Then the elders of the congregation said: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered Then introduces the next action or the result of the Israelites’ feelings of pity, thus it may be translated “So” (Good News Translation). The elders of the congregation were the leaders of the Israelites who had gathered at Bethel. For elders see verse 2.7, and for congregation, see verse 21.10. The general verb said may be rendered “asked” (New Living Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), since it introduces a question.

What shall we do for wives for those who are left…?: See verse 21.7. When the Israelites first attempted to find wives for the 600 surviving Benjaminite men, they found only 400. They now think about how they might find an additional 200 young women. If possible, the same wording should be used here as in verse 21.7.

Since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin: This is a new piece of information that has been assumed but not made explicit. Apparently, during the battles most of the Benjaminite women were also killed. The Hebrew says literally “for she is destroyed from Benjamin the woman.” The singular word “woman” has a collective sense here, so it is correctly rendered women, referring to the older or married Benjaminite women who were killed. The Hebrew verb rendered are destroyed is a very strong word meaning “exterminate” or “annihilate.” The passive form are destroyed is used purposely, and if possible, it should be maintained. The Israelites themselves were responsible for this state of affairs, but they do not want to claim responsibility. If passive forms do not exist, an impersonal form may be substituted, for example, “since they killed all the women in the tribe of Benjamin.” Other possible models are “since there are no more Benjaminite women left” and “since all the Benjaminite women have been killed.”

In Hebrew this quote of the Israelite leaders is marked by important sound effects, including repetitions of the consonants m, n, and sh, as well as alternations of the vowels a and i. This seems yet another stylistic device used by the narrator to mock the Israelites for their “compassion” for their brothers and their attempts to “right” their wrongs. In most languages it will be impossible to imitate this style, but translators could try to express the irony here. In some languages an interjection such as “Oh!” “Oh, no!” or “How sad!” might show that the narrator is not entirely convinced of the good intentions of those speaking.

Translation models for this verse are:

• Then the leaders of the Israelites asked what they could do to find more wives for the remaining Benjaminite men since [pity!] there were no more Benjaminite women left.

• Then the Israelite leaders said, “Oh no! Where can we find wives for the remaining Benjaminite men since all their women have been killed?”

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 .