Judges 21:18 (DRB)

Passage

For as to our own daughters we cannot give them, being bound with an oath and a curse, whereby we said: Cursed be he that shall give Benjamin any of his daughters to wife.

Nearby Context

Judges 21:16 And the ancients said: What shall we do with the rest, that have not received wives? for all the women in Benjamin are dead.

Judges 21:17 And we must use all care, and provide with great diligence, that one tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

Judges 21:18 For as to our own daughters we cannot give them, being bound with an oath and a curse, whereby we said: Cursed be he that shall give Benjamin any of his daughters to wife.

Judges 21:19 So they took counsel, and said: Behold, there is a yearly solemnity of the Lord in Silo, which is situate on the north of the city of Bethel, and on the east side of the way, that goeth from Bethel to Sichem, and on the south of the town of Lebona.

Judges 21:20 And they commanded the children of Benjamin and said: Go, and lie hid in the vineyards,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "daughters", "give", "bound", "oath", "curse", "whereby", "said", and "cursed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "daughters" and "give", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "And we must use all care and..." into verse 19's "So they took counsel and said Behold...", so "daughters" and "give" 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 "daughters" and "give" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.