Judges 21:18 (YLT)

Passage

and we--we are not able to give to them wives out of our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed <FI>is<Fi> he who is giving a wife to Benjamin.'

Nearby Context

Judges 21:16 And the elders of the company say, `What do we do to the remnant for wives--for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin?'

Judges 21:17 And they say, `A possession of an escaped party <FI>is<Fi> to Benjamin, and a tribe is not blotted out from Israel;

Judges 21:18 and we--we are not able to give to them wives out of our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed <FI>is<Fi> he who is giving a wife to Benjamin.'

Judges 21:19 And they say, `Lo, a festival of Jehovah <FI>is<Fi> in Shiloh, from time to time, which <FI>is<Fi> on the north of Beth-El, at the rising of the sun, by the highway which is going up from Beth-El to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.'

Judges 21:20 And they command the sons of Benjamin, saying, `Go--and ye have laid wait in the vineyards,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "we--we", "able", "give", "wives", "daughters", "sons", "israel", and "sworn". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "we--we" and "able", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "And they say A possession of an..." into verse 19's "And they say Lo a festival of...", so "we--we" and "able" 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 "we--we" and "able" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.