Judges 21:20 Made Simple

KJV ORIGINAL

Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;

Close to the original. Clear modern English.

✦ MADE SIMPLE

So they told the men of Benjamin, 'Go and hide in the vineyards and wait there.'

⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE

The writer is describing how the Israelite leaders gave the Benjamin tribe instructions to hide and wait in vineyards as part of a plan to help them find wives.

📚 Historical Context

This comes at the end of a civil war where the other Israeli tribes had nearly wiped out the tribe of Benjamin and then regretted their actions. The remaining Benjamin men needed wives to continue their family line, but the other tribes had sworn not to give their daughters in marriage to them. This verse is part of a controversial plan to help the Benjamin men obtain wives from Shiloh during a religious festival.

Explore Similar Verses

1 Samuel 22:7

Then Saul said to his servants who were standing around him, 'Listen, you men of Benjamin! Do you think David (the son of Jesse) will give each of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he'll make you all commanders over thousands and hundreds of soldiers?'

Judges 21:21

Watch carefully, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to dance, then come out from your hiding places in the vineyards and each of you grab a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh, and take them back to the land of Benjamin.

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