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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Now in those days Israel had no king. There was a man from the tribe of Levi living in a remote area of the hill country of Ephraim. One day he brought home a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.

Context of Judges 19:1

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. 2And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. 3Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy 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. Everyone 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 people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.
• Judges 21:25In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone 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 24:30And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.
• Genesis 22:24Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
• Genesis 25:6But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.
• 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 5:13And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David.
• 2 Samuel 16:22So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. 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, "You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and your concubines,
• 2 Samuel 20:3And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.
• 1 Kings 11:3He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
• 2 Chronicles 11:21Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters).
• Esther 2:14In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
• Daniel 5:3Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, 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