Judges 21:17

17 And they said, an inheritance of them that are escaped of Benjamin; and a tribe shall not be destroyed out of 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 And the people relented for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 And the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin.

17 And they said, an inheritance of them that are escaped of Benjamin; and a tribe shall not be destroyed out of Israel.

18 For we shall not be able to give them wives of our daughters, because we swore among the children of Israel, saying, Cursed he that gives a wife to Benjamin.

19 And they said, Lo! now a feast of the Lord from year to year in Selom, which is on the north of Baethel, eastward on the way that goes up from Baethel to Sychem, and from the south of Lebona.