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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	בְּנֵ֣י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Benjamin	בִנְיָמִ֔ן vin.ya.Min	H1144	Binjamin · proper noun, a man's name
so	וַיַּֽעֲשׂוּ vai.ya.'a.su-	H6213	to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
took	וַיִּשְׂא֤וּ vai.yis.'U	H5375	to lift · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
wives	נָשִׁים֙ na.Shim	H802	a woman · noun, common masculine plural absolute
number	לְמִסְפָּרָ֔ם le.mis.pa.Ram	H4557	a number · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
danced	הַמְּחֹלְל֖וֹת ha.me.cho.le.Lot	H2342	properly · definite article + verb, piel active participle, feminine plural absolute
caught	גָּזָ֑לוּ ga.Za.lu	H1497	to pluck off · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
went	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
returned	וַיָּשׁ֙וּבוּ֙ vai.ya.Shu.vu	H7725	to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
inheritance	נַ֣חֲלָתָ֔ם na.cha.la.Tam	H5159	properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
repaired	וַיִּבְנוּ֙ vai.yiv.Nu	H1129	to build (literally and figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
cities	הֶ֣עָרִ֔ים he.'a.Rim	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
dwelt	וַיֵּשְׁב֖וּ vai.ye.she.Vu	H3427	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Judges 20:48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city,…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 21:16–end

We have here the method that was taken to provide the 200 Benjamites that remained with wives. And, though the tribe was reduced to a small number, they were only in care to provide each man with one wife, not with more under pretence of multiplying them the faster. They may not bestow their daughters upon them, but to save their oath, and yet marry some of their daughters to them, they put them into a way of taking them by surprise, and marrying them, which should be ratified by their parents' consent, ex post facto - afterwards. The less consideration is used before the making of a vow, the more, commonly, there is need of afterwards for the keeping of it. I. That which gave an opportunity…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 21:21

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 Sabine rape in Roman history. The elders undertook to reconcile the families to the forced abduction of their daughters. And thus the expression of their public sanction to this deed of violence afforded a new evidence of the evils and difficulties int…

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John Gill on Judges 21:23

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), ar…

Dictionary and topics

Dance — Found in Judg. 21:21, 23; Ps. 30:11; 149:3; 150:4; Jer. 31:4, 13, etc., as the translation of hul, which points to the whirling motion of Oriental sacred dances. It is the rendering of a word…
Jabesh-Gilead — A town on the east of Jordan, on the top of one of the green hills of Gilead, within the limits of the half tribe of Manasseh, and in full view of Beth-shan. It is first mentioned in connection with…
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Remnant of, provided with wives to preserve the tribe — Remnant of, provided with wives to preserve the tribe
Kidnapping · INSTANCE OF — INSTANCE OF
Rashness · .Israel’ s vow to — .Israel’ s vow to

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 21:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 21:16–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 21:21

John Gill on Judges 21:23

Dictionary and topics

Judges 21:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 21:16–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 21:21

John Gill on Judges 21:23

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 21:23

Rashi on Judges 21:22