Judges 21:17
New International Version
The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

New Living Translation
There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out.

English Standard Version
And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.

Berean Standard Bible
They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

King James Bible
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

New King James Version
And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel.

New American Standard Bible
And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel.

NASB 1995
They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.

NASB 1977
And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel.

Legacy Standard Bible
And they said, “There must be a possession for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.

Amplified Bible
They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel.

Christian Standard Bible
They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

American Standard Version
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they said: “A remnant of Benyamin shall be left and we shall not forget a tribe of Israel

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they said, There must be an inheritance of them that are escaped of Benjamin; and so a tribe shall not be destroyed out of Israel.

Contemporary English Version
If they don't have children, one of the Israelite tribes will die out.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And we must use all care, and provide with great diligence, that one tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

English Revised Version
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Some said, "Benjamin's men who survived must be allowed to have families. No tribe of Israel should be wiped out.

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

International Standard Version
They continued, "Let's make sure that there's an inheritance for the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin, so that a tribe won't be blotted out from Israel.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And they said: 'They that are escaped must be as an inheritance for Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.

Literal Standard Version
And they say, “A possession of an escaped party [is] to Benjamin, and a tribe is not blotted out from Israel;

Majority Standard Bible
They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

New American Bible
They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel.

NET Bible
The remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out.

New Revised Standard Version
And they said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, in order that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel.

New Heart English Bible
They said, "How will an inheritance remain for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that have escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

World English Bible
They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.

Young's Literal Translation
And they say, 'A possession of an escaped party is to Benjamin, and a tribe is not blotted out from Israel;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Wives for the Benjamites
16Then the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.”…

Cross References
Judges 21:16
Then the elders of the congregation said, "What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?"

Judges 21:18
But we cannot give them our daughters as wives." For the Israelites had sworn, "Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite."


Treasury of Scripture

And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

an inheritance

Numbers 26:55
Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.

Numbers 36:7
So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

Jump to Previous
Benjamin Benjamite Blotted Destroyed Escaped Existence Heirs Inheritance Israel Offspring Party Possession Rest Survivors Tribe Wiped
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Benjamin Benjamite Blotted Destroyed Escaped Existence Heirs Inheritance Israel Offspring Party Possession Rest Survivors Tribe Wiped
Judges 21
1. The people bewail the desolation of Benjamin
8. By the destruction of Jabesh Gilead they provide them four hundred wives.
16. They advise the remainder to surprise the virgins that danced at Shiloh














(17) There must be an inheritance.--Rather, possession of the remnant shall be for Benjamin--i.e., We will leave untouched their land and possessions. "We give you leave to take the whole land of Benjamin to yourselves" (Jos. Antt. v. 3, ? 12).

That a tribe be not destroyed.--Benjamin never quite recovered this crushing blow. Even though it furnished the second judge (Ehud) and the first king (Saul) to Israel, and was advantageously situated, and was often honoured by the residence of Samuel, it became a mere satellite to the more powerful tribe of Judah. Perhaps in the quiescence and permanence derived from the close association with its powerful neighbour we see in part the fulfilment of the blessing in Deuteronomy 33:12.

Verse 17. - There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin. The passage is difficult to construe and to explain. If the words There must be are properly supplied in the A.V., the sense will come out more clearly if we take the word inheritance to mean rather succession, which is the idea contained in the root. There must be a succession for the escaped of Benjamin, i.e. there must be heirs to succeed, and therefore we must find wives for them. The word peleytah without the article can hardly mean the remnant, as has been proposed, but must be defined by being taken with Benjamin.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They added,
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“There must be heirs
יְרֻשַּׁ֥ת (yə·ruš·šaṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3425: Something occupied, a conquest, a patrimony

for the survivors
פְּלֵיטָ֖ה (pə·lê·ṭāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6413: Deliverance, an escaped portion

of Benjamin,
לְבִנְיָמִ֑ן (lə·ḇin·yā·min)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1144: Benjamin -- 'son of the right hand', youngest son of Jacob, also the name of two other Israelites

so that a tribe
שֵׁ֖בֶט (šê·ḇeṭ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7626: Rod, staff, club, scepter, tribe

of Israel
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (mî·yiś·rā·’êl)
Preposition-m | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

will not
וְלֹֽא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

be wiped out.
יִמָּחֶ֥ה (yim·mā·ḥeh)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4229: To stroke, rub, to erase, to smooth, grease, make fat, to touch, reach to


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OT History: Judges 21:17 They said There must be an inheritance (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 21:16
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