Judges 21:5

5 Then the Israelites asked, "Did any tribe of Israel not come here to meet with us in the presence of the Lord?" They asked this question because they had sworn that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah would be killed.

Judges 21:5 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 21:5

And the children of Israel said
One to another, after they had offered their sacrifices, and while they were together in Shiloh:

who is there among all the tribes of Israel, that came not up with the
congregation unto the Lord?
when they were summoned to come to Mizpeh, to consult together about the affair of the Levite's concubine, as appears by what follows:

for they had made a great oath;
in a very awful and solemn manner, with a curse annexed to it, as that about not giving a wife to Benjamin, ( Judges 21:18 )

concerning him that came not up to the Lord to Mizpeh:
not about him who did not go out to battle against Benjamin, nor about every individual that did not come to consult about it; but every city that did not send their proper representatives or quota to assist in that affair:

he shall surely be put to death;
this was sent along with the summons, in order to quicken their attention to them.

Judges 21:5 In-Context

3 They said, "Lord, God of Israel, why has this terrible thing happened to us so that one tribe of Israel is missing today?"
4 Early the next day the people built an altar and put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on it.
5 Then the Israelites asked, "Did any tribe of Israel not come here to meet with us in the presence of the Lord?" They asked this question because they had sworn that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah would be killed.
6 The Israelites felt sorry for their relatives, the Benjaminites. They said, "Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
7 We swore before the Lord that we would not allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite. How can we make sure that the remaining men of Benjamin will have wives?"
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.