Judges 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ¹ 

Judges 11:1-40

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ²  11:2 Gilead’s wife also gave ³  him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, ⁴  because you are another woman’s son.” 11:3 So Jephthah left ⁵  his half-brothers ⁶  and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. ⁷ 

11:4 It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel. 11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, ⁸  the leaders ⁹  of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back ¹⁰  from the land of Tob. 11:6 They said, ¹¹  “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.” 11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave ¹²  my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?” 11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ¹³  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ¹⁴  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ¹⁵  of all who live in Gilead.” ¹⁶  11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ¹⁷  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ¹⁸  I will be your leader.” ¹⁹  11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, ²⁰  if we do not do as you say.” ²¹  11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement ²²  before the Lord in Mizpah.

Jephthah Gives a History Lesson

11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have ²³  you come against me to attack my land?” 11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ²⁴  my land when they ²⁵  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ²⁶  Now return it ²⁷  peaceably!”

11:14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king 11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal ²⁸  the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites. 11:16 When they left ²⁹  Egypt, Israel traveled ³⁰  through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh. 11:17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us ³¹  to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. ³²  Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. ³³  So Israel stayed at Kadesh. 11:18 Then Israel ³⁴  went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; ³⁵  they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border). 11:19 Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.” ³⁶  11:20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He ³⁷  assembled his whole army, ³⁸  camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. 11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took ³⁹  all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land. 11:22 They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west. ⁴⁰  11:23 Since ⁴¹  the Lord God of Israel has driven out ⁴²  the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? ⁴³  11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us. ⁴⁴  11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? ⁴⁵  11:26 Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time? 11:27 I have not done you wrong, ⁴⁶  but you are doing wrong ⁴⁷  by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’” 11:28 But the Ammonite king disregarded ⁴⁸  the message sent by Jephthah. ⁴⁹ 

A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter

11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered ⁵⁰  Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went ⁵¹  to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. ⁵²  11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 11:31 then whoever is the first to come through ⁵³  the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he ⁵⁴  will belong to the Lord and ⁵⁵  I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” 11:32 Jephthah approached ⁵⁶  the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! ⁵⁷  The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. ⁵⁸ 

11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out ⁵⁹  to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. ⁶⁰  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. 11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! ⁶¹  You have brought me disaster! ⁶²  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” ⁶³  11:36 She said to him, “My father, since ⁶⁴  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ⁶⁵  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ⁶⁶  your enemies, the Ammonites.” 11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. ⁶⁷  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” ⁶⁸  11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave ⁶⁹  for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. ⁷⁰  11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. ⁷¹  Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. ⁷²  11:40 Every year ⁷³  Israelite women commemorate ⁷⁴  the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. ⁷⁵ 

Judges 19:1-30

Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited

19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite ⁷⁶  living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine ⁷⁷  from Bethlehem ⁷⁸  in Judah. 19:2 However, she ⁷⁹  got angry at him ⁸⁰  and went home ⁸¹  to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, 19:3 her husband came ⁸²  after her, hoping he could convince her to return. ⁸³  He brought with him his servant ⁸⁴  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. ⁸⁵  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. ⁸⁶  But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, ⁸⁷  then you can go.” 19:6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. ⁸⁸  Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!” ⁸⁹  19:7 When the man got ready to leave, ⁹⁰  his father-in-law convinced him to stay another night. ⁹¹  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. ⁹²  Wait until later in the day to leave!” ⁹³  So they ate a meal together. 19:9 When the man got ready to leave ⁹⁴  with his concubine and his servant, ⁹⁵  his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over! ⁹⁶  Stay another night! Since the day is over, ⁹⁷  stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.” ⁹⁸  19:10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left ⁹⁹  and traveled as far as ¹⁰⁰  Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). ¹⁰¹  He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. ¹⁰² 

19:11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late ¹⁰³  and the servant ¹⁰⁴  said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at ¹⁰⁵  this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.” 19:12 But his master said to him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. ¹⁰⁶  We will travel on to Gibeah.” 19:13 He said to his servant, ¹⁰⁷  “Come on, we will go into one of the other towns ¹⁰⁸  and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” 19:14 So they traveled on, ¹⁰⁹  and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ¹¹⁰  19:15 They stopped there and decided to spend the night ¹¹¹  in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night. ¹¹² 

