Judges 21:20
in Judges 21So they commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
KJV
Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
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This verse in Judges 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh
on Judges 21:19-21
The feast is fixed by landmarks, “north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah”, more than a local would need. Barnes takes it for one of the three pilgrim feasts, while Gill argues from the title “feast to the LORD” that it was no fair or market. The daughters' dance becomes an ambush from “the vineyards”.
This site's exposition
Go, hide in the vineyards
Clarke observes that the vines were in full leaf at each of the great feasts, so the vineyards could hide a man. Matthew Henry calls the scheme a poor expedient for escaping a broken oath, and he draws the lesson of caution in making vows. The elders give the order.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But relenting at having laid so hard a sentence on their brothers, they moderated their severity so as to give them in marriage those maidens that had lost their parents, whose fathers had been slain for their sins, or to give them the means of finding a wife by a raid. Because of the villainy of so foul a deed, they who had violated another's marriage rights were shown to be unworthy to ask for marriage. But for fear that one tribe might perish from the people, they connived at the deceit.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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 L ORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the L ORD ?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:95%@v6-8
Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin,....
A sorry salvo is better than none, to save the breaking of an oath: it were much better to be cautious in making vows, that there be not occasion afterwards, as there was here, to say before the angel that it was an error.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְצַוּ֕וּ | vaytzav | and they commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בִנְיָמִ֖ן | vinyamin | Benjamin | H1144 → | 166 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְכ֖וּ | lekhu | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וַאֲרַבְתֶּ֥ם | vaaravtem | and you will lie in wait | H693 → | 41 times |
| בַּכְּרָמִֽים׃ | bakeramim | in the vineyards | H3754 → | 92 times |
וַיְצַוּ֕וּand they commanded
vaytzavH6680 →494 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] descendants of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
בִנְיָמִ֖ןBenjamin
vinyaminH1144 →166 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לְכ֖וּgo
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
וַאֲרַבְתֶּ֥םand you will lie in wait
vaaravtemH693 →41 times
בַּכְּרָמִֽים׃in the vineyards
bakeramimH3754 →92 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
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 3.19.115; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.