Judges 21:18

18 But, we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [be] he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

Judges 21:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 21:18

Howbeit, we may not give them wives of our daughters
Though their case was so very necessitous and desperate:

for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, cursed be he that giveth
a wife to Benjamin,
( Judges 21:1 ) and therefore without the violation of their oath could not give any of their daughters in marriage to them: wherefore some other way must be devised to help them.

Judges 21:18 In-Context

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

17 And they said, [There must be] an inheritance for them that have escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

18 But, we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [be] he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

19 Then they said, Behold, [there is] a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly [in a place] which [is] on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

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