Bible study online

Judges 19:1

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Judges 19:1

Verse 1 of 30

Scripture focus

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 Bethlehemjudah.

Judges 19:1 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Judges 19:1

Theological / Devotional

In those days. The narrative recorded in chs. 19 to 21 depicts events in the early history of the tribe of Benjamin (see on ch. 20:28).

No king in Israel. Again the author prefaces his story of the lawless times and the intertribal strife with the explanation that such things were possible because there was no king in Israel to keep law and order. The tranquillity that exists in a country where law is respected and enforced is not always appreciated as it ought to be.

A concubine. She would be an inferior wife, lacking the regular status of even a second wife, and yet it was not a passing affair but seemingly a regular, lasting relationship, as shown by the fact that though her unfaithfulness to him was regarded as reprehensible, the husband sought later to effect a reconciliation.

Beth-lehem-judah. The Levite of the former story also had connections in Bethlehem (see on ch. 17:7).

By SdaBc