, even to their own hurt:

that we will not give them of our daughters to wives; as in

Judges 21:1 and therefore they must either marry among the Heathens, which was forbidden, or they must make void their oath, or the tribe in a little time would be extinct; these were difficulties they knew not how to surmount, and this was the object of their inquiry.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 21:7. How shall we do for wives for them — From this it appears that they had destroyed all the Benjamitish women and children! They had set out with the purpose of exterminating the whole tribe, and therefore they massacred the women, that if any of the men escaped, they might neither find wife nor daughter; and they bound themselves under an oath not to give any of their females to any of the remnant of this tribe, that thus the whole tribe might utterly perish.


 
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