Judges 19:19

19:19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, ¹  and the young man who is with your servants. ²  We lack nothing.”

Judges 20:48

20:48 The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns ³  and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, ⁴  the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. ⁵ 

¹ tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.

² tc Some Hebrew mss and ancient witnesses read the singular, “your servant,” which would refer to the Levite. If one retains the plural, then both the Levite and his wife are in view. In either case the pronominal suffix emphasizes their dependence on the old man for shelter.

³ tn Heb “to the sons of Benjamin.”

⁴ tc The translation is based on the reading מֵעִיר מְתִים (me’ir mÿtim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (me’ir mÿtom, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L).

⁵ tn Heb “Also all the cities that were found they set on fire.”