Summary
After the battle against the Philistines, the Israelites were left with a problem: they had sworn not to give daughters to the tribe of Benjamin. They lamented that one tribe seemed to be lacking and vowed to find wives for Benjamin. The people decided to take virgins from Jabesh-Gilead, a town that had not come to the assembly, and to smite its inhabitants. After capturing the virgins, they sent them to Shiloh. Later, the Israelites planned to take daughters from the feast in Shiloh by waiting in vineyards to seize them when they danced. The Benjaminites then married the captured women and restored their tribe. The chapter ends with the people returning to their own tribes, each acting as they saw fit, and notes that there was no king at that time.