And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation to Jehovah? For they had [made] a great oath concerning him that came not up to Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall certainly be put to death.
Judges 21:3 and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, why is it come to pass in Israel, that there should be this day one tribe lacking in Israel?
Judges 21:4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings.
Judges 21:5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation to Jehovah? For they had [made] a great oath concerning him that came not up to Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall certainly be put to death.
Judges 21:6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, To-day is one tribe extirpated from Israel.
Judges 21:7 What shall we do for wives for them that remain? since we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters for wives.
The verse centers on "children", "israel", "said", "tribes", "came", "congregation", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "israel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And it came to pass on the..." into verse 6's "And the children of Israel repented them...", so "children" and "israel" 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 "children" and "israel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.