The Daughters of Shiloh

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When the edge of their fury was dulled and its heat cooled, the Israelites repented the extremity of their vengeance against Benjamin. They were horrified at the thought that one tribe should utterly disappear from among the twelve, so they sought to reëstablish the six hundred outlaw Benjamites of Rimmon. Yet in the heat of anger, each Israelite had vowed never to let any woman of his family wed with a Benjamite. How then might these lone six hundred fighting men rear families;

‎A crafty method was found which, neither breaking the vow nor yet preserving it, seemed to satisfy the not over-delicate consciences of the time. One city of Israel had neglected the common cause and sent no warriors to the war. This city was suddenly attacked, destroyed, and its marriageable women presented to the Benjamites. As there were not enough of these unhappy victims, the remaining Benjamites were secretly instructed to go to the city of Shiloh, where the maidens held a yearly “feast of the Lord” by dancing in the fields. The Benjamites rushed suddenly forth upon these damsels and carried off as many as they needed for wives. Then the elders of Israel stood between the plunderers and the vengeance of the astonished fathers of Shiloh. Thus was Benjamin reëstablished among the tribes.