This verse shows Israel parting in peace to their homes after resolving an internal crisis.
Following a grievous civil conflict in Israel that nearly annihilated the tribe of Benjamin, the other tribes sought to restore unity and ensure Benjamin’s survival by providing them with wives. Soon after these events, the narrative reaches its resolution: we read, “So the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance.” (Judges 21:24). This departure signals that the tribes, having addressed the crisis within Benjamin, now disband and return to their respective territories. The emphasis on “every man to his tribe and family” highlights Israel’s family-based social structure, where each tribe held its own inherited portion of land throughout the region. It also points to God’s original design, in which each group was allotted a specific portion of the Promised Land, distributed under Joshua’s leadership (Joshua 13-19).
By every man returning to his inheritance, the text underscores that Israel’s collective identity is tied to commitments of covenant faithfulness, while also stressing an individual responsibility to live justly in one’s local sphere. The broader context of the Book of Judges, from around 1370-1050 BC, demonstrates a repeated cycle of disobedience, God’s deliverance through raised-up judges, short-lived repentance, and a return to chaos. Judges 21 represents the closing moments of this dark yet instructive era in Israel’s history, and these parting words show each tribe resuming life in the land God had given them. Their physical scattering symbolizes peace restored, but it also foreshadows the lingering tension in a land without a unifying king (Judges 21:25), where social order often depended on personal devotion to the covenant and to God.
Though their gathering was initially driven by war and desperation to uphold tribal integrity, this final scene reveals God’s mercy in providing each tribe a place to belong. Israel’s departure to its inheritance reinforces how deeply the land, bestowed on them through divine promise, is woven into the covenant relationship between God and His people—even in the midst of human failure and strife.
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Judges 21:24 meaning
Following a grievous civil conflict in Israel that nearly annihilated the tribe of Benjamin, the other tribes sought to restore unity and ensure Benjamin’s survival by providing them with wives. Soon after these events, the narrative reaches its resolution: we read, “So the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance.” (Judges 21:24). This departure signals that the tribes, having addressed the crisis within Benjamin, now disband and return to their respective territories. The emphasis on “every man to his tribe and family” highlights Israel’s family-based social structure, where each tribe held its own inherited portion of land throughout the region. It also points to God’s original design, in which each group was allotted a specific portion of the Promised Land, distributed under Joshua’s leadership (Joshua 13-19).
By every man returning to his inheritance, the text underscores that Israel’s collective identity is tied to commitments of covenant faithfulness, while also stressing an individual responsibility to live justly in one’s local sphere. The broader context of the Book of Judges, from around 1370-1050 BC, demonstrates a repeated cycle of disobedience, God’s deliverance through raised-up judges, short-lived repentance, and a return to chaos. Judges 21 represents the closing moments of this dark yet instructive era in Israel’s history, and these parting words show each tribe resuming life in the land God had given them. Their physical scattering symbolizes peace restored, but it also foreshadows the lingering tension in a land without a unifying king (Judges 21:25), where social order often depended on personal devotion to the covenant and to God.
Though their gathering was initially driven by war and desperation to uphold tribal integrity, this final scene reveals God’s mercy in providing each tribe a place to belong. Israel’s departure to its inheritance reinforces how deeply the land, bestowed on them through divine promise, is woven into the covenant relationship between God and His people—even in the midst of human failure and strife.