Judges 21:23

The NET Bible®

The Benjaminites did as instructed. They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives. They went home to their own territory, rebuilt their cities, and settled down.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and lived in them.

Hebrew Names Version
The children of Binyamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and lived in them.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
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.

English Standard Version
And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.

New Century Version
So that is what the Benjaminites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them, took her away, and married her. Then they went back to the land God had given them and rebuilt their cities and lived there.

Amplified Bible
So the sons of [the tribe of] Benjamin did as instructed and took wives according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried away. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.

New American Standard Bible
The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they seized. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the cities and lived in them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the children of Beniamin did so, and tooke wiues of them that danced according to their nomber: which they tooke, and went away, and returned to their inheritance, and repaired the cities and dwelt in them.

Legacy Standard Bible
and for others, save, snatching them out of the fire; and on others have mercy with fear, hating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.

Contemporary English Version
The men of Benjamin went to Shiloh and hid in the vineyards. The young women soon started dancing, and each man grabbed one of them and carried her off. Then the men of Benjamin went back to their own land and rebuilt their towns and started living in them again.

Complete Jewish Bible
So the men of Binyamin did this — they took wives for themselves from the girls who were dancing, as many as they needed. They carried them off, went back to the land of their inheritance, rebuilt the cities and lived in them.

Darby Translation
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught; and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.

Easy-to-Read Version
So that is what the men of the tribe of Benjamin did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them. They took them away and married them. Then they went back to their land. The men of Benjamin built cities again in that land, and they lived in them.

George Lamsa Translation
And the Benjamites did so, and they took them wives from all of those who played tambourines, whom they caught; and they returned and went to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns, and dwelt in them.

Good News Translation
The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there.

Literal Translation
And the sons of Benjamin did so, and took women according to their number from the dancers whom they had seized. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and lived in them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The children of BenIamin did so, and acordinge to their nombre toke them wyues from the daunse, whom they caught by violence, and wente their waye, & dwelt in their awne inheritaunce, and buylded cities and dwelt therin.

American Standard Version
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.

Bible in Basic English
So the men of Benjamin did this, and got wives for themselves for every one of their number, taking them away by force from the dance; then they went back to their heritage, building up their towns and living in them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the children of Beniamin did eue so, and toke them wyues according to the numbre of them that dauced, whom they caught: and they went, and returned vnto their inheritaunce, and repayred the cities, and dwelt in them.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off; and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.

King James Version (1611)
And the children of Beniamin did so, and tooke them wiues according to their number, of them that daunced, whome they caught: and they went and returned vnto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the children of Benjamin did so; and they took wives according to their number from the dancers whom they seized: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.

English Revised Version
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.

Berean Standard Bible
The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the sones of Beniamyn diden as it was comaundid to hem, and bi her noumbre thei rauyschiden wyues to hem, ech man o wijf, of hem that ledden daunsis. And thei yeden in to her possessioun, and bildiden citees, and dwelliden in tho.

Young's Literal Translation
And the sons of Benjamin do so, and take women according to their number, out of the dancers whom they have taken violently away; and they go, and turn back unto their inheritance, and build the cities, and dwell in them.

Update Bible Version
And the sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives, according to their number, of those that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.

Webster's Bible Translation
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 to their inheritance, and repaired the cities and dwelt in them.

World English Bible
The children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and lived in them.

New King James Version
And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.

New Living Translation
So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.

New Life Bible
The men of Benjamin did so. They took wives from those who danced, one for each man. They carried them away and returned to their land. Then they built the cities again and lived in them.

New Revised Standard
The Benjaminites did so; they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they abducted. Then they went and returned to their territory, and rebuilt the towns, and lived in them.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the sons of Benjamin did so, and carried off wives, according to their number, of them who were dancing, whom they seized, - and they went their way, and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt therein.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the children of Benjamin did as they had been commanded: and, according to their number, they carried off for themselves every man his wife of them that were dancing: and they went into their possession, and built up their cities, and dwelt in them.

