Judges 21:1 (DRB)

Passage

Now the children of Israel had also sworn in Maspha, saying: None of us shall give of his daughters to the children of Benjamin to wife.

Nearby Context

Judges 21:1 Now the children of Israel had also sworn in Maspha, saying: None of us shall give of his daughters to the children of Benjamin to wife.

Judges 21:2 And they all came to the house of God in Silo, and sitting before him till the evening, lifted up their voices, and began to lament and weep, saying:

Judges 21:3 O Lord God of Israel, why is so great an evil come to pass in thy people, that this day one tribe should be taken away from among us?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "children", "israel", "sworn", "maspha", "saying", "none", "shall", and "give". 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 next verse adds "And they all came to the house...", so "children" and "israel" should be read forward into that movement. 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.