"And they found among the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gilead four hundred virgin girls that had not had relations with any man; and they brought them to the camp, to Shiloh which is in Eretz Khanaan. And the whole congregation sent and spoke to B'nei Benyamin that were in the rock of Rimmon, and they proclaimed to them Shalom. And Benyamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Yavesh-Gilead (a mountainous region east of the Jordan River alloted to the tribes of Gad, Reuven, and the eastern half of Menashe); but this was not sufficient for them." ~ Shoftim 21:12-14
"'Behold, there is a sacrifice before the L-rd in Shiloh (a city in the hill country of Efrayim) from time to time, which is to the north of Beit El, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beit El to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah. And they instructed B'nei Benyamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards. And you will see, and behold, if Banot Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and you shall grab for yourselves each man his wife of Banot Shiloh, and go to Eretz Benyamin. And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to quarrel with us, then we will say to them, 'We took pity on them, because we did not take for each man his wife in the war, (neither should you be concerned) for you did not give them presently that you should be guilty.' And B'nei Benyamin did so, and married wives according to their numbers, of those that danced whom they had seized; and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities and dwelt in them. And B'nei Yisra'el went from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they departed from there every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his eyes." ~ Shoftim 21:19-25
"Bride Kidnapping, also known aka Marriage By Abduction or Marriage By Capture, is an ancient tradition practiced in Caucasian countries of Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Dagestan, Georgia, and Ingushetia; Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Kenya in Africa; in Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and the Autonomous Region of Uzbekistan; Mexico and East Asian countries of India and China; and among Hmong of Southeast Asia."
