Judges 19:1-16

Context

Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited

19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite¹ living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine² from Bethlehem³ in Judah. 19:2 However, she⁴ got angry at him⁵ and went home⁶ to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, 19:3 her husband came⁷ after her, hoping he could convince her to return.⁸ He brought with him his servant⁹ 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.¹⁰ 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.¹¹ But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy,¹² then you can go.” 19:6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together.¹³ Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!”¹⁴ 19:7 When the man got ready to leave,¹⁵ his father-in-law convinced him to stay another night.¹⁶ 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.¹⁷ Wait until later in the day to leave!”¹⁸ So they ate a meal together. 19:9 When the man got ready to leave¹⁹ with his concubine and his servant,²⁰ his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over!²¹ Stay another night! Since the day is over,²² stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.”²³ 19:10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left²⁴ and traveled as far as²⁵ Jebus (that is, Jerusalem).²⁶ He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.²⁷

19:11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late²⁸ and the servant²⁹ said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at³⁰ 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.³¹ We will travel on to Gibeah.” 19:13 He said to his servant,³² “Come on, we will go into one of the other towns³³ and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” 19:14 So they traveled on,³⁴ and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.³⁵ 19:15 They stopped there and decided to spend the night³⁶ in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night.³⁷

19:16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field.³⁸ The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.)³⁹

[19:1] ¹tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”

[19:1] ²sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.

[19:1] ³map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[19:2] ⁴tn Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:2] ⁵tn 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] ⁶tn Heb “went from him.”

[19:3] ⁷tn Heb “arose and came.”

[19:3] ⁸tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”

[19:3] ⁹tn Or “young man.”

[19:3] ¹⁰tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”

[19:5] ¹¹tn Heb “and he arose to go.”

[19:5] ¹²tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”

[19:6] ¹³tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”

[19:6] ¹⁴tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”

[19:7] ¹⁵tn Heb “and the man arose to go.”

[19:7] ¹⁶tn Heb “his father-in-law persuaded him and he again spent the night there.”

[19:8] ¹⁷tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.

[19:8] ¹⁸tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”

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

[19:9] ²⁰tn Or “young man.”

[19:9] ²¹tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”

[19:9] ²²tn Or “declining.”

[19:9] ²³tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”

[19:10] ²⁴tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

[19:10] ²⁵tn Heb “to the front of.”

[19:10] ²⁶map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[19:10] ²⁷tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”

[19:11] ²⁸tn Heb “and the day was descending greatly.”

[19:11] ²⁹tn Or “young man.”

[19:11] ³⁰tn Heb “turn aside” (also in the following verse).

[19:12] ³¹tn Heb “who are not from the sons of Israel.”

[19:13] ³²tn Or “young man.”

[19:13] ³³tn Heb “we will enter one of the places.”

[19:14] ³⁴tn Heb “and they passed by and went.”

[19:14] ³⁵tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”

[19:15] ³⁶tn Heb “they turned aside there to enter to spend the night.”

[19:15] ³⁷tn Heb “and he entered and sat down, and there was no one receiving them into the house to spend the night.”

[19:16] ³⁸tn Heb “And look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field in the evening.”

[19:16] ³⁹tn Heb “And the men of the place were Benjaminites.”