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Wednesday, August 27th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Complete Jewish Bible

Judges 21:21

and keep watch. If the girls of Shiloh come out to do their dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each of you catch for himself a wife from the Shiloh girls, and go on to the land of Binyamin.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Dancing;   Government;   Grape;   Kidnapping;   Marriage;   Rashness;   Women;   Thompson Chain Reference - Dancing;   Kidnapping;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Benjamin, Tribe of;   Woman;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Shiloh;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Dancing;   Gibeah;   Shiloh;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Dance;   Samuel;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Dance;   Shiloh (2);   Women;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Judges, Book of;   Music, Instruments, Dancing;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Benjamin;   Feasts;   Jabesh, Jabesh-Gilead;   Judges (1);   Marriage;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Shiloh ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Dance;   Gibeah;   Shiloh;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Dance;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Gesture;   Shiloh (2);   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Benjamin;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Dancing;   Festivals;   Jabesh;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Hebrew Names Version
and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come you out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Binyamin.
King James Version
And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Lexham English Bible
and watch and look; when the daughters of Shiloh dance in the dances, come out from the vineyards and seize for yourselves a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
English Standard Version
and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
New Century Version
Watch for the young women from Shiloh to come out to join the dancing. Then run out from the vineyards and take one of the young Shiloh women and return to the land of Benjamin.
New English Translation
and keep your eyes open. When you see the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration, jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin.
Amplified Bible
and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of [the tribe of] Benjamin.
New American Standard Bible
and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards, and each of you shall seize his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And when ye see that the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catche you euery man a wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and goe into the land of Beniamin.
Legacy Standard Bible
keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Contemporary English Version
Wait there for the young women of Shiloh to come out and perform their dances. Then rush out and grab one of the young women, then take her home as your wife.
Darby Translation
and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Easy-to-Read Version
Watch for the time during the festival when the young women from Shiloh come out to join the dancing. Then run out from where you are hiding in the vineyards. Each of you should take one of the young women from the city of Shiloh. Take them to the land of Benjamin and marry them.
George Lamsa Translation
And when you shall see the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance with tambourines, then come out of the vineyards and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Good News Translation
and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you.
Literal Translation
And you shall watch. And, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then you shall go out from the vineyards and each of you catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And whan ye se that the doughters of Silo go forth by copanyes to daunse, get you out of the vynyardes, and euery man take him a wyfe of the doughters of Silo, and go youre waye in to the lode of BenIamin.
American Standard Version
and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Bible in Basic English
And watching; and if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then come from the vine-gardens and take a wife for every one of you from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go back to the land of Benjamin.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when ye see that the daughters of Silo come out to daunce in daunces, the come ye out of the vineyardes & catche you euery man a wyfe of the daughters of Silo, & go to the lande of Beniamin.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
King James Version (1611)
And see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to daunce in daunces, then come yee out of the vineyards, and catch you euery man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and goe to the land of Beniamin.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and ye shall see; and lo! if there come out the daughters of the inhabitants of Selom to dance in dances, then shall ye go out of the vineyards and seize for yourselves every man a wife of the daughters of Selom, and go ye into the land of Benjamin.
English Revised Version
and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Berean Standard Bible
and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and whanne ye seen douytris of Silo go forth bi custom to lede daunsis, go ye out of the vyneris sudeynli, and rauysche ye hem, eche man o wijf, and go ye in to the lond of Beniamyn.
Young's Literal Translation
and have seen, and lo, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances -- then ye have gone out from the vineyards, and caught for you each his wife out of the daughters of Shiloh, and gone to the land of Benjamin;
Update Bible Version
and see, and watch if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and you catch every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Webster's Bible Translation
And see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
World English Bible
and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come you out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
New King James Version
and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin.
New Living Translation
When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife!
New Life Bible
and watch. The daughters of Shiloh might come out to dance. Then come out of the grape-fields. Each of you will catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh. Then go to the land of Benjamin.
New Revised Standard
and watch; when the young women of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and each of you carry off a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and look, and lo! if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then shall ye come forth out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife, of the daughters of Shiloh, - and go your way to the land of Benjamin.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And when you shall see the daughters of Silo come out, as the custom is, to dance, come ye on a sudden out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife among them, and go into the land of Benjamin.
Revised Standard Version
and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and seize each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

