Judges 21:11 (YLT)

Passage

And this <FI>is<Fi> the thing which ye do; every male, and every woman knowing the lying of a male, ye devote.'

Nearby Context

Judges 21:9 And the people numbered themselves, and lo, there is not there a man of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead.

Judges 21:10 And the company send there twelve thousand men of the sons of valour, and command them, saying, `Go--and ye have smitten the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead by the mouth of the sword, even the women and the infants.

Judges 21:11 And this <FI>is<Fi> the thing which ye do; every male, and every woman knowing the lying of a male, ye devote.'

Judges 21:12 And they find out of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead four hundred young women, virgins, who have not known man by the lying of a male, and they bring them in unto the camp at Shiloh, which <FI>is<Fi> in the land of Canaan.

Judges 21:13 And all the company send, and speak, unto the sons of Benjamin who <FI>are<Fi> in the rock Rimmon, and proclaim to them peace;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "male", "woman", "knowing", "lying", and "devote". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "male" and "woman", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "And the company send there twelve thousand..." into verse 12's "And they find out of the inhabitants...", so "male" and "woman" 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 "male" and "woman" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.