Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 20:12

"And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is come to pass among you?" — Judges 20:12 (ASV)

Through all the tribe of Benjamin.

—It was equitable to send this embassy, although the Benjamites had not come to the sacred gathering at Mizpeh. The word for “tribe” is in the plural, so that it is, “the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribes of Benjamin.” Clearly, in the latter instance shebet means a family. (See Note on Judges 18:19, and Numbers 4:18: the tribe of the families of Kohath.) There were ten families in the tribe of Benjamin (Genesis 46:21).