Judges 17-19
New English Translation
Micah Makes His Own Religion
17 There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country. 2 He said to his mother, “You know[a] the 1,100 pieces of silver which were stolen[b] from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole[c] it, but now I am giving it back to you.”[d] His mother said, “May the Lord reward[e] you, my son!” 3 When he gave back to his mother the 1,100 pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate[f] this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.”[g] 4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she[h] took 200 pieces of silver[i] to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house.[j] 5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine.[k] He made an ephod[l] and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.[m] 6 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.[n]
Micah Hires a Professional
7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.[o] 8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house.[p] 9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.”[q] 10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser[r] and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.”[s] 11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah.[t] 12 Micah paid[u] the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house. 13 Micah said, “Now I know the Lord will make me rich,[v] because I have this Levite as my priest.”
The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance
18 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place[w] to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.[x] 2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives,[y] capable men[z] from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house.[aa] 3 As they approached[ab] Micah’s house, they recognized the accent[ac] of the young Levite. So they stopped[ad] there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”[ae] 4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying,[af] “He hired me, and I became his priest.” 5 They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us,[ag] so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.”[ah] 6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence.[ai] The Lord will be with you on your mission.”[aj]
7 So the five men journeyed on[ak] and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there[al] were living securely, like the Sidonians do,[am] undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way.[an] They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.[ao] 8 When the Danites returned to their tribe[ap] in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen[aq] asked them, “How did it go?”[ar] 9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them,[as] for[at] we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic,[au] but don’t hesitate[av] to invade and conquer[aw] the land. 10 When you invade,[ax] you will encounter[ay] unsuspecting people. The land is wide![az] God is handing it over to you—a place that lacks nothing on earth!”[ba]
11 So 600 Danites, fully armed, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.[bb] 12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan.[bc] It is west[bd] of Kiriath Jearim.) 13 From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house. 14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish[be] said to their kinsmen,[bf] “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.” 15 They stopped[bg] there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah),[bh] and asked him how he was doing.[bi] 16 Meanwhile the 600 Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate.[bj] 17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole[bk] the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the 600 fully armed men.[bl] 18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole[bm] the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser[bn] and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?”[bo] 20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group.[bp]
21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions.[bq] 22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors[br] gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites[bs] turned around and said to Micah, “Why have you gathered together?” 24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’”[bt] 25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men[bu] will attack you, and you and your family will die.”[bv] 26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized[bw] they were too strong to resist,[bx] he turned around and went home.
27 Now the Danites[by] took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.[bz] 28 No one came to the rescue because the city[ca] was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone.[cb] The city[cc] was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites[cd] rebuilt the city and occupied it. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons.[ce] But the city’s name used to be Laish. 30 The Danites worshiped[cf] the carved image. Jonathan, descendant[cg] of Gershom, son of Moses,[ch] and his descendants[ci] served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 31 They worshiped[cj] Micah’s carved image[ck] the whole time God’s authorized shrine[cl] was in Shiloh.
Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited
19 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite[cm] living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine[cn] from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 However, she[co] got angry at him[cp] and went home[cq] to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, 3 her husband came[cr] after her, hoping he could convince her to return.[cs] He brought with him his servant[ct] 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.[cu] 4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay with him for three days, and they ate and drank together, and spent the night there. 5 On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave.[cv] But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy,[cw] then you can go.” 6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together.[cx] Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time?”[cy] 7 When the man got ready to leave,[cz] his father-in-law convinced him to stay another night.[da] 8 He woke up early in the morning on the fifth day so he could leave, but the girl’s father said, “Get some energy![db] Wait until later in the day to leave.”[dc] So they ate a meal together. 9 When the man got ready to leave[dd] with his concubine and his servant,[de] his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over.[df] Stay another night! Since the day is over,[dg] stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.”[dh] 10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left[di] and traveled as far as[dj] Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.[dk]
11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late[dl] and the servant[dm] said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at[dn] this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.” 12 But his master said to him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live.[do] We will travel on to Gibeah.” 13 He said to his servant,[dp] “Come on, we will go into one of the other towns[dq] and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” 14 So they traveled on,[dr] and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.[ds] 15 They stopped there and decided to spend the night[dt] in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night.[du]
16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field.[dv] The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.)[dw] 17 When he looked up and saw the traveler[dx] in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?” 18 The Levite[dy] said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home.[dz] But no one has invited me into their home. 19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant,[ea] and the young man who is with your servants.[eb] We lack nothing.” 20 The old man said, “Everything is just fine.[ec] I will take care of all your needs. But don’t spend the night in the town square.” 21 So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and had a meal.[ed]
22 They were having a good time,[ee] when suddenly[ef] some men of the city, some good-for-nothings,[eg] surrounded the house and kept beating[eh] on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can take carnal knowledge of him.”[ei] 23 The man who owned the house went outside and said to them, “No, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Don’t do such a disgraceful thing! 24 Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s[ej] concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like.[ek] But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!” 25 The men refused to listen to him, so the Levite[el] grabbed his concubine and made her go outside.[em] They raped[en] her and abused her all night long until morning. They let her go at dawn. 26 The woman arrived back at daybreak and was sprawled out on the doorstep of the house where her master[eo] was staying until it became light.[ep] 27 When her master[eq] got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went outside to start on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, sprawled out on the doorstep of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up, let’s leave.” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home.[er] 29 When he got home, he took a knife, grasped his concubine, and carved her up into twelve pieces.[es] Then he sent the pieces throughout Israel.[et] 30 Everyone who saw the sight[eu] said, “Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed during the entire time since[ev] the Israelites left the land of Egypt![ew] Take careful note of it! Discuss it and speak!”
Footnotes
- Judges 17:2 tn The words “You know” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 17:2 tn Heb “taken.”
- Judges 17:2 tn Heb “took.”
- Judges 17:2 tn In the Hebrew text the statement, “but now I am giving it back to you,” appears at the end of v. 3 and is spoken by the mother. But v. 4 indicates that she did not give the money back to her son. Unless the statement is spoken by the woman to the Lord, it appears to be misplaced and fits much better in v. 2. It may have been accidentally omitted from a manuscript, written in the margin, and then later inserted in the wrong place in another manuscript.
- Judges 17:2 tn Traditionally, “bless.”
- Judges 17:3 tn Heb “dedicating, I dedicate.” In this case the emphatic infinitive absolute lends a mood of solemnity to the statement.
- Judges 17:3 tn Heb “to the Lord from my hand for my son to make a carved image and cast metal image.” She cannot mean that she is now taking the money from her hand and giving it back to her son so he can make an image. Verses 4-6 indicate she took back the money and used a portion of it to hire a silversmith to make an idol for her son to use. The phrase “a carved image and cast metal image” is best taken as referring to two idols (see 18:17-18), even though the verb at the end of v. 4, וַיְהִי (vayehi, “and it was [in the house of Micah]”), is singular.
- Judges 17:4 tn Heb “his mother.” The pronoun (“she”) has been substituted for the noun (“mother”) in the translation because of English style.
- Judges 17:4 tn The Hebrew text has “and gave it.” The referent (the pieces of silver) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 17:4 tn Heb “and it was in Micah’s house.”
- Judges 17:5 tn Heb “house of God.”
- Judges 17:5 sn Here an ephod probably refers to a priestly garment (cf. Exod 28:4-6).
- Judges 17:5 tn Heb “and he filled the hand of one of his sons and he became his priest.”
- Judges 17:6 tn Heb “Each was doing what was right in his [own] eyes.”
- Judges 17:7 tn Heb “There was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, from the tribe of Judah, and he was a Levite, and he was temporarily residing there.”
