Judges 21:17

17 They said, "There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

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 The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel.

16 The elders of the congregation said, "What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?"

17 They said, "There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

18 But we can't give them our daughters as wives." For the Israelites had sworn: "Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed."

19 They also said, "Look, there's an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."