Why did Israel swear not to give their daughters as wives to Benjamin?

The men of Israel had just fought Benjamin because of a horrible crime that happened in Gibeah. In their anger and zeal for what was right, they swore that none of them would give his daughter as a wife to a Benjamite. This oath was meant to show how seriously they viewed the sin in Benjamin and to avoid close ties with those who had defended evil. Later they realized their oath, joined with the heavy losses in battle, almost wiped out a whole tribe and brought deep sorrow.

Why were the Israelites weeping and asking God why this had happened?

After the battles, Israel saw how few men from Benjamin were left. They had wanted to judge sin, but now they faced the loss of an entire tribe from God’s people. So they went to the house of God, stayed there, lifted up their voices, and wept with great sorrow. They asked, “O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass… that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?” Their grief shows the tension between judging evil and mourning the heavy cost of their own actions.

What was the purpose of destroying Jabesh gilead and taking the virgins?

When they counted the people, they saw that no one from Jabesh gilead had come to the earlier assembly to fight against Benjamin. Israel had made a strong oath that anyone who refused to come would be put to death. So they sent twelve thousand warriors to strike that town, sparing only young women who had not been with a man. These four hundred virgins were then given as wives to the surviving Benjamites. It was a harsh and troubled attempt to keep their oaths while rebuilding the tribe.

Why did the elders tell Benjamin to seize wives from the daughters of Shiloh?

Even after taking the virgins from Jabesh gilead, there were still not enough wives for all the surviving men of Benjamin. The elders would not break their oath by openly giving their daughters, so they looked for another way. They knew there was a yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh where the daughters came out to dance. They told the Benjamites to hide in the vineyards and each seize a wife when the women came out. Then they planned to calm the angry fathers and brothers by saying they had not “given” their daughters, so their oath was not broken.

What does the line "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" mean here?

The passage ends by saying there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes. This explains why so many twisted and painful things happened in this story. People were acting from their own judgment and strong feelings instead of steady, godly leadership. Even when they meant to do right, their solutions were mixed with harshness and compromise. That closing line is a warning about what happens when people follow their own ideas of right and wrong without clear guidance from God.

What does this passage teach about oaths and their consequences?

The people’s oath not to give their daughters to Benjamin seemed right to them in a moment of hot anger and grief. Later they discovered that their own words trapped them. They could not easily help their brothers in Benjamin without twisting the situation or hurting others. This shows that making strong promises too quickly can lead to deep regret and tangled choices. It also shows that even when people make unwise vows, God can still work through their failures to preserve His people and bring some measure of restoration.

How does this passage show both justice and mercy toward Benjamin?

First, Israel shows justice by punishing Benjamin for defending great wickedness in Gibeah. Many men of Benjamin fall in battle, and their cities are destroyed. Later, when the anger cools, the people weep for their brothers and fear losing a whole tribe. They seek ways to give the survivors wives and restore their inheritance. Their methods are flawed and harsh, yet behind them is a real desire to show mercy, keep the tribes together, and not let one branch of God’s people vanish from Israel.

Why is this passage difficult and troubling to read?

This passage is hard to read because it includes mass killing, forced marriages, and plans that seem unfair and cruel. It shows people trying to fix one terrible situation by creating others. The Bible does not praise everything the people do here; it simply tells what happened in a time when there was no king and everyone followed their own sense of right. The story lays bare how human anger, fear, and rash promises can lead to tragic choices, and it pushes us to long for better guidance from God.

What does this passage show about God’s care for His people?

Even though God’s name is not on every line, His care is seen in the concern that no tribe should disappear from Israel. The people cry out to Him, offer burnt and peace offerings, and speak of the Lord making “a breach” among the tribes. In their confusion and failure, God still preserves Benjamin from extinction. This points to a God who judges sin yet also guards the bigger purpose for His people, keeping them from tearing themselves apart beyond repair.

How can believers today learn from Israel’s actions in this chapter?

Believers can learn to be slow in making strong promises, especially in anger or deep emotion, because such words can bring painful results. We see that dealing with sin is necessary, but it must be joined with humility and mercy. The story also shows the need to seek God early and carefully, not only after things fall apart. Finally, the closing words about everyone doing what is right in their own eyes warn us to look to God’s guidance instead of trusting our own feelings or group pressure.

Judg.21.1

Judges 21:1

KJV

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

Wives for the Benjamites

Mourning Lost Tribe

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;

3 And said, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the Lord? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the Lord to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

7 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?

Provision for Their Survival

8 ¶ And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the Lord? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.

10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.

11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.

14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;

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.

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.

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.

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.

25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Cross References

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