Judges 21:3

“Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The people of Israel at Bethel cry out to Yahweh after discovering that one tribe has vanished from the nation. This appeal occurs during their night of weeping before God, immediately preceding their morning altar construction.

The words — The term לָ/מָ֗ה (la./Mah) renders literally as "to why?" or "why?", framing the crisis as a direct inquiry. The verb הָ֥יְתָה (Ha.ye.tah) means "has it happened," marking the event as sudden and unexplained.

The thread — This structure of confronting God with national disaster mirrors Psalms 80:12, Jeremiah 12:1, and Deuteronomy 29:24. Each passage uses identical rhetorical questioning to place divine judgment under immediate scrutiny.

Why it lands — The text records a raw appeal that treats communal collapse as a theological emergency requiring divine intervention. It compels the reader to acknowledge that institutional fracture demands direct confrontation with God before human solutions are attempted.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּva/i.Yo.me.Ruand/ they said לָמָ֗הla./Mah<to>/ why?יְהוָה֙Yah.wehO Yahweh אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei[the] God of יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsrael הָ֥יְתָהHa.ye.tahhas it happened זֹּ֖אתzotthis [thing]בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑לbe./Yis.ra.'Elin/ Israel לְהִפָּקֵ֥דle./hi.pa.Kedto/ be missing הַיּ֛וֹםhai./Yomthis/ day מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֖לmi./Yis.ra.'Elfrom/ Israel שֵׁ֥בֶטShe.veta tribe אֶחָֽד׃'e.Chadone

King James Version

And said, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

Cross-references

Psalms 80:12 Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
Deuteronomy 29:24 So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
Joshua 7:7 “O, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!
Psalms 74:1 A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
Proverbs 19:3 A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
Isaiah 63:17 Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.