- Judges 17:8 tn Heb “He came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, making his way.”
- Judges 17:9 tn Heb “And I am going to reside in a place I can find.”
- Judges 17:10 tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).
- Judges 17:10 tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.
- Judges 17:11 tn Heb “the young man became like one of his sons.”
- Judges 17:12 tn Heb “filled the hand of.”
- Judges 17:13 tn Heb “do good for me.”
- Judges 18:1 tn Heb “an inheritance.”
- Judges 18:1 tn Heb “because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance.”
- Judges 18:2 tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”
- Judges 18:2 tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”
- Judges 18:2 tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”
- Judges 18:3 tn Or “When they were near.”
- Judges 18:3 tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).
- Judges 18:3 tn Heb “turned aside.”
- Judges 18:3 tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”
- Judges 18:4 tn Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.
- Judges 18:5 tn Heb “Ask God.”
- Judges 18:5 tn Heb “so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful.”
- Judges 18:6 tn Heb “in peace.”
- Judges 18:6 tn Heb “In front of the Lord is your way in which you are going.”
- Judges 18:7 tn Or “went.”
- Judges 18:7 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
- Judges 18:7 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
- Judges 18:7 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
- Judges 18:7 tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (ʾaram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (ʾadam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.
- Judges 18:8 tn Heb “They came to their brothers.”
- Judges 18:8 tn Heb “brothers.”
- Judges 18:8 tn Heb “What you?”
- Judges 18:9 tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”
- Judges 18:9 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”
- Judges 18:9 tn Heb “But you are inactive.”
- Judges 18:9 tn Or “be lazy.”
- Judges 18:9 tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”
- Judges 18:10 tn Heb “When you enter.”
- Judges 18:10 tn Heb “you will come to.”
- Judges 18:10 tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”
- Judges 18:10 tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”
- Judges 18:11 tn Heb “They journeyed from there, from the tribe of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, 600 men, equipped with weapons of war.”
- Judges 18:12 tn Or “Mahaneh Dan”; the Hebrew term “Mahaneh” means “camp [of].” Many English versions retain the transliterated Hebrew expression, but cf. CEV “Dan’s Camp.”
- Judges 18:12 tn Heb “behind.”
- Judges 18:14 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”
- Judges 18:14 tn Heb “brothers.”
- Judges 18:15 tn Heb “turned aside.”
- Judges 18:15 tn Heb “Micah’s house.”
- Judges 18:15 tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”
- Judges 18:16 tn Heb “And the 600 men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”
- Judges 18:17 tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”
- Judges 18:17 tn Heb “600 men, equipped with the weapons of war.”
- Judges 18:18 tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”
- Judges 18:19 tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.
- Judges 18:19 tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”
- Judges 18:20 tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”
- Judges 18:21 tn Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”
- Judges 18:22 tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”
- Judges 18:23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 18:24 tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”
- Judges 18:25 tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.
- Judges 18:25 tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”
- Judges 18:26 tn Heb “saw.”
- Judges 18:26 tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”
- Judges 18:27 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 18:27 tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
- Judges 18:28 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
- Judges 18:28 tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”
- Judges 18:28 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
- Judges 18:28 tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 18:29 tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”
- Judges 18:30 tn Heb “erected for themselves.”
- Judges 18:30 tn Heb “son.”
- Judges 18:30 tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, menasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.
- Judges 18:30 tn Heb “sons.”
- Judges 18:31 tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”
- Judges 18:31 tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”
- Judges 18:31 tn Heb “the house of God.”
- Judges 19:1 tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”
- Judges 19:1 sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.
- Judges 19:2 tn Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 19:2 tn Or “was unfaithful to him.” Many have understood the Hebrew verb וַתִּזְנֶה (vattizneh) as being from זָנָה (zanah, “to be a prostitute”), but it may be derived from a root meaning “to be angry; to hate” attested in Akkadian (see HALOT 275 s.v. II זנה).
