The people grieved for Benjamin, because Yahweh had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
- BSB The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
- NKJV And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel.
- NASB And the people were sorry for Benjamin, because the Lord had created a gap in the tribes of Israel.
- NLT The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made this gap among the tribes of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people grieved for Benjamin, recognizing that Yahweh had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.
Overview
Israel mourned the gap in the nation, acknowledging God's hand in the 'breach' even as they sought to repair it. The phrasing admits divine judgment behind the events, the fruit of the whole nation's sin, not Benjamin's alone. Their sorrow reflects a longing for the wholeness of God's covenant people, ultimately secured only in Christ, who gathers and unites his people (John 11:52).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Judg 21:6The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “There is one tribe cut off from Israel today.
- 1 Chr 15:13For because you didn’t carry it at first, Yahweh our God broke out in anger against us, because we didn’t seek him according to the ordinance.”
- Judg 21:17They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.
- 1 Chr 13:11David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken out against Uzza. He called that place Perez Uzza, to this day.
- Isa 30:13therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
- Isa 58:12Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 21:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.