But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah.”
Parallel translations
- WEB His master said to him, “We won’t turn aside into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah.”
- KJV And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
- BSB But his master replied, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.”
- NASB However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; instead, we will go on as far as Gibeah.”
- NLT “No,” his master said, “we can’t stay in this foreign town where there are no Israelites. Instead, we will go on to Gibeah.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Levite refuses to lodge in a foreign city and presses on toward Gibeah of Israel. He expects safety among fellow Israelites.
Overview
Trusting his own people over foreigners, he heads for Gibeah in Benjamin. The expectation that an Israelite town would be safer proves tragically mistaken. The verse exposes how deeply Israel had sunk, becoming more dangerous than the pagan city he avoided.
Cross-references & the web
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 19:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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