Judges 21:16 (ASV)

Passage

Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

Nearby Context

Judges 21:14 And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

Judges 21:15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

Judges 21:16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

Judges 21:17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.

Judges 21:18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "elders", "congregation", "said", "shall", "wives", "remain", "seeing", and "women". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "elders" and "congregation", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And the people repented them for Benjamin..." into verse 17's "And they said There must be an...", so "elders" and "congregation" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "elders" and "congregation" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.