Judges 20:5

Judges 20:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.
• New International Version (NIV)During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died.

Context of Judges 20:5

3By this time, the people of Benjamin's tribe had heard the news that the other tribes were meeting in Mizpah. Then the Israelites asked, ‘Tell us how this evil thing happened.’ 4So the Levite, the husband of the dead woman, told them. He said, ‘My slave wife and I arrived in Gibeah to sleep there for the night. It is a town that belongs to the people of Benjamin's tribe. That night some important men of Gibeah came to the house to attack me. They stood all around the house. They wanted to kill me, but they took hold of my wife instead. They made her have sex with them, and she died. 6I took her body home and I cut it into 12 pieces. I sent the pieces everywhere in the land of Israel. I did this to show what a terrible thing these men had done. 7So now all you people of Israel must decide what you will do about it.’

Judges 20:5 word by word

וַיָּקֻ֤מוּ עָלַי֙ בַּעֲלֵ֣י הַגִּבְעָ֔ה וַיָּסֹ֧בּוּ עָלַ֛י אֶת־הַבַּ֖יִת לָ֑יְלָה אוֹתִי֙ דִּמּ֣וּ לַהֲרֹ֔ג וְאֶת־פִּילַגְשִׁ֥י עִנּ֖וּ וַתָּמֹֽת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the menבַּעַלba‛al · masterH1167
• of Gibeahגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · GibeahH1390
• roseקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
• against me, and besetסָבַבsâbab · to turn: turnH5437
• the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• upon me by nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• thoughtדָּמָהdâmâh · to resembleH1819
• to have slainהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
• me: and my concubineפִּלֶ֫גֶשׁpîylegesh pilegesh · concubineH6370
• have they forcedעָנָה‛ânâh · to afflictH6031
• that she is deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191

Cross-references for Judges 20:5

• Judges 19:22They were enjoying their time together. Suddenly, some wicked men who lived in the city came to the house. They stood all around it and they hit the door hard. They shouted to the old man who lived there, ‘Bring out the man who came to visit you. We want to have sex with him.’
• Genesis 19:4After that, they were preparing to go to bed. Then all the men who lived in Sodom came to Lot's house. They were old men and young men, who came from every part of the city. They stood all round the house.
• Judges 19:25But the men would not agree to this. So the Levite took hold of his slave wife and he pushed her outside. They made her have sex with them all night and they were very cruel to her. At dawn, they let her go.
• Deuteronomy 22:24If so, you must take both of them to the gate of that town. You must throw stones at both of them there, until they die. The young woman is guilty because she did not shout aloud for help. They were in the town, so someone would have heard her. The man is guilty because he had sex with the future wife of another man. In this way, you will remove evil acts from among you.
• Ezekiel 22:10Some men have sex with their father's wife. Some men have sex with a woman at the time when she bleeds each month and she is unclean.

Commentaries on Judges 20:5

• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5The "wicked men" (Judges 19:22) were important citizens (literally lords). They intended to kill me: The Levite believed the men of Gibeah wanted to kill him after they killed his concubine.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-74-7. the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said--The injured husband gave a brief and unvarnished recital of the tragic outrage, from which it appears that force was used, which he could not resist. His testimony was doubtless corroborated by those of his servant and the old Ephraimite. There was no need of strong or highly colored description to work upon the feelings of the audience. The facts spoke for themselves and…Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Gibeah
• Congregation
• Fetch
• Glean
• Trust
• Wickedness
• Wolf
• Archery
• Israel, History of
• Judah, Kingdom of

Commentaries on Judges 20

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary