Judges 20:4
New International Version
So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

New Living Translation
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.

English Standard Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

King James Bible
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 King James Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
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.

NASB 1995
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.

NASB 1977
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.

Legacy Standard Bible
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.

Amplified Bible
So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, replied, “I had come with my concubine to spend the night in Gibeah, [a town] which belongs to [the tribe of] Benjamin.

Christian Standard Bible
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, “I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.

American Standard Version
And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

Contemporary English Version
The husband of the murdered woman answered: My wife and I went into the town of Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

English Revised Version
And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, "My concubine and I went to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

Good News Translation
The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, "My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.

International Standard Version
So the descendant of Levi, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up and replied, "I came to spend the night at Gibeah, which is part of Benjamin, along with my mistress.

Majority Standard Bible
So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: ?I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

NET Bible
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up, "I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.

New Heart English Bible
The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my secondary wife, to spend the night.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And the man, the Levite, husband of the woman who has been murdered, answers and says, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which [is] of Benjamin, to lodge;

Young's Literal Translation
And the man, the Levite, husband of the woman who hath been murdered, answereth and saith, 'Into Gibeah (which is to Benjamin) I have come, I and my concubine, to lodge;

Smith's Literal Translation
And the man the Levite will answer, the husband of the woman slain, and he will say, To Gibeah which is to the sons of Benjamin I came, I and my concubine to lodge.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Answered: I came into Gabaa of Benjamin with my wife, and there I lodged:

Catholic Public Domain Version
responded: “I went to Gibeah of Benjamin, with my wife, and I diverted to that place.

New American Bible
and the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, testified: “It was at Gibeah of Benjamin, which my concubine and I had entered for the night.

New Revised Standard Version
The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was killed, answered and said to them, I came into Gibeah, that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Levi, the husband of the woman who was killed, answered, and he said to them: “I entered Gabah of Benyamin, I and my Concubine, to lodge
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said: 'I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I and my concubine went to Gabaa of Benjamin to lodge.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Decree of the Assembly
3(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?” 4So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died.…

Cross References
Genesis 34:25-31
Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons (Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi) took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered every male. / They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. / Jacob’s other sons came upon the slaughter and looted the city, because their sister had been defiled. ...

Deuteronomy 22:25-27
But if the man encounters a betrothed woman in the open country, and he overpowers her and lies with her, only the man who has done this must die. / Do nothing to the young woman, because she has committed no sin worthy of death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him. / When he found her in the field, the betrothed woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

Joshua 7:25
“Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.

2 Samuel 13:28-29
Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!” / So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as Absalom had ordered. Then all the other sons of the king got up, and each one fled on his mule.

Hosea 9:9
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.

Hosea 10:9
Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?

Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. / Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Romans 13:4
For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. / And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this? / Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. ...

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, / nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:11-12
Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. / For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

1 Timothy 1:9-10
We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers, / for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

2 Peter 2:6-8
if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; / and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless / (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

Jude 1:7
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.


Treasury of Scripture

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

the Levite [heb] the man the Levite

Judges 19:15-28
And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging…

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Belongeth Belongs Benjamin Concubine Dead Husband Levite Murdered Night Purpose Servant-Wife Slain Spend Stopping
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Belongeth Belongs Benjamin Concubine Dead Husband Levite Murdered Night Purpose Servant-Wife Slain Spend Stopping
Judges 20
1. The Levite in a general assembly declared his wrong
8. The decree of the assembly
12. The Benjamites, being cited, make head against the Israelites
18. The Israelites in two battles lose forty thousand
26. They destroy by a plan all the Benjamites, except six hundred.














So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered
So the Levite
The term "Levite" refers to a member of the tribe of Levi, set apart for religious duties in Israel. The Levites were not given a specific territory like the other tribes but were scattered throughout Israel to serve in various religious capacities. This particular Levite's involvement in the narrative highlights the moral and spiritual decline in Israel during the time of the Judges. The Levites were meant to be spiritual leaders, yet this Levite's actions and circumstances reflect the chaos and lawlessness prevalent in the period.

the husband of the murdered woman
This phrase identifies the Levite as the husband, or more accurately, the concubine's master, as the Hebrew term used can imply a lesser status than a full wife. The tragic reference to "the murdered woman" underscores the gravity of the crime committed against her, which serves as a catalyst for the ensuing conflict. The murder of the concubine is a stark illustration of the societal breakdown and the lack of justice and protection for the vulnerable, which were supposed to be upheld by the covenant community.

answered
The act of answering implies a response to a preceding inquiry or accusation. In this context, the Levite is responding to the assembly of the Israelites who have gathered to address the heinous crime committed in Gibeah. His answer is not just a personal defense but a call to the nation to recognize and rectify the moral decay that has led to such an atrocity. The Levite's response is pivotal, as it sets the stage for the collective action of the tribes of Israel, highlighting the communal responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness according to God's law.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So the Levite,
הַלֵּוִ֗י (hal·lê·wî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3881: Levites -- descendant of Levi

the husband
הָאִ֣ישׁ (hā·’îš)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

of the murdered
הַנִּרְצָחָ֖ה (han·nir·ṣā·ḥāh)
Article | Verb - Nifal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 7523: To dash in pieces, kill, to murder

woman,
הָאִשָּׁ֥ה (hā·’iš·šāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

answered:
וַיַּ֜עַן (way·ya·‘an)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

“I
אֲנִ֥י (’ă·nî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

and my concubine
וּפִֽילַגְשִׁ֖י (ū·p̄î·laḡ·šî)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6370: A concubine, a paramour

came
בָּ֛אתִי (bā·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to Gibeah
הַגִּבְעָ֙תָה֙ (hag·giḇ·‘ā·ṯāh)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1390: Gibeah -- 'hill', three cities in Palestine

in Benjamin
לְבִנְיָמִ֔ן (lə·ḇin·yā·min)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1144: Benjamin -- 'son of the right hand', youngest son of Jacob, also the name of two other Israelites

to spend the night.
לָלֽוּן׃ (lā·lūn)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3885: To stop, to stay permanently, to be obstinate


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OT History: Judges 20:4 The Levite the husband of the woman (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 20:3
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