Judges 21:12

12 Among the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil'ad they found 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Kena'an.

Judges 21:12 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 21:12

And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four
hundred young virgins
Or damsel virgins F5; damsels that were virgins: that had known no man by lying with any male: which was judged of by their age, and by their unmarried state, and by common report, unless it can be thought they were examined by matrons; but how it was that they were not obliged, or did not think themselves obliged by their oath to put these to death, as well as others, is not easy to say; whether they thought the necessity of the case would excuse it, or they had a dispensation from the Lord for it, on consulting him; however, so it was:

and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of
Canaan;
this is observed because that Jabeshgilead was not in the land of Canaan, from whence they were brought, but in the land of Og king of Bashan; only what was on this side Jordan was the land of Canaan, and in that Shiloh was, to which they were brought; and this shows that not the city Bethel, but Shiloh, was the place whither the people or army of Israel came to offer sacrifice after the war was ended.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (hlwtb hren) "puellam viginem", Montanus; "puellas virgines", Pagninus, Tigurine version, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Judges 21:12 In-Context

10 So the gathering sent 12,000 warriors there and ordered them, "Go, and put the people who live in Yavesh-Gil'ad to death with the sword, including women and children.
11 Completely destroy every man and every woman who has had sex with a man."
12 Among the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil'ad they found 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Kena'an.
13 Then the whole gathering sent a message proclaiming peace to the people of Binyamin who were at the Rock of Rimmon.
14 So Binyamin returned at that time, and the people of Isra'el gave them the women they had kept alive of the women from Yavesh-Gil'ad. But those weren't enough for them.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.