Judges 21:17

17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive,

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 felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel.
16 So the leaders of the gathering said, "There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left?
17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive,
18 but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters."
19 Then they thought, "The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon." (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.)
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.