Bible Strands
Judges 19:1
Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator opens a new narrative unit by establishing the historical backdrop before introducing a Levite residing in the hill country of Ephraim. The account occurs during a period of political instability, immediately preceding the introduction of the Levite's concubine.
The words — אֵין ('ein) translates literally as "there not" or "no," paired with וּ/מֶ֖לֶךְ (u./Me.lekh), meaning "and [was] a king," to form the phrase "no king." This lexical combination directly states the absence of centralized monarchy in the land.
The thread — The declaration that Israel lacked a king reappears in Judges 18:1 and Judges 21:25. These references frame the book's narrative arc by marking periods of political and moral disarray.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that the absence of royal authority creates a vacuum of governance. This structural observation prepares the reader for the subsequent breakdown of social and religious order in the Levite's story.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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 Beth–lehem–judah.
Cross-references
- Judges 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
- Judges 17:8 This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
- Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Matthew 2:6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
- Joshua 24:30 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
- Joshua 24:33 Eleazar son of Aaron also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.
- Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Malachi 2:15 Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
- Genesis 22:24 Moreover, Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
- Genesis 25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.