Judges 21:7
in Judges 21What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
KJV
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
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This verse in Judges 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseHow shall we do for wives for them - From this it appears that they had destroyed all the Benjamitish women and children! They had set out with the purpose of exterminating the whole tribe, and therefore they massacred the women, that if any of the men escaped, they might neither find wife nor daughter; and they bound themselves under an oath not to give any of their females to any of the remnant of this tribe, that thus the whole tribe might utterly perish.
This site's exposition
the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites
on Judges 21:6-7
They grieve for “their brothers, the Benjamites”, the word Israel used at 20:28 when it asked whether to fight them once more. The grief is over the outcome and not the sentence, since 20:48 had put the cities of Benjamin to the sword and the fire. Verse 7 states the deadlock the last eighteen verses answer, “we have sworn by the LORD”.
This site's exposition
wives for the survivors
The question shows, in Clarke's reading, that every woman of Benjamin had died in the war. He holds that the oath and the slaughter together aimed at ending the tribe. Six hundred men remained.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
How shall we do for wives for them that remain,....
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| נַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה | naaseh | will we do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| לַנּוֹתָרִ֖ים | lanotarim | for <the> [those who] remain | H3498 → | 106 times |
| לְנָשִׁ֑ים | lenashim | for wives | H802 → | 781 times |
| וַאֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ | vaanachnu | and we | H587 → | 120 times |
| נִשְׁבַּ֣עְנוּ | nishba'nu | we have sworn | H7650 → | 186 times |
| בַֽיהוָ֔ה | bayahweh | by Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֛י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| תֵּת־ | tet- | to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָהֶ֥ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| מִבְּנוֹתֵ֖ינוּ | mibenoteinu | any of daughters our | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לְנָשִֽׁים׃ | lenashim | to wives | H802 → | 781 times |
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
נַּעֲשֶׂ֥הwill we do
naasehH6213 →2628 times
לָהֶ֛םfor <the> them
lahem
לַנּוֹתָרִ֖יםfor <the> [those who] remain
lanotarimH3498 →106 times
לְנָשִׁ֑יםfor wives
lenashimH802 →781 times
וַאֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙and we
vaanachnuH587 →120 times
נִשְׁבַּ֣עְנוּwe have sworn
nishba'nuH7650 →186 times
בַֽיהוָ֔הby Yahweh
bayahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְבִלְתִּ֛יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
תֵּת־to give
tet-H5414 →2011 times
לָהֶ֥םto <the> them
lahem
מִבְּנוֹתֵ֖ינוּany of daughters our
mibenoteinuH1323 →588 times
לְנָשִֽׁים׃to wives
lenashimH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
1 Samuel 14:45But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die—he who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the…
it leads to
- Luke 21:18
Yet not even a hair of your head will perish.
- Acts 27:34
So for your own preservation, I urge you to eat something, because not a single hair of your head will be lost.”
- 2 Samuel 14:11
“Please,” she replied, “may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!” “As surely as the LORD…
- 1 Kings 1:52
And Solomon replied, “If he is a man of character, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground. But if evil is found in him, he will die.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:1
As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- Luke 21:18
Through
Judges 21:18But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.”
it leads to
- Judges 21:1
Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
- Judges 21:1
Through
Judges 21:1Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
it leads to
- Judges 20:1
Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
- Acts 23:12
When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
- Judges 20:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.