“O Lord, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!”
Parallel translations
- WEB They said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be one tribe lacking in Israel today?”
- KJV 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?
- BSB “Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!”
- NKJV and said, “O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?”
- NASB And they said, “Why, Lord, God of Israel, has this happened in Israel, that one tribe is missing today from 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
Israel cried out to God, asking why one tribe should be missing from Israel.
Overview
Their lament to Yahweh expresses anguish that the twelve-tribe family was being torn apart. Yet the question subtly avoids their own responsibility, both for the war's necessity and for the rash vow now binding them. The verse captures the perplexity of a nation reaping the consequences of lawlessness and impulsive zeal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 80:12Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?
- Jer 12:1You are righteous, Yahweh, when I contend with you; yet I would reason the cause with you: why does the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they at ease who deal very treacherously?
- Josh 7:7–9Joshua said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan!
- Isa 63:17O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
- Deut 29:24even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”
- Ps 74:1A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
- Prov 19:3The foolishness of man subverts his way; his heart rages against Yahweh.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 21:3 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.