New King James Version
Judges 21:3
3and said, “O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?”
Judges 21:3 in other versions
- King James Version (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?
- New International Version (NIV)“Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)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 Living Translation (NLT)“O Lord, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!”
Context of Judges 21:3
1Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” 2Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, 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?” 4So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the Lord?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
Read all of Judges 21Judges 21:3 word by word
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ לָמָ֗ה יְהוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הָ֥יְתָה זֹּ֖את בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לְהִפָּקֵ֥ד הַיּ֛וֹם מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֖ל שֵׁ֥בֶט אֶחָֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Judges 21:3
- Deuteronomy 29:24“All nations would say, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’
- Joshua 7:7And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!
- Psalms 74:1O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
- Psalms 80:12Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
- Proverbs 19:3The foolishness of a man twists his way, And his heart frets against the Lord.
- Isaiah 63:17O Lord, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, The tribes of Your inheritance.
- Jeremiah 12:1Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
Commentaries on Judges 21:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Why 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 endeavored to exterminate both man and beast, Judges 20:48.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The 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.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The idea of a twelve-tribe league was important in Israel. It lasted despite Levi separating from the other tribes, Simeon and Asher almost disappearing, and Joseph splitting into two tribes (Manasseh and Ephraim). Losing one tribe would have implied that God's agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was falling apart.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-152-5. the people came to the house of God, ... and lifted up their voices, and wept sore--The characteristic fickleness of the Israelites was not long in being displayed; for scarcely had they cooled from the fierceness of their sanguinary vengeance, than they began to relent and rushed to the opposite extreme of self-accusation and grief at the desolation which their impetuous zeal had produced. Their victory saddened and humbled them. Their feelings on…Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 21:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries