John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 21:18
Howbeit, we may not give them wives of our daughters ,.... Though their case was so very necessitous and desperate: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin , Judges 21:1 and therefore without the violation of their oath could not give any of their daughters in marriage to them: wherefore some other way must be devised to help them. read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 21:16-25
We have here the method that was taken to provide the 200 Benjamites that remained with wives. And, though the tribe was reduced to a small number, they were only in care to provide each man with one wife, not with more under pretence of multiplying them the faster. They may not bestow their daughters upon them, but to save their oath, and yet marry some of their daughters to them, they put them into a way of taking them by surprise, and marrying them, which should be ratified by their... read more