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Judges 21:7

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Judges 21:7 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
Judges 21:7 — American Standard Version

Context — Judges 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings.
5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
7How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
9For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
10And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.
← Judges 21:6Judges 21:8 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“How shall we do for wives for them that remain, etc.] By which it seems, as well as by what is after related, that they knew of the six hundred men hid in the rock Rimmon: seeing we have sworn by the Lord; by the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; and such an oath with them was a sacred thing, and to be kept inviolable, even to their own hurt: that we will not give them of our daughters to wives; as in (<072101>Judges 21:1) and therefore they must either marry among the Heathens, which was forbidden, or they must make void their oath, or the tribe in a little time would be extinct; these were difficulties they knew not how to surmount, and this was the object of their inquiry.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“sworn: Jdg 21:1, Jdg 21:18; Sa1 14:28, Sa1 14:29, Sa1 14:45 Judges 21:8”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification