Judges 21:1 (KJV)

Passage

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

Nearby Context

Judges 21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

Judges 21:2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;

Judges 21:3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "israel", "sworn", "mizpeh", "saying", "shall", "give", "daughter", and "benjamin". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "israel" and "sworn", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "And the people came to the house...", so "israel" and "sworn" 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 "israel" and "sworn" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.