Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.
And they said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel?
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings.
And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
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?
And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
And this is the thing that ye shall do: ye shall {Hebrew: devote.}utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
And the whole congregation sent and spake to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace unto them.
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.
And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.
Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
And they said, Behold, there is {Or, the feast}a feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
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.
And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to {Or, strive with us}complain unto us, that we will say unto them, Grant them {Or, as a gift}graciously unto us, because we took not for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did ye give them unto them, else would ye now be guilty.
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.
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.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Querverweise zu Richter 21,25 Ri 21,25
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing {Hebrew: power of restraint.}authority, {Or, that might do any hurt}that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man.
In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes;
And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah.
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail;Our lips are {Hebrew: with us.}our own: who is lord over us?
Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart,And lean not upon thine own understanding:
There is a way which {Or, is straight before}seemeth right unto a man;But the end thereof are the ways of death.
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.