Study Desk

He said to her, "Get up, and let us go." But there was no answer [for she had died]. Then he put her [body] on the donkey; and the man left and went home.

"So I took my concubine and cut her [corpse] in pieces and sent her [body parts] throughout the land of the inheritance of Israel; for the men of Gibeah have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

and we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to bring provisions for the men, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the despicable acts which they have committed in Israel."

And the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there [at Bethel] in those days,

and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, "Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I quit?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you."

So the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, "Certainly they are defeated before us as in the first battle!"

When the men of Israel turned back again, the men of Benjamin were terrified, for they saw that disaster had fallen upon them.

But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months.

Then the sons of Israel said, "Which one from all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?" For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, "He shall certainly be put to death."

And the sons of Israel felt sorry [and had compassion] for their brother Benjamin and said, "One tribe has been cut off from Israel today.

"What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn [an oath] by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?"

For when the people were assembled, behold, there was not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.

So [the survivors of] Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but there were not enough [to provide wives] for them.

And the people were sorry [and had compassion] for [the survivors of the tribe of] Benjamin because the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.

Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those [men] who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?"

They said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel.

"But we cannot give them wives from our daughters." For the sons of Israel had sworn [an oath], "Cursed is he who gives a wife to [a man from the tribe of] Benjamin."

"When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, 'Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take a wife for each man of Benjamin in battle, nor did you give wives to them, for that would have made you guilty [of breaking your oath].'"

Then she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in Moab how the LORD had taken care of His people [of Judah] in giving them food.

"Go back, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, and if I actually had a husband tonight and even gave birth to sons,