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Wednesday, August 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Judges 21:3

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Nation;   Rashness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Benjamin, Tribe of;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Gibeah;   Mizpah;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Offerings and Sacrifices;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bethel;   Judges, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Benjamin;   Jabesh, Jabesh-Gilead;   Marriage;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Gibeah;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
and cried out, “Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is missing in Israel today?”
Hebrew Names Version
They said, the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, why has this happened in Yisra'el, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Yisra'el?
King James Version
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?
Lexham English Bible
And they said, "Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has it happened today in Israel that one tribe is lacking from Israel?"
English Standard Version
And they said, "O Lord , the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?"
New Century Version
They said, " Lord , God of Israel, why has this terrible thing happened to us so that one tribe of Israel is missing today?"
New English Translation
They said, "Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?" An entire tribe has disappeared from Israel today!"
Amplified Bible
They said, "O LORD, God of Israel, why has this come about in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?"
New American Standard Bible
And they said, "Why, LORD, God of Israel, has this happened in Israel, that one tribe is missing today from Israel?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
And sayde, O Lorde God of Israel, why is this come to passe in Israel, that this day one tribe of Israel should want?
Legacy Standard Bible
en gesê: Waarom, o HERE, God van Israel, het dit in Israel gebeur dat daar vandag een stam uit Israel vermis word?
Contemporary English Version
and prayed, "Our Lord , you are the God of Israel. Why did you let this happen? Now one of our tribes is almost gone."
Complete Jewish Bible
They said: " Adonai , why has this come about in Isra'el? Why should there be today in Isra'el one tribe missing?"
Darby Translation
and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, why is it come to pass in Israel, that there should be this day one tribe lacking in Israel?
Easy-to-Read Version
They said to God, " Lord , you are the God of the Israelites. Why has this terrible thing happened to us? Why has one tribe of the Israelites been taken away?"
George Lamsa Translation
And said, O LORD God of Israel, why has this disaster come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?
Good News Translation
" Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?"
Literal Translation
And they said, O Jehovah, God of Israel, Why has this happened in Israel, to be lacking one tribe today from Israel?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and sayde: O LORDE God of Israel, wherfore is this come to passe in Israel this daye?
American Standard Version
And they said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel?
Bible in Basic English
And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this fate come on Israel, that today one tribe has been cut off from Israel?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And sayde: O Lorde God of Israel, why is this come to passe in Israel, that there shoulde be this day one tribe lacking in Israel?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they said: 'O LORD, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel?'
King James Version (1611)
And said, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to passe in Israel, that there should bee to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and said, Wherefore, O Lord God of Israel, has this come to pass, that to-day one tribe should be counted as missing from Israel?
English Revised Version
And they said, O LORD, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?
Berean Standard Bible
"Why, O LORD God of Israel," they cried out, "has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and seiden, Lord God of Israel, whi is this yuel don in thi puple, that to dai o lynage be takun awey of vs?
Young's Literal Translation
and say, `Why, O Jehovah, God of Israel, hath this been in Israel -- to be lacking to-day, from Israel, one tribe?'
Update Bible Version
And they said, O Yahweh, the God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?
Webster's Bible Translation
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?
World English Bible
They said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?
New King James Version
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?"
New Living Translation
"O Lord , God of Israel," they cried out, "why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!"
New Life Bible
"O Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel? Why should there be one family group missing in Israel today?"
New Revised Standard
They said, "O Lord , the God of Israel, why has it come to pass that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and said, Wherefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel, hath this come about in Israel, - that there should be lacking, to-day, out of Israel, one tribe?
Douay-Rheims Bible
O Lord God of Israel, why is so great an evil come to pass in thy people, that this day one tribe should be taken away from among us?
Revised Standard Version
And they said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
They said, "Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?"