19:16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. ¹¹³  The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.) ¹¹⁴  19:17 When he looked up and saw the traveler ¹¹⁵  in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?” 19:18 The Levite ¹¹⁶  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ¹¹⁷  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ¹¹⁸  But no one has invited me into their home. 19:19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, ¹¹⁹  and the young man who is with your servants. ¹²⁰  We lack nothing.” 19:20 The old man said, “Everything is just fine! ¹²¹  I will take care of all your needs. But don’t spend the night in the town square.” 19:21 So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and had a meal. ¹²² 

19:22 They were having a good time, ¹²³  when suddenly ¹²⁴  some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, ¹²⁵  surrounded the house and kept beating ¹²⁶  on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.” ¹²⁷  19:23 The man who owned the house went outside and said to them, “No, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Don’t do such a disgraceful thing! 19:24 Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s ¹²⁸  concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like. ¹²⁹  But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!” 19:25 The men refused to listen to him, so the Levite ¹³⁰  grabbed his concubine and made her go outside. ¹³¹  They raped ¹³²  her and abused her all night long until morning. They let her go at dawn. 19:26 The woman arrived back at daybreak and was sprawled out on the doorstep of the house where her master ¹³³  was staying until it became light. ¹³⁴  19:27 When her master ¹³⁵  got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went outside to start on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, sprawled out on the doorstep of the house with her hands on the threshold. 19:28 He said to her, “Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home. ¹³⁶  19:29 When he got home, he took a knife, grabbed his concubine, and carved her up into twelve pieces. ¹³⁷  Then he sent the pieces throughout Israel. ¹³⁸  19:30 Everyone who saw the sight ¹³⁹  said, “Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed during the entire time since ¹⁴⁰  the Israelites left the land of Egypt! ¹⁴¹  Take careful note of it! Discuss it and speak!”

[11:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:1]  ² tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “bore.”

[11:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the house of our father.”

[11:3]  ⁴ tn Or “fled from.”

[11:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “brothers.”

[11:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”

[11:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”

[11:5]  ⁶ tn Or “elders.”

[11:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”

[11:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “to Jephthah.”

[11:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).

[11:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.

[11:8]  ¹⁰ sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

[11:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

[11:9]  ⁹ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “places them before me.”

[11:9]  ¹¹ tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

[11:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The Lord will be the one who hears between us.” For the idiom שָׁמַע בַּיִן (shama’ bayin, “to hear between”), see Deut 1:16.

[11:10]  ¹¹ sn The Lord will judge…if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.

[11:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

[11:12]  ¹² tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”

[11:13]  ¹³ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

[11:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).

[11:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[11:13]  ¹⁶ tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

[11:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “take”; or “seize.”

[11:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “For when they went up from.”

[11:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “went.”

[11:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “me.” (Collective Israel is the speaker.)

[11:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “did not listen.”

[11:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Also to the king of Moab he sent, but he was unwilling.”

[11:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel; the pronoun in the Hebrew text represents a collective singular) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:18]  ¹⁸ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to my place.”

[11:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Sihon.” The proper name (“Sihon”) has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) because of English style; a repetition of the proper name here would be redundant in English.

[11:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all his people” (also in the following verse).

[11:21]  ²⁰ tn That is, took as its own possession.

[11:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the desert to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[11:23]  ²² tn Heb “Now.”

[11:23]  ²³ tn Or “dispossessed.”

[11:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.

[11:24]  ²³ tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the Lord our God dispossesses before us we will possess?” Jephthah speaks of Chemosh as if he is on a par with the Lord God of Israel. This does not necessarily mean that Jephthah is polytheistic or that he recognizes the Lord as only a local deity. He may simply be assuming the Ammonite king’s perspective for the sake of argument. Other texts, as well as the extrabiblical Mesha inscription, associate Chemosh with Moab, while Milcom is identified as the god of the Ammonites. Why then does Jephthah refer to Chemosh as the Ammonite god? Ammon had likely conquered Moab and the Ammonite king probably regarded himself as heir of all territory formerly held by Moab. Originally Moab had owned the disputed territory (cf. Num 21:26-29), meaning that Chemosh was regarded as the god of the region (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 203-4). Jephthah argues that Chemosh had long ago relinquished claim to the area (by allowing Sihon to conquer it), while the Lord had long ago established jurisdiction over it (by taking it from Sihon and giving it to Israel). Both sides should abide by the decisions of the gods which had stood firm for three hundred years.

[11:25]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which “really” and “dare to” are intended to express in the translation.

