Judges 21:11
in Judges 21This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And this is the thing that ye shall do: ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
KJV
And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
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This verse in Judges 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men
on Judges 21:10-12
The order to “put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead” carries the wording of Deuteronomy 13:15, though here the offence is absence from Mizpah. Sparing the unmarried women follows the Midian rule of Numbers 31:17 and 18, applied to a town of Israel.
This site's exposition
Devote to destruction every male
Barnes gives the Hebrew behind devote to destruction as cherem. Henry grounds the command in Leviticus 27:29, where a person devoted to destruction must surely be put to death. The ban now falls on the men and women of an Israelite town.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), according to that law ( Lev. xxvii. 29 ), Whatsoever is devoted of men, by those that have power to do it, shall surely be put to death. [2.] An expedient is hence formed for providing the Benjamites with wives.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And this is the thing that ye shall do,.... Which they gave them in charge to execute: ye shall utterly destroy every male; without any reserve, young or old, married or unmarried: and every woman that hath lain by man; whether lawfully or unlawfully, in a married or unmarried state.
They did not repent of their zeal against the sin; there is a holy indignation against sin, the fruit of godly sorrow, which is to salvation, not to be repented of, 2 Cor. vii. But they repented of the sad consequences of what they had done, that they had carried the matter further than was either just or necessary.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ye shall utterly destroy - More exactly, “Ye shall devote to utter destruction,” or “cherem” (Lev 27:28 note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Four hundred virgin maids They placed them over the openings of wine barrels. Those with carnal knowledge emitted an aroma, the virgins did not. 3 Yevamos,:b.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְזֶ֥ה | vezeh | and this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הַדָּבָ֖ר | hadavar | [is] the thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תַּעֲשׂ֑וּ | taasu | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָכָ֗ר | zakhar | male | H2145 → | 82 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אִשָּׁ֛ה | ʾishah | woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| יֹדַ֥עַת | yodaat | [who] has known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מִשְׁכַּב־ | mishkav- | lying of | H4904 → | |
| זָכָ֖ר | zakhar | a male | H2145 → | 82 times |
| תַּחֲרִֽימוּ׃ | tacharimu | you will totally destroy | H2763 → |
וְזֶ֥הand this
vezehH2088 →1180 times
הַדָּבָ֖ר[is] the thing
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תַּעֲשׂ֑וּyou will do
taasuH6213 →2628 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זָכָ֗רmale
zakharH2145 →82 times
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אִשָּׁ֛הwoman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
יֹדַ֥עַת[who] has known
yodaatH3045 →945 times
מִשְׁכַּב־lying of
mishkav-H4904 →
זָכָ֖רa male
zakharH2145 →82 times
תַּחֲרִֽימוּ׃you will totally destroy
tacharimuH2763 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 2:34At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:3
Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and…
- Deuteronomy 7:2
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Deuteronomy 3:6
We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city.
- Joshua 7:11
Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these…
- Leviticus 27:28–29
Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 15:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.