What Does Judges 21:18 Mean in the King James?
Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The oath has become its own trap: words meant to forbid a marriage now bind the community to the consequences of its speech.
THE MEANING
The community cannot give daughters to Benjamin because it has declared a curse on anyone who does. The oath still governs the present, narrowing what can be chosen and binding the people to the consequences of their own words.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a vow’s consequences end when the words are spoken; here, the oath continues to restrict what the whole community can do.
THE ROOT
נִשְׁבַּעְנוּ
nishba'nu
GROWS FROM
שׁבע
sh-b-ʿ
Swear, take an oath; the same consonants also form the Hebrew word for seven.
“sworn” in this verse is nishba'nu. The same consonants form שֶׁבַע (sheva, “seven”), and Genesis 21:31 brings swearing and seven together in the name Beersheba. Here, the oath is a binding utterance whose force remains after it is spoken.
ALSO GROWS
shevuah: Oath
שְׁבוּעָה
This noun names the binding promise at the center of the verse.
sheva: Seven
שֶׁבַע
It shares the same consonants as the word for swearing; Genesis 21:31 lets the oath and seven meet in Beersheba’s name.
לָתֵת
latet
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
Give, set, place.
The infinitive translated “give” comes from a root that also means to set or place, so the act here is not only transfer but the placing of a marriage. The oath reaches into that placement and forbids it.
ALSO GROWS
natan: Give, set, place
נָתַן
These shades show how the oath governs the act of placing daughters in marriage.
mattanah: Gift
מַתָּנָה
This related noun carries the sense of something given, echoing the verse’s language of giving.
THE PATTERN
A vow turns spoken limits into real limits, governing choices after the moment of speech has passed.
If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.THE THREAD
If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.Numbers 30:2 uses the same oath root, שׁבע (sh-b-ʿ), as “have sworn” here. It names the binding force that Judges 21:18 shows in action: speech becomes a constraint on what can follow.
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