Judges 19:1-2

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,


tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”

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

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

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

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).

tn Heb “went from him.”