· Translation: KJV

Judges 21:4It happened on the next day that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

The setting

Bethel, Israel, ~1050 BC. Dawn after the worst night in Israel's history. Building hope from rubble. Modern-day Palestinian territory.

The emotion here: cautious hope while recording first steps toward healing

The original word

olah (עֹלָה) — burnt offering that goes up completely, total surrender to God

Why it matters

Peace offerings were rare during the judges period but essential for tribal reconciliation

Read with care

What most readers miss in Judges 21:4

They rose 'early' - at first light they were already rebuilding relationship with God

Common misconceptionPeople see this as automatic forgiveness, but burnt and peace offerings represented desperate attempt to restore broken covenant relationship.

Bible Genome reading

Judges 21:4 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerNarrator
Erajudges
Primary emotionworship
Literary typenarrative

Emotional genome

Comfort power50%
Quotability40%
Memorability50%
Crisis relevance60%
Standalone60%
Themes:worshipsacrifice

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Judges 21

Judges 21:4 comes from the book of Judges, written during the judges period. These words are attributed to Narrator. The dominant emotion in this verse is worship, with a comfort power of 50% and a tone that is reverent. It belongs to the narrative genre of biblical literature. Key themes include worship, sacrifice. Notable phrases: built an altar.

Your reflection

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