What is the meaning of Judges 21:6? And the Israelites grieved - “And the Israelites grieved…” (Judges 21:6) reveals heartfelt sorrow, not mere regret over a military campaign. - Similar national lament appears in Judges 2:4–5 when Israel wept after hearing the angel’s rebuke, and in 1 Samuel 11:5–6 when the Spirit of God moved Saul to tears over Jabesh. - Genuine grief acknowledges sin’s consequences; see 2 Corinthians 7:10 for how godly sorrow produces repentance. - The event follows the civil war of Judges 19–20, where Israel punished Benjamin for harboring wickedness. Their grief shows that discipline should never harden hearts against fellow believers (Galatians 6:1). for their brothers, the Benjamites - Calling the Benjamites “brothers” (Judges 21:6) underscores covenant family ties that remain even after conflict. Genesis 42:4 and Exodus 4:22 likewise stress familial bonds within God’s people. - Brotherhood obligates compassion: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). - Though Benjamin’s actions demanded justice (Judges 20:12–13), kinship compelled Israel to seek restoration, mirroring Jesus’ call to forgive seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:21–22). and said - Their spoken response moves grief into deliberate action. Words matter; Proverbs 18:21 teaches that life and death are in the power of the tongue. - Public acknowledgment of tragedy (Joshua 7:19) often precedes communal solutions. Here, verbal lament sets the stage for creative reconciliation plans in the rest of Judges 21. - Speaking out also prevents silent bitterness (Hebrews 12:15) and invites corporate ownership of the problem (Nehemiah 1:4–11). "Today a tribe is cut off from Israel" - The phrase captures the crisis: near extinction of Benjamin after only 600 men survived (Judges 20:47). - Losing a tribe threatened covenant promises tied to all twelve tribes (Genesis 49; Revelation 7:4–8). - “Cut off” echoes warnings like Deuteronomy 29:21, yet here Israel realizes the permanence of annihilation would contradict God’s design for a complete nation (Psalm 122:3–4). - Their lament leads to mercy: they later provide wives for Benjamin (Judges 21:13–23), reflecting God’s heart to restore the fallen (Isaiah 58:12). summary Judges 21:6 records Israel’s sincere sorrow when they grasp the full cost of punishing Benjamin. They weep because covenant brothers are nearly lost, speak their grief aloud, and recognize that erasing a tribe would fracture God’s ordained unity. The verse invites believers to hold justice and compassion together, mourning sin’s devastation while pursuing restoration so that no part of God’s family remains “cut off.” |
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