King James Version
Judges 19:1
1And 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.1
Judges 19:1 in other versions
- 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.
- 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
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. 2And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Beth–lehem–judah, and was there four whole months. 3And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet 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
- 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
People and places in Judges 19:1
Cross-references for Judges 19:1
- Judges 17:6In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which 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 sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
- Judges 21:25In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
- Judges 17:1And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
- Joshua 24:30And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath–serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.
- Genesis 22:24And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
- Genesis 25:6But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
- 2 Samuel 3:7And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish–bosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father’s concubine?
- 2 Samuel 5:13And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.
- 2 Samuel 16:22So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
- 2 Samuel 19:5And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;
- 2 Samuel 20:3And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
- 1 Kings 11:3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
- 2 Chronicles 11:21And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
- Esther 2:14In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.
- Daniel 5:3Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in 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
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Judges 19:1 a concubine: Heb. a woman a concubine, or, a wife a concubine ↩
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
King James Version — Public Domain except in the United Kingdom (Crown rights)
Commentaries