Judges 20:4

Judges 20:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
• New International Version (NIV)So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night.

Context of Judges 20:4

2And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword. 3(Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?” So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. 5But the citizens of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night, threatening me. They intended to kill me; instead, they raped my concubine so that she died. 6And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have committed an outrageous sin and vile act in Israel.

Judges 20:4 word by word

וַיַּ֜עַן הָאִ֣ישׁ הַלֵּוִ֗י אִ֛ישׁ הָאִשָּׁ֥ה הַנִּרְצָחָ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַגִּבְעָ֙תָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לְבִנְיָמִ֔ן בָּ֛אתִי אֲנִ֥י וּפִֽילַגְשִׁ֖י לָלֽוּן׃Read the interlinear

• So the Leviteלֵוִיlêvîyîy lêvîy · LeviH3881
• the husbandאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• of the womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• who was murderedרָצַחrâtsach · to murderH7523
• answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• with my concubineפִּלֶ֫גֶשׁpîylegesh pilegesh · concubineH6370
• to spendלוּןlûn lîyn · to lodgeH3885
• theלוּןlûn lîyn · to lodgeH3885
• at Gibeahגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · GibeahH1390
• whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• belongs to Benjaminבִּנְיָמִיןbinyâmîyn · BenjaminH1144

Cross-references for Judges 20:4

• Judges 19:15They turned aside there to enter and spend the night in Gibeah. When they entered, they sat down in the public square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

Commentaries on Judges 20:4

• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-48These two epilogues (Judges 17–18 and 19–21) show that inspired but unstructured leadership cannot last. As society moved toward chaos and civil war, the phrase, In those days there was no king in Israel appears four times. The phrase, everyone did what was right in his own eyes is added twice (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The era of inspired leadership declined and ended in disorder. Something important was missing.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

• Benjamin
• Gibeah
• Levite
• Congregation
• Fetch
• Glean
• Trust
• Wickedness
• Wolf
• Archery

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