And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB The people grieved for Benjamin, because Yahweh 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 21:6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
- 1 Chr 15:13For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
- Judg 21:17And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
- 1 Chr 13:11And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perezuzza to this day.
- Isa 30:13Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
- Isa 58:12And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
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.