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

2The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel—400,000 warriors armed with swords—took their positions in the assembly of the people of God. 3(Word soon reached the land of Benjamin that the other tribes had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites then asked how this terrible crime had happened. The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said, “My concubine and I came to spend the night in Gibeah, a town that belongs to the people of Benjamin. 5That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead. 6So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the territory assigned to Israel, for these men have committed a terrible and shameful crime.

Judges 20:4 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the Leviteאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• And the Leviteלֵוִיlêvîyîy lêvîy · LeviH3881
• the husbandאִישׁ'îysh · man: husbandH376
• of the womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• that was slainרָצַחrâtsach · to murderH7523
• answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• into Gibeahגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · GibeahH1390
• to Benjaminבִּנְיָמִיןbinyâmîyn · BenjaminH1144
• I and my concubineפִּלֶ֫גֶשׁpîylegesh pilegesh · concubineH6370
• to lodgeלוּןlûn lîyn · to lodgeH3885

Cross-references for Judges 20:4

• Judges 19:15so they stopped there to spend the night. They rested in the town square, but no one took them in for 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