Judges 21:18
Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
Judges 21:18 belongs to Judges 17 to 21, the closing chapters that give a pitiful record of Israel's backsliding. Those chapters record events from the early part of the period of the judges, while the main story of the book ends with chapter 16. In particular the verse belongs to the account of the crime at Gibeah and its consequences for Benjamin, whose tribe had joined with the people of Gibeah.
These chapters show how low Israel had fallen before Samuel was called as a prophet, ending in disgrace and punishment. The episode exposes setting conventional hospitality above female virtue and tribal clannishness above rendering justice, a spirit still seen today. God's mercy and goodness are also seen in this setting. The backsliding it records gives no excuse for sin and cannot be done with impunity.