Judges 21:12 (DBY)

Passage

And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead four hundred young women that were virgins, who had known no man by lying with any male, and they brought them to the camp, to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Nearby Context

Judges 21:10 And the assembly sent thither twelve thousand men of the most valiant and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead with the edge of the sword, and the women and the children.

Judges 21:11 And this is the thing which ye shall do: ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain with man.

Judges 21:12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead four hundred young women that were virgins, who had known no man by lying with any male, and they brought them to the camp, to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Judges 21:13 And the whole assembly sent to speak to the children of Benjamin that were at the cliff of Rimmon, and to proclaim peace to them.

Judges 21:14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them the wives whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-Gilead; but even so they found not enough for them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "found", "inhabitants", "jabesh-gilead", "four", "hundred", "young", "women", and "virgins". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "found" and "inhabitants", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And this is the thing which ye..." into verse 13's "And the whole assembly sent to speak...", so "found" and "inhabitants" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "found" and "inhabitants" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.