Judges 19:22-27

19:22 They were having a good time, ¹  when suddenly ²  some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, ³  surrounded the house and kept beating ⁴  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.” ⁵  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 ⁶  concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like. ⁷  But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!” 19:25 The men refused to listen to him, so the Levite ⁸  grabbed his concubine and made her go outside. ⁹  They raped ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  was staying until it became light. ¹²  19:27 When her master ¹³  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.

[19:22]  ¹ tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”

[19:22]  ² tn Heb “and look.”

[19:22]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.

[19:22]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the visiting Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

[19:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he caused [her] to go outside to them.”

[19:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “knew,” in the sexual sense.

[19:26]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.