[11:27]  ²⁵ tn Or “sinned against you.”

[11:27]  ²⁶ tn Or “evil.”

[11:28]  ²⁶ tn Heb “did not listen to.”

[11:28]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Jephthah’s words which he sent to him.”

[11:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “was on.”

[11:29]  ²⁸ tn Heb “passed through.”

[11:29]  ²⁹ tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”

[11:31]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.

[11:31]  ²⁹ tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.

[11:31]  ³⁰ tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the Lord’s service, but if an animal comes through the doors, he will offer it up as a sacrifice. However, it is far more likely that the Hebrew construction (vav [ו] + perfect) specifies how the subject will become the Lord’s, that is, by being offered up as a sacrifice. For similar constructions, where the apodosis of a conditional sentence has at least two perfects (each with vav) in sequence, see Gen 34:15-16; Exod 18:16.

[11:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “passed over to.”

[11:33]  ³⁰ tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”

[11:33]  ³¹ tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”

[11:34]  ³¹ tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”

[11:34]  ³² tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”

[11:35]  ³² tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

[11:35]  ³³ tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

[11:35]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

[11:36]  ³³ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ³⁴ tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ³⁵ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[11:37]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”

[11:37]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”

[11:38]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he sent her.”

[11:38]  ³⁶ tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.

[11:39]  ³⁶ tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.

[11:39]  ³⁷ tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”

[11:40]  ³⁷ tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”

[11:40]  ³⁸ tn Heb “go to commemorate.” The rare Hebrew verb תָּנָה (tanah, “to tell; to repeat; to recount”) occurs only here and in 5:11.

[11:40]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in the year.” This is redundant (note “every year” at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”

[19:1]  ³⁹ sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.

[19:1]  ⁴⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[19:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ⁴⁰ 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).

[19:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “went from him.”

[19:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “arose and came.”

[19:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”

[19:3]  ⁴² tn Or “young man.”

[19:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”

[19:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and he arose to go.”

[19:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”

[19:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”

[19:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”

[19:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and the man arose to go.”

[19:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “his father-in-law persuaded him and he again spent the night there.”

[19:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.

[19:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the man arose to go.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “young man.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “declining.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”

[19:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

[19:10]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “to the front of.”

[19:10]  ⁴⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[19:10]  ⁴⁹ tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”

[19:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and the day was descending greatly.”

[19:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “young man.”

[19:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “turn aside” (also in the following verse).

[19:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “who are not from the sons of Israel.”

[19:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “young man.”

[19:13]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “we will enter one of the places.”

[19:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and they passed by and went.”

[19:14]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”

[19:15]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “they turned aside there to enter to spend the night.”

[19:15]  ⁵² tn Heb “and he entered and sat down, and there was no one receiving them into the house to spend the night.”

[19:16]  ⁵² tn Heb “And look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field in the evening.”

[19:16]  ⁵³ tn Heb “And the men of the place were Benjaminites.”

[19:17]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the man, the traveler.”

[19:18]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:18]  ⁵⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[19:18]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the LORD I am going.” The Hebrew text has “house of the LORD,” which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads “to my house.”

[19:19]  ⁵⁵ tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.

[19:19]  ⁵⁶ 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.

[19:20]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Peace to you.”

[19:21]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “ate and drank.”

[19:22]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”

[19:22]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and look.”

[19:22]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness.” The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.

[19:22]  ⁶¹ tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.

[19:22]  ⁶² tn Heb “so we can know him.” On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23).

[19:24]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the visiting Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:24]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

[19:25]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:25]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and he caused [her] to go outside to them.”

[19:25]  ⁶² tn Heb “knew,” in the sexual sense.

[19:26]  ⁶¹ tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.

[19:26]  ⁶² tn Heb “The woman came at the turning of the morning and fell at the door of the house of the man where her master was until the light.”

[19:27]  ⁶² tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.

[19:28]  ⁶³ tn Heb “And the man took her on the donkey and arose and went to his place.”

[19:29]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “he carved her up by her bones into twelve pieces.”

[19:29]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “and he sent her through all the territory of Israel.”

[19:30]  ⁶⁵ tn The words “the sight” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[19:30]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “from the day.”

[19:30]  ⁶⁷ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the following additional words: “And he instructed the men whom he sent out, ‘Thus you will say to every male Israelite: “There has never been anything like this from the day the Israelites left Egypt till the present day.”’”