Judges 20:12
And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?
The verse belongs to the closing account of Judges in chapters 17-21, which describes Israel's backsliding into deeply troubled conditions. Those last chapters show how low Israel had fallen before Samuel the prophet was called. Within that account it belongs to the story of the crime or outrage at Gibeah. That was the murder of a Levite's concubine, with which the whole tribe of Benjamin identified itself and which nearly led to the extermination of the tribe.
The tribes of Israel sent men as representatives through all the tribe of Benjamin. They were sent to confront Benjamin and to call it to account for the wickedness done among them. The episode illustrates how tribal loyalty could be valued above rendering justice, and there is never an excuse for sin.
The chapter leaves Benjamin as the least and nearly extinct tribe. God in wisdom chose Israel's first king from that humbled tribe so the other tribes would have no ground for jealousy. Israel's low condition in the time of the judges stands in mighty contrast to the miracles and teachings of Jesus in Luke. Yet both speak of the goodness and mercy of God.