Judges 21:17

17 There must be a surviving line for those who remain from Benjamin," they continued, "so that a tribe won't be erased from Israel.

Judges 21:17 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 21:17

And they said, there must be an inheritance for them that be
escaped Benjamin
The escaped are the six hundred men in the rock Rimmon; four hundred of them were supplied with wives, the other two wanted; and as there was an inheritance divided by lot to the tribe of Benjamin, to that tribe and to that only it belonged, and they must have it and no other; it now of right devolved on these six hundred men, and them only, and therefore provision must be made to increase their number, that they may occupy the inheritance they have a right to, rebuild their cities, till their land, cultivate their vineyards and oliveyards, and enjoy all the advantages of their possessions:

that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel;
but the full number of the tribes be preserved, and their inheritances belonging to them, according to the predictions of Jacob and Moses, and the assignment of them by lot unto them by Joshua.

Judges 21:17 In-Context

15 Since the people had a change of heart concerning the Benjaminites because the LORD had caused a rupture in the tribes of Israel,

16 the community elders said, "What can we do to provide wives for the ones who are left, seeing that the Benjaminite women have been destroyed?

17 There must be a surviving line for those who remain from Benjamin," they continued, "so that a tribe won't be erased from Israel.

18 But we can't allow our daughters to marry them, for we Israelites have made this pledge: ‘Let anyone who provides a wife for Benjamin be cursed!'

19 However," they said, "the annual festival of the LORD is under way in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."