· Translation: KJV

Judges 21:14Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead: and yet so they weren't enough for them.

The setting

Shiloh, Israel ~1200 BC. The surviving 600 Benjamite men receive 400 women from Jabesh-gilead, but 200 men remain without wives, threatening the tribe's survival.

The emotion here: recording tragic desperation with historical detachment

The original word

ḥāsēr (חָסֵר) — lacking, insufficient, coming short of what's needed

Why it matters

Jabesh-gilead was spared because they didn't participate in the assembly against Benjamin

Read with care

What most readers miss in Judges 21:14

These weren't love marriages — this was emergency tribal survival after near-genocide

Common misconceptionPeople read this as God blessing these marriages, but it's actually showing how far Israel had fallen — taking women as spoils was never God's design.

Bible Genome reading

Judges 21:14 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerNarrator
Erajudges
Primary emotionresting
Literary typenarrative

Emotional genome

Comfort power50%
Quotability30%
Memorability40%
Crisis relevance40%
Standalone40%
Themes:restorationprovision

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Judges 21

Judges 21:14 comes from the book of Judges, written during the judges period. These words are attributed to Narrator. The dominant emotion in this verse is resting, with a comfort power of 50% and a tone that is reflective. It belongs to the narrative genre of biblical literature. Key themes include restoration, provision. Notable phrases: gave them the women.

Your reflection

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