Judges 21:1 (WEB)

Passage

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”

Nearby Context

Judges 21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”

Judges 21:2 The people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely.

Judges 21:3 They said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be one tribe lacking in Israel today?”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "israel", "sworn", "mizpah", "saying", "none", "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 "The people came to Bethel and sat...", 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.