Judges 21:5

*“Then the sons of Israel said, ‘Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?’ For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, ‘He shall surely be put to death.’”* (v.5)

At this point in Israel’s history, recorded at the close of the Book of Judges, the tribes had just emerged from a brutal civil conflict with the tribe of Benjamin. Prior to the battle, all the other tribes of Israel had gathered to the LORD at Mizpah, a strategic meeting place whose name means “watchtower,” located north of Jerusalem in the tribal territory of Benjamin. In that solemn assembly, they vowed together to execute anyone who failed to respond to their call for communal action against the perverse crime committed in Gibeah (Judges 19–20). Thus, when the text asks, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come?” the people are probing to see if any group had forsaken their oath to join Israel’s cause. Their vow—“He shall surely be put to death”—demonstrates how seriously the Israelites approached unity and justice, although it would also lead to unintended consequences as the nation tried to preserve the tribe of Benjamin later on.

By referencing “the assembly to the LORD,” the passage underlines that this was not merely a political gathering but an act of devout commitment to carry out righteous discipline in the sight of God. Despite Israel’s many failures in the era of the Judges, they recognized the necessity of communal responsibility. The oath at Mizpah became binding, representing the covenantal nature of Israel’s life: to disregard the unity of the tribes was to disregard the LORD whom they served. This moment also echoes the broader theme of the Book of Judges, where the nation repeatedly plunges into chaos and sin but returns to God’s statutes for guidance (Hosea 9:7–9 speaks of Israel’s depravity as in the days of Gibeah; Israel’s civil war in Judges exemplifies such depravity) citeturn0file15.

In taking such a heavy oath, they expressed both zeal for holiness and a measure of desperation. The verse reveals their earnest desire to repair the destructive rift that sin and violence had created among the tribes. While the oath upheld justice, it simultaneously intensified the predicament of maintaining integrity between the tribes. Israel’s fierce devotion to discipline would soon wrestle with their compassion to preserve their fellow Israelites.

This verse shows how an impulsive vow to punish those who refused to assemble would later complicate efforts to rescue the shattered tribe of Benjamin.