Judges 21:22

Judges 21:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.’ ”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'"
• New King James Version (NKJV)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.’ ”

Context of Judges 21:22

20So they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go hide in the vineyards, 21and 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. 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.’” 23The 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. 24Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property.

Judges 21:22 word by word

וְהָיָ֡ה כִּֽי־יָבֹ֣אוּ אֲבוֹתָם֩ א֨וֹ אֲחֵיהֶ֜ם לָרִ֣יב אֵלֵ֗ינוּ וְאָמַ֤רְנוּ אֲלֵיהֶם֙ חָנּ֣וּנוּ אוֹתָ֔ם כִּ֣י לֹ֥א לָקַ֛חְנוּ אִ֥ישׁ אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֑ה כִּ֣י לֹ֥א אַתֶּ֛ם נְתַתֶּ֥ם לָהֶ֖ם כָּעֵ֥ת תֶּאְשָֽׁמוּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And it shall be, when their fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
• or their brethrenאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
• comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• unto us to complainרִיבrîyb rûb · to contendH7378
• that we will sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto them, Be favourableחָנַןchânan · be graciousH2603
• unto them for our sakes: because we reservedלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• not to each manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• his wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• in the warמִלְחָמָהmilchâmâh · battleH4421
• for ye did not giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: give(marriage)H5414
• unto them at this timeעֵת‛êth · timeH6256
• ye should be guiltyאָשַׁם'âsham 'âshêm · be guiltyH816

Cross-references for Judges 21:22

• Philemon 1:9I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus –
• Judges 21:14The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around.
• Genesis 1:27God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
• Genesis 7:13On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives.
• Mark 10:6But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female.
• 1 Corinthians 7:2But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with his own wife and each woman with her own husband.
• Judges 21:1The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.”
• Proverbs 20:25It is a snare for a person to rashly cry, “Holy!” and only afterward to consider what he has vowed.

Commentaries on Judges 21:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Be favorable unto them - They promise to use their influence with the men of Shiloh to induce them to consent to a connection thus fraudulently obtained, and which the necessity of the case appeared to them to justify. We reserved not to each man his wife in the war - The reading of the Vulgate is very remarkable: Miseremini eorum, non enim rapuerunt eas jure bellantium atque victorum, sed rogantibus ut acciperent non dedistis, et a vestra parte peccatum…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Ye did not give … - i. e., they had not broken the oath mentioned in Judges 21:1, so as to be guilty of taking the Lord‘s name in vain. They did not give their daughters to Benjamin: the Benjamites had taken them by force. Such casuistry as this condemns the system of oaths, and illustrates the wisdom of our Lord‘s precept Matthew 5:33-37.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-25These two epilogues (Judges 17–18 and 19–21) show that inspired but unstructured leadership cannot last. As society moved toward chaos and civil war, the phrase, In those days there was no king in Israel appears four times. The phrase, everyone did what was right in his own eyes is added twice (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The era of inspired leadership declined and ended in disorder. Something important was missing.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 21-2221-22. daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances--The dance was anciently a part of the religious observance. It was done on festive occasions, as it is still in the East, not in town, but in the open air, in some adjoining field, the women being by themselves. The young women being alone indulging their light and buoyant spirits, and apprehensive of no danger, facilitated the execution of the scheme of seizing them, which closely resembles the…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 21:22

• Government
• Kidnapping
• Marriage
• Rashness

In the dictionaries

• JabeshGilead
• Spring
• Wolf
• Israel, History of
• Jabesh-Gilead
• Judges, Book of
• Judges, Period of
• Dance

Commentaries on Judges 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary