Judges 19:1

Judges 19:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth–lehem–judah.
• New International Version (NIV)In those days Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
• English Standard Version (ESV)In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

Context of Judges 19:1

Now it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite living [as an alien] in the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. 2But his concubine was unfaithful to him, and left him and went to her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah, and stayed there for a period of four months. 3Then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly and tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the father of the girl saw him, he was happy to meet him.

Judges 19:1 word by word

וַיְהִי֙ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֔ם וּמֶ֖לֶךְ אֵ֣ין בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיְהִ֣י׀ אִ֣ישׁ לֵוִ֗י גָּ֚ר בְּיַרְכְּתֵ֣י הַר־אֶפְרַ֔יִם וַיִּֽקַּֽח־לוֹ֙ אִשָּׁ֣ה פִילֶ֔גֶשׁ מִבֵּ֥ית לֶ֖חֶם יְהוּדָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And it came to pass in those daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• no kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• in Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• that there was a certainאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• Leviteלֵוִיlêvîyîy lêvîy · LeviH3881
• sojourningגּוּרgûr · to sojournH1481
• on the sideיַרְכָהyerêkâh · flankH3411
• of mountהַרhar · mountain: hill countryH2022
• Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• who tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• to him a concubineפִּלֶ֫גֶשׁpîylegesh pilegesh · concubineH6370
• to him a concubineאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• out of Beth–lehem–judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• out of Beth–lehem–judahבֵּית לֶ֫חֶםbêyth lechem · BethlehemH1035

Cross-references for Judges 19:1

• Judges 17:6In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
• Judges 18:1In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance [of land] for themselves to live in, for until then an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.
• Judges 21:25In those days [when the judges governed] there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
• Judges 17:1There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
• Joshua 24:30They buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
• Genesis 22:24Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, gave birth to Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.
• Genesis 25:6but to the sons of his concubines [Hagar and Keturah], Abraham gave gifts while he was still living and he sent them to the east country, away from Isaac his son [of promise].
• 2 Samuel 3:7Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah the daughter of Aiah; and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”
• 2 Samuel 5:13David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to him.
• 2 Samuel 16:22So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof [of the king’s palace], and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
• 2 Samuel 19:5Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have put all your servants to shame who this day have saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines.
• 2 Samuel 20:3Then David came to his house (palace) at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to take care of the house, and placed them under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were confined, and lived as widows until the day of their death.
• 1 Kings 11:3He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God].
• 2 Chronicles 11:21Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter (granddaughter) of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines—for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
• Esther 2:14In the evening she would go in and the next morning she would return to the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
• Daniel 5:3Then they brought in the gold and silver vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.

Commentaries on Judges 19:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1There was no king in Israel - All sorts of disorders are attributed to the want of civil government; justice, right, truth, and humanity, had fallen in the streets. Took to him a concubine - We have already seen that the concubine was a sort of secondary wife; and that such connections were not disreputable, being according to the general custom of those times. The word פילגש pilegesh, concubine, is supposed by Mr. Parkhurst to be compounded of פלג palag…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1A concubine - See the margin. The name does not imply any moral reproach. A concubine was as much the man‘s wife as the woman so called, though she had not the same rights. See Judges 19:3-4.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The wickedness of the men of Gibeah. --The three remaining chapters of this book contain a very sad history of the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, in Benjamin. The righteous Lord permits sinners to execute just vengeance on one another, and if the scene here described is horrible, what will the discoveries of the day of judgment be! Let each of us consider how to escape from the wrath to come, how to mortify the sins of our own hearts, to resist Satan's…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1A concubine was a second-class wife. In societies where polygamy was common, people could buy a concubine, acquire one as debt repayment, or take one in war. Sometimes, a concubine was added to compensate for a deficiency in a legitimate wife (for example, Genesis 16:1–4; 30:3–13; 35:22). However, in the case of the Levite, there seems to have been no other wife.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-151. it came to pass in those days--The painfully interesting episode that follows, together with the intestine commotion the report of it produced throughout the country, belongs to the same early period of anarchy and prevailing disorder. a certain Levite ... took to him a concubine--The priests under the Mosaic law enjoyed the privilege of marrying as well as other classes of the people. It was no disreputable connection this Levite had formed; for a…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 19:1

• Adultery
• Bethlehem
• Concubinage
• Friends

In the dictionaries

• Ephraim
• Israel
• Judah
• Levite
• Mount Ephraim
• Beat
• Diligent
• Gibeah
• Micah
• Wayfaring

Commentaries on Judges 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary