Judges 21:21 (YLT)

Passage

and have seen, and lo, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances--then ye have gone out from the vineyards, and caught for you each his wife out of the daughters of Shiloh, and gone to the land of Benjamin;

Nearby Context

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,

Judges 21:21 and have seen, and lo, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances--then ye have gone out from the vineyards, and caught for you each his wife out of the daughters of Shiloh, and gone to the land of Benjamin;

Judges 21:22 and it hath been, when their fathers or their brethren come in to plead unto us, that we have said unto them, Favour us <FI>by<Fi> them, for we have not taken <FI>to<Fi> each his wife in battle, for ye--ye have not given to them at this time <FI>that<Fi> ye are guilty.'

Judges 21:23 And the sons of Benjamin do so, and take women according to their number, out of the dancers whom they have taken violently away; and they go, and turn back unto their inheritance, and build the cities, and dwell in them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "seen", "daughters", "shiloh", "come", "dance", "dances--then", "gone", and "vineyards". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "seen" and "daughters", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And they command the sons of Benjamin..." into verse 22's "and it hath been when their fathers...", so "seen" and "daughters" 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 "seen" and "daughters" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.