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Judges 21:14

in Judges 21

And at that time the Benjamites returned and were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough women for all of them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

KJV

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.

This verse in Judges 21

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Yet so they sufficed them not - There were six hundred men at Rimmon, and all the young women they saved from Jabesh were only four hundred; therefore, there were two hundred still wanting.

This site's exposition

the whole congregation sent a message of peace

on Judges 21:13-14

Peace is sent to the six hundred at “the rock of Rimmon”, where 20:47 says they stayed four months, and the women are handed over. The four hundred do not cover six hundred, and the text says so, “there were not enough women for all of them”. Jabesh returns twice in Saul's story, rescued by him at 1 Samuel 11 and burying his bones at 1 Samuel 31:11 to 13.

This site's exposition

the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead

Ambrose notes that the women given here had lost their fathers, killed for the offence of their town. Clarke counts two hundred men still without wives. The elders must look for another way.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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. We have here the method that was taken to provide the 200 Benjamites that remained with wives.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:83%@v23-25

And Benjamin came again at that time,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיָּ֤שָׁבand it returned

    vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times

  • בִּנְיָמִן֙Benjamin

    binyaminH1144 →166 times

  • בָּעֵ֣תat the time

    baetH6256 →296 times

  • הַהִ֔יא<the> that

    hahi'H1931 →1879 times

  • וַיִּתְּנ֤וּand they gave

    vaiyitenuH5414 →2011 times

  • לָהֶם֙to <the> them

    lahem

  • הַנָּשִׁ֔יםthe women

    hanashimH802 →781 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • חִיּ֔וּthey had preserved alive

    chiyuH2421 →282 times

  • מִנְּשֵׁ֖יfrom [the] women of

    minesheiH802 →781 times

  • יָבֵ֣שׁJabesh

    yaveshH3003 →24 times

  • גִּלְעָ֑דGilead

    giladH1568 →134 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • מָצְא֥וּthey found

    matzeuH4672 →455 times

  • לָהֶ֖םfor <the> them

    lahem

  • כֵּֽן׃so

    kenH3651 →771 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Corinthians 7:2

    But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 5:28

      In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

    • Ephesians 5:33

      Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

    • 1 Corinthians 7:9

      But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

    • Proverbs 5:18–19

      May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

    • Proverbs 18:22

      He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

  • Through

    Judges 21:12

    So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 18:1

      Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,

    • Psalms 78:60

      He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.

  • Through

    Judges 20:47

    But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 14:7

      Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Judges

The Benjaminites Take the Virgins of Jabesh-gilead — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Benjaminites Take the Virgins of Jabesh-gilead — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.