And they turned aside there: The Levite and his party left the main road to go into the town of Gibeah. For the Hebrew verb rendered turned aside (sur), see verse 19.11. By this time, the audience knows that this verb is foreshadowing some tragic event. The adverb there refers to Gibeah.

To go in and spend the night at Gibe-ah expresses why they turned off the road. They were seeking shelter in Gibeah to stay overnight. Go in renders the Hebrew verb meaning “come” or “enter.” For the Hebrew verb rendered spend the night, see verse 19.4.

And he went in: The pronoun he refers to the Levite as the leader of his group. Once again the focus turns to him. Went in renders once again the Hebrew verb meaning “come” or “enter.” It is possible to say “and the Levite and his group entered the town.”

And sat down in the open square of the city: Sat down will be easy to render in the target language, for example, “took seats” or “found seats.” After the Levite and his party entered the town, they sat down in the town square, an open space generally just inside the town gate, or even part of the gate. It was a place where the public gathered to carry out business and also the place travelers headed when they arrived in a town. Open square renders one word in Hebrew. Many languages will have a way of referring to such a public meeting place. If not, translators may have to speak of the “center of town” or “place where people normally gathered.” The word “market” should be avoided, however, especially since this incident took place at night. The situation of these travelers is rather dire, since it is already night.

For no man took them into his house to spend the night: Hospitality was an important value of that culture, and it was common for people to take in strangers. As the Levite and his group go into the town square, they know no one, and it is already night. No one has yet offered to take them in. Like the previous clauses, this one begins with a Hebrew waw conjunction, which Revised Standard Version thinks is a logical connector here (for), introducing the reason why they sit in the town square. However, several versions think it introduces a counter-expectation, so they render it “but” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). They sit down in the square, expecting someone to offer them a place to sleep, but it does not happen. Here again the Hebrew word for man (ʾish) comes to the forefront in the expression no man, meaning “no one” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation), “nobody” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “no villager.” The Hebrew verb rendered took is not the same one used in verse 19.1. Here the verb means “take in,” in the sense of receiving someone as a guest. Into his house is literally “the house,” which may be translated simply “home” (Good News Translation). A good rendering might be “but no one invited them home to stay overnight.”

The Levite purposely bypassed Jebus because he thought he would be better received in an Israelite town. But here the Benjaminites of Gibeah are not hospitable—a clear breach of tribal custom and a first indication of the spiritual or moral decline within this tribe.

Translation models for this verse are:

• So they turned off the road and went into Gibeah to spend the night. The Levite and his group sat in the town square, but nobody invited them home for the night.

• They turned aside and made their way into the town of Gibeah to stay overnight. They sat where the people normally gathered, but nobody offered them a place to stay for the night.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .