11 "This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin."
11 This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction."
11 These are your instructions: Every man and woman who has had sexual intercourse you must kill. But keep the virgins alive." And that's what they did.
11 And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately."
11 "This is what you are to do," they said. "Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 21:11
Chapter Contents
The Israelites lament for the Benjamites.
Israel lamented for the Benjamites, and were perplexed by the oath they had taken, not to give their daughters to them in marriage. Men are more zealous to support their own authority than that of God. They would have acted better if they had repented of their rash oaths, brought sin-offerings, and sought forgiveness in the appointed way, rather than attempt to avoid the guilt of perjury by actions quite as wrong. That men can advise others to acts of treachery or violence, out of a sense of duty, forms a strong proof of the blindness of the human mind when left to itself, and of the fatal effects of a conscience under ignorance and error.