The Meaning of Judges 21:1 Explained

Judges 21:1

KJV: Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

YLT: And the men of Israel have sworn in Mizpeh, saying, 'None of us doth give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.'

Darby: Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, "No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin."

ASV: Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now the men  of Israel  had sworn  in Mizpeh,  saying,  There shall not any  of us give  his daughter  unto Benjamin  to wife. 

What does Judges 21:1 Mean?

Chapter Summary: Judges 21

1  The people bewail the desolation of Benjamin
8  By the destruction of Jabesh Gilead they provide them four hundred wives
16  They advise the remainder to surprise the virgins that danced at Shiloh

What do the individual words in Judges 21:1 mean?

Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah saying none of us not us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife
וְאִ֣ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל נִשְׁבַּ֥ע בַּמִּצְפָּ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֣ישׁ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לֹא־ יִתֵּ֥ן בִּתּ֛וֹ לְבִנְיָמִ֖ן לְאִשָּֽׁה

וְאִ֣ישׁ  Now  the  men 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
נִשְׁבַּ֥ע  had  sworn  an  oath 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁבַע  
Sense: to swear, adjure.
בַּמִּצְפָּ֖ה  at  Mizpah 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְפָּה  
Sense: a place in Gilead north of Jabbok and location of Laban’s cairn.
לֵאמֹ֑ר  saying 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אִ֣ישׁ  none 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
מִמֶּ֔נּוּ  of  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
לֹא־  not  us 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יִתֵּ֥ן  shall  give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
בִּתּ֛וֹ  his  daughter 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
לְבִנְיָמִ֖ן  to  Benjamin 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: בִּנְיָמִין 
Sense: Jacob’s and Rachel’s youngest son, Joseph’s full brother.
לְאִשָּֽׁה  as  a  wife 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.