The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up in the assembly to Yahweh?” For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn’t come up to Yahweh to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
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?”
Judges 21:4 On the next day, the people rose early, and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Judges 21:5 The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up in the assembly to Yahweh?” For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn’t come up to Yahweh to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
Judges 21:6 The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “There is one tribe cut off from Israel today.
Judges 21:7 How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by Yahweh that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?”
The verse centers on "children", "israel", "said", "tribes", "didn", "come", and "assembly". 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 "On the next day the people rose..." into verse 6's "The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin...", 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.