Text -- Judges 19:1-10 (NET)

Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited

19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 19:2 However, she got angry at him and went home to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, 19:3 her husband came after her, hoping he could convince her to return. He brought with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly. 19:4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay with him for three days, and they ate and drank together, and spent the night there. 19:5 On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, then you can go.” 19:6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!” 19:7 When the man got ready to leave, his father-in-law convinced him to stay another night. 19:8 He woke up early in the morning on the fifth day so he could leave, but the girl’s father said, “Get some energy. Wait until later in the day to leave!” So they ate a meal together. 19:9 When the man got ready to leave with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over! Stay another night! Since the day is over, stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.” 19:10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left and traveled as far as Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jdg 19:1

¹ tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”

² sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.

³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

NET Notes: Jdg 19:2

¹ tn Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn Or “was unfaithful to him.” Many have understood the Hebrew verb וַתִּזְנֶה (vattizneh) as being from זָנָה (zanah, “to be a prostitute”), but it may be derived from a root meaning “to be angry; to hate” attested in Akkadian (see HALOT 275 s.v. II זנה).

³ tn Heb “went from him.”

NET Notes: Jdg 19:3

¹ tn Heb “arose and came.”

² tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”

³ tn Or “young man.”

⁴ tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”

NET Notes: Jdg 19:5

¹ tn Heb “and he arose to go.”

² tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”

NET Notes: Jdg 19:6

¹ tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”

² tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”

NET Notes: Jdg 19:7

¹ tn Heb “and the man arose to go.”

² tn Heb “his father-in-law persuaded him and he again spent the night there.”

NET Notes: Jdg 19:8

¹ tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.

² tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”

NET Notes: Jdg 19:9

¹ tn Heb “the man arose to go.”

² tn Or “young man.”

³ tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”

⁴ tn Or “declining.”

⁵ tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”

NET Notes: Jdg 19:10

¹ tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

² tn Heb “to the front of.”

³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁴ tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”