Judges 21:17
in Judges 21They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.
KJV
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
⋯
This verse in Judges 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin--As they were the only rightful owners of the territory, provision must be made for transmitting it to their legitimate heirs, and a new act of violence was meditated (Jud 21:19); the opportunity for which was afforded by the approaching festival--a feast generally supposed to be the feast of tabernacles.
This site's exposition
Then the elders of the congregation said
on Judges 21:16-18
The elders add a reason to solve the problem, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin”, since the land allotted to Benjamin at Joshua 18:11 to 28 would otherwise pass to nobody. Verse 18 gives the oath in its sharpest form, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite”, in the form of Deuteronomy 27. They keep its letter and look for another road.
This site's exposition
heirs for the survivors of Benjamin
Ambrose writes that the elders relented toward their brothers of Benjamin and allowed a deceit so that one tribe of Israel would survive. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call the plan a new act of violence. The heirs would hold the land of Benjamin.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But relenting at having laid so hard a sentence on their brothers, they moderated their severity so as to give them in marriage those maidens that had lost their parents, whose fathers had been slain for their sins, or to give them the means of finding a wife by a raid. Because of the villainy of so foul a deed, they who had violated another's marriage rights were shown to be unworthy to ask for marriage. But for fear that one tribe might perish from the people, they connived at the deceit.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the L ORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the L ORD ?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:95%@v6-8
And they said, there must be an inheritance for them that be escaped Benjamin,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The survivors must inherit the ancestral property The tribe's ancestral property remains unclaimed; let us devise a plan whereby they may father children, so that the property will fall into the possession of the remaining survivors, and a tribe will not be obliterated from Yisroel.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְרֻשַּׁ֥ת | yerushat | a possession of | H3425 → | |
| פְּלֵיטָ֖ה | peleitah | [the] escaped remnant | H6413 → | |
| לְבִנְיָמִ֑ן | levinyamin | [belongs] to Benjamin | H1144 → | 166 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמָּחֶ֥ה | yimacheh | it will be wiped out | H4229 → | |
| שֵׁ֖בֶט | shevet | a tribe | H7626 → | 190 times |
| מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | miyisrael | from Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
יְרֻשַּׁ֥תa possession of
yerushatH3425 →
פְּלֵיטָ֖ה[the] escaped remnant
peleitahH6413 →
לְבִנְיָמִ֑ן[belongs] to Benjamin
levinyaminH1144 →166 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִמָּחֶ֥הit will be wiped out
yimachehH4229 →
שֵׁ֖בֶטa tribe
shevetH7626 →190 times
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃from Israel
miyisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 26:55Indeed, the land must be divided by lot; they shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.
it leads to
- Numbers 34:13
So Moses commanded the Israelites, “Apportion this land by lot as an inheritance. The LORD has commanded that it be given to the nine and a half tribes.
- Numbers 33:54
And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one…
- Joshua 14:2
Their inheritance was assigned by lot for the nine and a half tribes, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.
- Joshua 11:23
So Joshua took the entire land, in keeping with all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to the allotments to their tribes. Then…
- Proverbs 18:18
Casting the lot ends quarrels and separates strong opponents.
- Numbers 34:13
Through
Numbers 36:7No inheritance in Israel may be transferred from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 21:3
But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
- Numbers 36:9
No inheritance may be transferred from one tribe to another, for each tribe of Israel must retain its inheritance.”
- 1 Kings 21:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 3.19.115; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.