New English Translation
Judges 19:1
1In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired 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
In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2However, she got angry at him and went home to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, 3her husband came after her, hoping he could convince her to return. He brought with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly.
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
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 Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.
- Judges 18:1In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.
- Judges 21:25In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.
- Judges 17:1There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country.
- Joshua 24:30They buried him in his allotted territory in Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
- Genesis 22:24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – 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 off to the east, away from his son Isaac.
- 2 Samuel 3:7Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you have sexual relations with my father’s concubine?”
- 2 Samuel 5:13David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David.
- 2 Samuel 16:22So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom had sex with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
- 2 Samuel 19:5So Joab visited the king at his home. He said, “Today you have embarrassed all your servants who have saved your life this day, as well as the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your concubines.
- 2 Samuel 20:3Then David went to his palace in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement. Though he provided for their needs, he did not have sexual relations with them. They remained in confinement until the day they died, living out the rest of their lives as widows.
- 1 Kings 11:3He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines; his wives had a powerful influence over him.
- 2 Chronicles 11:21Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
- Esther 2:14In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to a separate part of the harem, to the authority of Shaashgaz the king’s eunuch who was overseeing the concubines. She would not go back to the king unless the king was pleased with her and she was requested by name.
- Daniel 5:3So they brought the gold and silver vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and 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
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries