Judges 21:23 (WEB)

Passage

The children of Benjamin did so, and took wives for themselves, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.

Nearby Context

Judges 21:21 and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

Judges 21:22 It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, otherwise you would now be guilty.’”

Judges 21:23 The children of Benjamin did so, and took wives for themselves, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.

Judges 21:24 The children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they each went out from there to his own inheritance.

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "children", "benjamin", "took", "wives", "themselves", "number", "danced", and "carried". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "benjamin", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "It shall be when their fathers or..." into verse 24's "The children of Israel departed from there...", so "children" and "benjamin" 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 "children" and "benjamin" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.