Contextual Overview

1 Back at Mizpah the men of Israel had taken an oath: "No man among us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage." 2Now, back in Bethel, the people sat in the presence of God until evening. They cried loudly; there was widespread lamentation. They said, "Why, O God , God of Israel, has this happened? Why do we find ourselves today missing one whole tribe from Israel?" 4 Early the next morning, the people got busy and built an altar. They sacrificed Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings. 5 Then the Israelites said, "Who from all the tribes of Israel didn't show up as we gathered in the presence of God ?" For they had all taken a sacred oath that anyone who had not gathered in the presence of God at Mizpah had to be put to death. 6But the People of Israel were feeling sorry for Benjamin, their brothers. They said, "Today, one tribe is cut off from Israel. How can we get wives for those who are left? We have sworn by God not to give any of our daughters to them in marriage." 8They said, "Which one of the tribes of Israel didn't gather before God at Mizpah?" It turned out that no one had come to the gathering from Jabesh Gilead. When they took a roll call of the people, not a single person from Jabesh Gilead was there. 10So the congregation sent twelve divisions of their top men there with the command, "Kill everyone of Jabesh Gilead, including women and children. These are your instructions: Every man and woman who has had sexual intercourse you must kill. But keep the virgins alive." And that's what they did. 12 And they found four hundred virgins among those who lived in Jabesh Gilead; they had never had sexual intercourse with a man. And they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13Then the congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the Rimmon Rock and offered them peace. And Benjamin came. They gave them the women they had let live at Jabesh Gilead. But even then, there weren't enough for all the men. 15 The people felt bad for Benjamin; God had left out Benjamin—the missing piece from the Israelite tribes.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

why is: Deuteronomy 29:24, Joshua 7:7-9, Psalms 74:1, Psalms 80:12, Proverbs 19:3, Isaiah 63:17, Jeremiah 12:1

Reciprocal: Judges 17:6 - no king

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.
Genesis 22:2
He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you."
Joshua 24:3
Israel served God through the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, who had themselves experienced all that God had done for Israel. Joseph's bones, which the People of Israel had brought from Egypt, they buried in Shechem in the plot of ground that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor (who was the father of Shechem). He paid a hundred silver coins for it. It belongs to the inheritance of the family of Joseph. Eleazar son of Aaron died. They buried him at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the mountains of Ephraim.
Matthew 1:2
Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, Jacob had Judah and his brothers, Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar), Perez had Hezron, Hezron had Aram, Aram had Amminadab, Amminadab had Nahshon, Nahshon had Salmon, Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother), Obed had Jesse, Jesse had David, and David became king. David had Solomon (Uriah's wife was the mother), Solomon had Rehoboam, Rehoboam had Abijah, Abijah had Asa, Asa had Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat had Joram, Joram had Uzziah, Uzziah had Jotham, Jotham had Ahaz, Ahaz had Hezekiah, Hezekiah had Manasseh, Manasseh had Amon, Amon had Josiah, Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers, and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile. When the Babylonian exile ended, Jeconiah had Shealtiel, Shealtiel had Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel had Abiud, Abiud had Eliakim, Eliakim had Azor, Azor had Zadok, Zadok had Achim, Achim had Eliud, Eliud had Eleazar, Eleazar had Matthan, Matthan had Jacob, Jacob had Joseph, Mary's husband, the Mary who gave birth to Jesus, the Jesus who was called Christ. There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, another fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and yet another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ. The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term: Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us"). Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.
Acts 7:8
"Then he made a covenant with him and signed it in Abraham's flesh by circumcision. When Abraham had his son Isaac, within eight days he reproduced the sign of circumcision in him. Isaac became father of Jacob, and Jacob father of twelve ‘fathers,' each faithfully passing on the covenant sign.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And said, O Lord God of Israel,.... Jehovah, the only living and true God, the Being of beings, eternal, immutable, omnipotent and omnipresent, the God of all Israel, of the twelve tribes of Israel, their covenant God and Father; who had shown favour to them in such a peculiar and gracious manner, as he had not to other nations, and therefore hoped he would still have a kind regard unto them, and suffer them to expostulate with him in the following manner:

why is this come to pass in Israel; expressing, as Abarbinel thinks, a concern for the 40,000 men of Israel which fell in the two first battles; but it manifestly refers to the case in the next words:

that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel; meaning the tribe of Benjamin, which was all destroyed, excepting six hundred men, and these had no wives to propagate the tribe; and therefore, unless some provision could be made for that, it must in a short time be totally extinct; for which they express great concern, it not being their intention when they made the above oath to extirpate them; but such were now the circumstances of things in Providence, that it must perish unless some way could be found to relieve it, and which their oath seemed to preclude; and this threw them into great perplexity.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The repetition of the name of Israel is very striking in connection with the title of Yahweh as “God of Israel.” It contains a very forcible pleading of the covenant, and memorial of the promises. The very name “Israel” comprehended all the twelve tribes; with one of them blotted out, the remnant would not be Israel.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 21:3. Why is this come to pass — This was a very impertinent question. They knew well enough how it came to pass. It was right that the men of Gibeah should be punished, and it was right that they who vindicated them should share in that punishment; but they carried their revenge too far, they endeavoured to exterminate both man and beast, Judges 20:48.


 
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