Berean Standard Bible
Judges 19:1
1Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
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 in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2But she was unfaithful to him and left him to return to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. After she had been there four months, 3her husband got up and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, taking his servant and a pair of donkeys. So the girl brought him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.
Read all of Judges 19Judges 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
- Nowהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
- in thoseהֵ֫מָּהhêm hêmmâh · they(masc.)H1992
- daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- when there was noאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
- kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- in Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- in Israelאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
- a Leviteלֵוִיlêvîyîy lêvîy · LeviH3881
- who livedגּוּרgûr · to sojournH1481
- in the remoteיַרְכָהyerêkâh · flankH3411
- hill countryהַרhar · mountain: hill countryH2022
- of Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
- tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- a concubineאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- a concubineפִּלֶ֫גֶשׁpîylegesh pilegesh · concubineH6370
- from Bethlehemבֵּית לֶ֫חֶםbêyth lechem · BethlehemH1035
- in Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
Cross-references for Judges 19:1
- Judges 17:6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Judges 18:1In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
- Judges 21:25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Judges 17:1Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
- Joshua 24:30And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
- Genesis 22:24Moreover, Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
- Genesis 25:6But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
- 2 Samuel 3:7Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”
- 2 Samuel 5:13After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
- 2 Samuel 16:22So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
- 2 Samuel 19:5Then Joab went into the house and said to the king, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, of your wives, and of your concubines.
- 2 Samuel 20:3When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer slept with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.
- 1 Kings 11:3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.
- 2 Chronicles 11:21Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
- Esther 2:14She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name.
- Daniel 5:3Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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