- Judges 19:2 tn Heb “went from him.”
- Judges 19:3 tn Heb “arose and came.”
- Judges 19:3 tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”
- Judges 19:3 tn Or “young man.”
- Judges 19:3 tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”
- Judges 19:5 tn Heb “and he arose to go.”
- Judges 19:5 tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”
- Judges 19:6 tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”
- Judges 19:6 tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”
- Judges 19:7 tn Heb “and the man arose to go.”
- Judges 19:7 tn Heb “his father-in-law persuaded him and he again spent the night there.”
- Judges 19:8 tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.
- Judges 19:8 tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”
- Judges 19:9 tn Heb “the man arose to go.”
- Judges 19:9 tn Or “young man.”
- Judges 19:9 tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”
- Judges 19:9 tn Or “declining.”
- Judges 19:9 tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”
- Judges 19:10 tn Heb “and he arose and went.”
- Judges 19:10 tn Heb “to the front of.”
- Judges 19:10 tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”
- Judges 19:11 tn Heb “and the day was descending greatly.”
- Judges 19:11 tn Or “young man.”
- Judges 19:11 tn Heb “turn aside” (also in the following verse).
- Judges 19:12 tn Heb “[in] which not any of the sons of Israel [are] here.”
- Judges 19:13 tn Or “young man.”
- Judges 19:13 tn Heb “we will enter one of the places.”
- Judges 19:14 tn Heb “and they passed by and went.”
- Judges 19:14 tn Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”
- Judges 19:15 tn Heb “they turned aside there to enter to spend the night.”
- Judges 19:15 tn Heb “and he entered and sat down, and there was no one receiving them into the house to spend the night.”
- Judges 19:16 tn Heb “And look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field in the evening.”
- Judges 19:16 tn Heb “And the men of the place were Benjaminites.”
- Judges 19:17 tn Heb “the man, the traveler.”
- Judges 19:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 19:18 tn Heb “I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the Lord I am going.” The Hebrew text has “house of the Lord,” which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads “to my house.”
- Judges 19:19 tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.
- Judges 19:19 tc Some Hebrew mss and ancient witnesses read the singular, “your servant,” which would refer to the Levite. If one retains the plural, then both the Levite and his wife are in view. In either case the pronominal suffix emphasizes their dependence on the old man for shelter.
- Judges 19:20 tn Heb “Peace to you.”
- Judges 19:21 tn Heb “ate and drank.”
- Judges 19:22 tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”
- Judges 19:22 tn Heb “and look.”
- Judges 19:22 tn Heb “the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness.” The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.
- Judges 19:22 tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.
- Judges 19:22 tn Heb “know.” The expression יָדַע (yadaʿ) “to know” is a euphemism for sexual relations. Elsewhere NET employs the English euphemism “be intimate with” for this use of יָדַע (yadaʿ), but uses a different euphemism here because of the perverse overtones of force in this context. Their intent is to molest him, but their rhetoric tries to minimize their wickedness.
- Judges 19:24 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the visiting Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 19:24 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
- Judges 19:25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 19:25 tn Heb “and he caused [her] to go outside to them.”
- Judges 19:25 tn Heb “knew,” in the sexual sense.
- Judges 19:26 tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.
- Judges 19:26 tn Heb “The woman came at the turning of the morning and fell at the door of the house of the man where her master was until the light.”
- Judges 19:27 tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.
- Judges 19:28 tn Heb “And the man took her on the donkey and arose and went to his place.”
- Judges 19:29 tn Heb “he carved her up by her bones into twelve pieces.”
- Judges 19:29 tn Heb “and he sent her through all the territory of Israel.”
- Judges 19:30 tn The words “the sight” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 19:30 tn Heb “from the day.”
- Judges 19:30 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the following additional words: “And he instructed the men whom he sent out, ‘Thus you will say to every male Israelite: “There has never been anything like this from the day the Israelites left Egypt till the present day.”’”
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