[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q50 (4QJudgb; 30 BCE–68 CE) with extant verses 12–25.

[8][9][10] [11] Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B;

[5] The structure of chapter 21 is as follows:[23] The war had just ended when a fresh complication appeared because the Israelites made an ill-considered oath in Mizpah (21:1; cf.

[23] During the war all the Benjaminite women have been slaughtered (20:47-48; 21:16) and because of the oath the six hundred male survivors must die childless, raising an obstacle to restore the brotherhood (21:6; cf.

[27] When the earlier solution did not adequately solve the problem (200 Benjaminite men were still without brides), another morally questionable plan was hatched.

Still affected with the curse of the oath they have placed for whoever willingly help Benjamin as a tribe to survive (verse 18), the Israelites provided the Benjaminites an opportunity to 'engage in wife-stealing' of the young Israel virgins during their annual pilgrimage to Shiloh, linked to the story of Jephthah's daughter (Judges 11).