Revised Standard Version
And the Benjaminites did so, and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off; then they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns, and dwelt in them.

THE MESSAGE
And that's what the Benjaminites did: They carried off girls from the dance, wives enough for their number, got away, and went home to their inheritance. They rebuilt their towns and settled down.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them.

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ The leaders of the assembly said, "How can we find wives for those who are left? After all, the Benjaminite women have been wiped out. ¹⁷ The remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out. ¹⁸ But we can't allow our daughters to marry them, for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!' ¹⁹ However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah." ²⁰ So they commanded the Benjaminites, "Go hide in the vineyards, ²¹ and keep your eyes open. When you see the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration, jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin. ²² When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us, we'll say to them, "Do us a favor and let them be, for we could not get each one a wife through battle. Don't worry about breaking your oath! You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.'" ²³ The Benjaminites did as instructed. They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives. They went home to their own territory, rebuilt their cities, and settled down. ²⁴ Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property. ²⁵ In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

and they went: It appears that the Benjamites acted in the most honourable way to the women they had thus violently carried off, and we may rest assured, that they took them to an inheritance more than equal to their own. But this transaction, as well as the indiscriminate massacre of the people of Jabesh-gilead, as Dr. Gray observes, was certainly stamped with injustice and cruelty; and must be condemned on those principles which the Scriptures elsewhere furnish.

repaired: Judges 20:48

Cross-References

Genesis 20:14
So Abimelech gave sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him.

Genesis 21:21
He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Genesis 21:22
At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do.

Genesis 21:23
Now swear to me right here in God's name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you."

Genesis 24:3
so that I may make you solemnly promise by the Lord , the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

Genesis 26:28
They replied, "We could plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be a pact between us—between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you

Genesis 31:44
So now, come, let's make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace."

Genesis 31:53
May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us." Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared.

Deuteronomy 6:13
You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name.

Joshua 2:12
So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord 's name. Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. Give me a solemn pledge

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the children of Benjamin did so,.... Went and laid wait in the vineyards, and when the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance, they rushed upon them:

and took them wives according to their number; two hundred of them, each man a wife, and no more; for though polygamy was in use in those times, and if at any time necessary, and could be excused, it might seem now; yet it was not indulged to, neither by the elders, nor by the children of Benjamin:

of them that danced whom they caught; the rape of the Sabine virgins by Romulus, at the arena plays and shows, mentioned by various authors h, and the carrying off of fifteen Spartan virgins from the dances by Aristomenes the Messenian i, are sometimes observed as parallel cases to this, and justified by it, particularly that of Romulus k:

and they went and returned unto their inheritance; the six hundred Benjaminites, with their wives, returned to their own tribe, which was their inheritance by lot; and these, being the only survivors, had a right to the whole:

and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them: in process of time they rebuilt the cities the Israelites had burnt in the late war, and repeopled them as their posterity increased. And the Jewish writers say, that in later times they were allowed to marry with other tribes as before, since the oath only bound those present at Mizpeh; for they observe, that it ran only,

there shall not any of us, c. not any of our sons they might give wives to Benjamin, and so in time they became numerous again.

h Liv. Hist. l. 1. p. 7, 8. Flor Hist. Rom. l. 1. c. 1. Aurel. Victor. de Vir Illustr. c. 2. Valer. Maxim. l. 1. c. 4. i Hierop adv. Jovinian. l. 1. fol. 17. B, C. k Vid. Albericum Gentil. de armis Roman l. 2. p. 114.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare the very similar account of the rape of the Sabine women by the Romero youths at the festival of the Consualia, as related by Livy.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 21:23. They went and returned unto their inheritance — It appears that the Benjamites acted in the most honourable way by the women whom they had thus violently carried off; and we may rest assured they took them to an inheritance at least equal to their own, for it does not appear that any part of the lands of the Benjamites was alienated from them, and the six hundred men in question shared, for the present, the inheritance of many thousands.