What is the meaning of Judges 21:14?

At that time

- The phrase anchors us in the immediate aftermath of Israel’s civil war against Benjamin (Judges 20:46–48; 21:1–3).

- The nation has gathered at Shiloh, grieving both the moral collapse that led to war and the devastating loss of life.

- This timing signals urgency: Israel must act quickly to keep one of the twelve tribes from disappearing (Genesis 49:27; Judges 21:3).

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The Benjamites returned

- About 600 surviving Benjamite men had been hiding at the rock of Rimmon for four months (Judges 20:47).

- “Returned” shows reconciliation in motion. Israel sends a peace delegation (Judges 21:13), inviting the fugitives back to their inheritance (Joshua 18:21).

- The move illustrates God’s desire for restoration even after severe judgment (Isaiah 1:18; Hosea 6:1).

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Were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead

- Israel had taken a vow not to give their own daughters to Benjamin (Judges 21:1; Numbers 30:2).

- Discovering that Jabesh-gilead failed to join the national assembly (Judges 21:8–9), the Israelites struck the town, sparing 400 virgin women (Judges 21:10–12).

- These women are now presented to Benjamin as a legal “non-Israelite-daughter” solution to keep the vow intact, though the morality of the tactic is highly flawed (Judges 17:6; 21:25).

- Jabesh-gilead later shows unusual loyalty to Saul, the first Benjamite king (1 Samuel 11:1–11; 31:11–13), hinting at long-term ties forged here.

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But there were not enough women for all of them

- Four hundred brides cannot cover six hundred grooms; 200 men remain without wives (Judges 21:14–16).

- The shortfall exposes how human schemes fall short when vows and violence replace prayerful obedience (Deuteronomy 23:21–23; Ecclesiastes 5:4–6).

- It sets up the next episode: the Shiloh festival plan, where remaining Benjamites seize dancing maidens (Judges 21:19–23), further revealing Israel’s moral confusion.

- The verse underlines a key theme in Judges: when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25), even well-meant fixes multiply hardship.

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summary

Judges 21:14 records a partial, imperfect repair of the tribe of Benjamin: the surviving men rejoin Israel and receive 400 rescued women from Jabesh-gilead, yet 200 remain unprovided for. The verse highlights Israel’s attempt to honor a binding vow while preserving a brother tribe, showing both the cost of sin and the inadequacy of human-devised solutions apart from full submission to the Lord’s ways.