Bible Strands
Judges 21:23
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative describes the surviving Benjamite men executing a prearranged plan immediately after the civil war against their tribe. They act autonomously to secure wives and restore their territorial inheritance before the broader Israelite assembly disperses.
The words — The text highlights וַיַּעֲשׂוּ־כֵן (va.ya'asu-khen), meaning "and they did thus," and וַיִּשְׂאוּ נָשִׁים (va.yisa'u nashim), meaning "and they carried off wives." These verbs mark the precise mechanical fulfillment of the preceding arrangement.
The thread — The restoration of tribal inheritance directly precedes Judges 21:24, where every Israelite returns to his tribe and clan. This action follows the devastation recorded in Judges 20:48, where the men of Israel put the Benjamite cities to the sword.
Why it lands — The verse records the completion of a desperate survival strategy without moral commentary. It requires the reader to observe how tribal preservation mechanisms operate independently of communal law.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
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.
Cross-references
- Judges 20:48 And the men of Israel turned back against the other Benjamites and put to the sword all the cities, including the animals and everything else they found. And they burned down all the cities in their path.