translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JDG

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “a man, a Levite.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-E2 ; Map10-B4 .


text: Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: 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 ).


text: Heb “went from him.”


text: Heb “arose and came.”


text: Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”


text: Or “young man.”


text: Heb “he was happy to meet him.”


text: Heb “and he arose to go.”


text: Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”


text: Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”


text: Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”


text: Heb “and the man arose to go.”


text: Heb “his father-in-law persuaded him and he again spent the night there.”


text: Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.


text: Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”


text: Heb “the man arose to go.”


text: Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”


text: Or “declining.”


text: Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”


text: Heb “and he arose and went.”


text: Heb “to the front of.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


label: NET textual note

text: Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”


text: Heb “and the day was descending greatly.”


text: Or “young man.”


text: Heb “turn aside” (also in the following verse).


text: Heb “who are not from the sons of Israel.”


text: Heb “we will enter one of the places.”


text: Heb “and they passed by and went.”


text: Heb “which belongs to Benjamin.”


text: Heb “they turned aside there to enter to spend the night.”


text: Heb “and he entered and sat down, and there was no one receiving them into the house to spend the night.”


text: Heb “And look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field in the evening.”


text: Heb “And the men of the place were Benjaminites.”


text: Heb “the man, the traveler.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-E2 ; Map10-B4 .


text: 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.”


text: By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.


text: 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.


text: Heb “Peace to you.”


text: Heb “ate and drank.”


text: Heb “they were making their heart good.”


text: Heb “and look.”


text: 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.


text: The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.


text: Heb “so we can know him.” On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23 ).


text: Heb “his”; the referent (the visiting Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “what is good in your eyes.”


text: Heb “and he caused [her] to go outside to them.”


text: Heb “knew,” in the sexual sense.


text: The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.


text: 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.”


text: Heb “And the man took her on the donkey and arose and went to his place.”


text: Heb “he carved her up by her bones into twelve pieces.”


text: Heb “and he sent her through all the territory of Israel.”


text: The words “the sight” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “from the day.”


text: 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.”’”