Contextual Overview

16 The leaders of the assembly asked, "What are we to do for those who still don't have wives, inasmuch as all the women of Binyamin have been killed?" 17 They said, "There has to be a way to help the survivors preserve Binyamin's inheritance, so that a tribe will not be eliminated from Isra'el. 18 Yet we can't give them our daughters as wives." For the people of Isra'el had sworn, "Cursed be whoever gives a wife to Binyamin." 19 Then they said, "Look, each year there's a festival in honor of Adonai in Shiloh, north of Beit-El, on the east side of the road that goes up from Beit-El to Sh'khem, and south of Levonah." 20 They ordered the men of Binyamin, "Go, hide in the vineyards, 21 and keep watch. If the girls of Shiloh come out to do their dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each of you catch for himself a wife from the Shiloh girls, and go on to the land of Binyamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Give them as a personal favor to us, because we didn't take wives for each of them in battle. You didn't give them to them; that would have made you guilty of breaking your oath.'" 23 So the men of Binyamin did this — they took wives for themselves from the girls who were dancing, as many as they needed. They carried them off, went back to the land of their inheritance, rebuilt the cities and lived in them. 24 The people of Isra'el then left that place, each man returned to his tribe and family, and each man went out from there to the land he had inherited. 25 At that time there was no king in Isra'el; a man simply did whatever he thought was right.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

dance: Judges 11:34, Exodus 15:20, 1 Samuel 18:6, 2 Samuel 6:14, 2 Samuel 6:21, Psalms 149:3, Psalms 150:4, Ecclesiastes 3:4, Jeremiah 31:13, Matthew 10:17, Luke 17:25

Reciprocal: Joshua 19:51 - in Shiloh Judges 18:31 - all the time

Cross-References

Genesis 21:3
Avraham called his son, born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Yitz'chak.
Genesis 21:4
Avraham circumcised his son Yitz'chak when he was eight days old, as God had ordered him to do.
Genesis 21:34
Avraham lived for a long time as a foreigner in the land of the P'lishtim.
Numbers 10:12
and the people of Isra'el moved out in stages from the Sinai Desert. The cloud stopped in the Pa'ran Desert.
Numbers 12:16
Afterwards, the people went on from Hatzerot and camped in the Pa'ran Desert. Haftarah B'ha‘alotkha: Z'kharyah (Zechariah) 2:14 – 4:7 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah B'ha‘alotkha: Yochanan (John) 19:31–37; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 3:1–6
Numbers 13:3
Moshe dispatched them from the Pa'ran Desert as Adonai had ordered; all of them were leading men among the people of Isra'el.
Numbers 13:26
and went to Moshe, Aharon and the entire community of the people of Isra'el at Kadesh in the Pa'ran Desert, where they brought back word to them and to the entire community and showed them the fruit of the land.
Judges 14:2
He came up and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the P'lishtim. Now get her for me to be my wife."
1 Samuel 25:1
Sh'mu'el died. All of Isra'el assembled to mourn him and bury him at his home in Ramah. Then David set out and went down to the Pa'ran Desert.
1 Corinthians 7:38
So the man who marries his fiancée will do well, and the man who doesn't marry will do better.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances,.... As they used to do at this festival, not along with men, but by themselves; and so might the more easily be taken and carried off; and though only males were obliged to appear from all parts at this feast, yet females might come if they would; and, no doubt, from neighbouring places, at least many did; however, the daughters of Shiloh, who dwelt where the tabernacle was, these always attended the feast with demonstrations of joy, and among the rest with dancing, and that as expressive of spiritual and religious joy, as in the case of Miriam, and the Israelitish women, Exodus 15:20 and as in latter times the most religious men used to express their joy at this feast; now the two hundred men in the vineyards, which lay near the field where these virgins used to dance at this time, were to watch and observe when they came out of the city thither, and were engaged in such an exercise:

then come ye out of the yards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin; they are directed to rush out at once upon them, as they were dancing, secure, as they thought, from molestation and danger; and they were to take everyone one, not more, and go off directly with them to their own tribe.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 21:21. And catch you every man his wife — That is, Let each man of the two hundred Benjamites seize and carry off a woman, whom he is, from that hour, to consider as his wife.


 
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