Now the children of Israel had also sworn in Maspha, saying: None of us shall give of his daughters to the children of Benjamin to wife.
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2 And they all came to the house of God in Silo, and abiding before him till the evening, lifted up their voices, and began to lament and weep, saying:
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3 O Lord God of Israel, why is so great an evil come to pass in thy people, that this day one tribe should be taken away from among us?
4 And rising early the next day, they built an altar: and offered there holocausts, and victims of peace, and they said:
5 Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the army of the Lord? for they had bound themselves with a great oath, when they were in Maspha, that whosoever were wanting should be slain.
6 And the children of Israel being moved with repentance for their brother Benjamin, began to say: One tribe is taken away from Israel.
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7 Whence shall they take wives? For we have all in general sworn, not to give our daughters to them.
8 Therefore they said: Who is thereof all the tribes of Israel, that came not up to the Lord to Maspha. And behold the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad were found not to have been in that army.
9 (At that time also when they were in Silo, no one of them was found there.)
10 So they sent ten thousand of the most valiant men, and commanded them, saying: Go and put the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad to the sword, with their wives and their children.
11 And this is what you shall observe: Every male, and all women that have known men, you shall kill, but the virgins you shall save.
12 And there were found of Jabes Galaad four hundred virgins, that had not known the bed of a man, and they brought them to the camp Silo, into the land of Chanaan.
13 And they sent messengers to the children of Benjamin, that were in the rock Remmon, and commanded them to receive them in peace.
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14 And the children of Benjamin came at that time, and wives were given them of the daughters of Jabes Galaad: but they found no others, whom they might give in like manner.
15 And all Israel was very sorry, and repented for the destroying of one tribe out of Israel.
16 And the ancients said: What shall we do with the rest, that have not received wives? for all the women in Benjamin are dead.
17 And we must use all care, and provide with great diligence, that one tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
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18 For as to our own daughters we cannot give them, being bound with an oath and a curse, whereby we said: Cursed be he that shall give Benjamin any of his daughters to wife.
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19 So they took counsel, and said: Behold there is a yearly solemnity of the Lord in Silo, which is situate on the north of the city of Bethel, and on the east side of the way, that goeth from Bethel to Sichem, and on the south of the town of Lebona.
20 And they commanded the children of Benjamin, and said: Go, and lie hid in the vineyards,
21 And when you shall see the daughters of Silo come out, as the custom is, to dance, come ye on a sudden out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife among them, and go into the land of Benjamin.
22 And when their fathers and their brethren shall come, and shall begin to complain against you, and to chide, we will say to them: Have pity on them for they took them not away as by the right of war or conquest, but when they asked to have them, you gave them not, and the fault was committed on your part.
23 And the children of Benjamin did, as they had been commanded: and according to their number, they carried off for themselves every man his wife of them that were dancing: and they went into their possession and built up their cities, and dwelt in them.
24 The children of Israel also returned by their tribes, and families, to their dwellings. In those days there was no king in Israel: but every one did that which seemed right to himself.
Ambrose of Milan
“What regard for virtue our forefathers had to avenge by a war the wrongs of one woman which had been brought on her by her violation at the hands of profligate men! No, when the people were conquered, they vowed that they would not give their daughters in marriage to the tribe of Benjamin! That tribe had remained without hope of posterity, had they not received leave of necessity to use deceit. And this permission does not seem to fail in giving fitting punishment for violation, since they were only allowed to enter on a union by a rape, and not through the sacrament of marriage. And indeed it was right that they who had broken another's intercourse should themselves lose their marriage rites.”
Ambrose of Milan
“The end of the war was also the end of their wrath, and anger turned to sorrow. Then, putting off their armor, the men of Israel met together and wept much and celebrated a fast, grieving that one tribe of their brothers had perished and a strong band of people had been wiped out.”
Ambrose of Milan
“They had warred rightly against the authors of the crime because of the cost of the sin, but the people had turned unhappily against their own flesh and each was afflicted with civil war. The outpouring of tears moved their minds to compassion and stirred their feelings; the plan conceived in anger was gone.”
Ambrose of Milan
“Sending legates to the six hundred men of Benjamin, who for four months guarded themselves on the top of sheer rocks and by the desert's barrenness, which was dangerous for a mass of attackers, they lamented their common hardship in losing their fellow tribesmen, relatives and allies. Yet the hope of renewing the tribe was not utterly destroyed, and they consulted together how they might agree on a pledge of faith and one tribe not perish, severed from the body.”
Ambrose of Milan
“But relenting at having laid so hard a sentence on their brothers, they moderated their severity so as to give them in marriage those maidens that had lost their parents, whose fathers had been slain for their sins, or to give them the means of finding a wife by a raid. Because of the villainy of so foul a deed, they who had violated another's marriage rights were shown to be unworthy to ask for marriage. But for fear that one tribe might perish from the people, they connived at the deceit.”
Ambrose of Milan
“The sentence, further, was that none of the people of the ancestors should give his daughter in marriage to [members of Benjamin's tribe]. This was confirmed by a solemn oath.”