And the Benjaminites did so is literally “And the sons [or, children] of Benjamin did thus.” The Israelites convince the Benjaminites and they do as they are told. Thus the Hebrew waw conjunction might be rendered And or “So” (New Living Translation). In some languages, however, this conjunction may be omitted (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). We might say “So the Benjaminites followed their advice” or “The Benjaminites did as they were told.”

And took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off is literally “and they lifted [or, carried off] wives/women to their number from those who danced whom they seized.” The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered and introduces the content of what the Benjaminites did so. Translators can use any appropriate transition word. Took does not render the common Hebrew word with this sense, but a more specific one, meaning “lifted” or “picked up,” referring to how they carried their new wives off. We might also say “captured” in this context. According to their number means that each of the 200 Benjaminite soldiers needing a wife took a young woman and carried her off. So a total of 200 women were captured. We might simply say “each Benjaminite took a wife.”

From the dancers explains where the Benjaminites got their wives. When the young women came out of Shiloh to dance (verse 21.21), the Benjaminites each grabbed one woman. This phrase may be translated “from the dancing girls” or “from the young women who were dancing.”

Whom they carried off uses a different Hebrew verb than the one rendered took. It is stronger, with a meaning closer to “seized” or “captured.” This is the first time that there is a hint of resistance on the part of the women. Since Shiloh was in the territory of Ephraim, this means that these women were not only forced into marriage, but as they were carried off, they were separated from their families as well.

Then they went and returned to their inheritance: The pronoun they refers to the Benjaminite soldiers, but of course, by now each one had his “wife” with him. Went renders the generic Hebrew verb meaning “go,” and returned translates the key Hebrew verb shuv (see verse 2.19, where it is rendered “turned back”). Their inheritance refers to the land Yahweh gave to the tribe of Benjamin. For inheritance see verse 2.6 and verse 18.1b. The use of this word is certainly another ironic allusion to Israel’s glorious past. It also forms an inclusio around the entire book. Though many versions use a more general term here, such as “territory” (Good News Translation, NET Bible) or “land” (Contemporary English Version), it seems important to retain this reference to their inheritance.

And rebuilt the towns, and dwelt in them: The Hebrew verb rendered rebuilt is simply “built.” However, Gibeah and other Benjaminite towns were destroyed in the battle mentioned in verse 20.36b-48, so they needed to be rebuilt. Dwelt in them means the Benjaminites inhabited those towns. New International Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh say “settled in them,” and Contemporary English Version has “started living in them again.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• So the Benjaminites did what they were told. When the girls came out to dance, each man captured a girl and carried her off. They took them back to the land of their inheritance, where they rebuilt their towns and lived there.

• The Benjaminites did as the Israelites said. As the young women came dancing out of the town, each Benjaminite soldier picked up a young woman from among them and carried her off. They returned to the land they were allotted as their inheritance. There they rebuilt their towns and lived there again.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .