Despite Revised Standard Version‘s rendering, the Hebrew text of this verse has four independent clauses, each introduced by the waw conjunction: “And the man rose up to go and his father-in-law urged him, and he returned and he lodged there.” ver RSVver* presents most of the clauses as dependent. Translators will need to decide how to best render these clauses and the conjunctions accompanying them.
And when the man rose up to go is an independent clause in Hebrew, as noted above. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And introduces the next step in the narration, but can be omitted here. The man, which renders a key Hebrew word (ʾish) in this section, refers to the Levite. Rose up renders another ironic use of the Hebrew verb qum, which occurs throughout this section (see comments on verse 19.5). Though this verb is used often to describe the heroes of Israel, here it describes the anti-hero getting up to leave. For those who know the story, he is not going toward any victory, but rather heading toward disaster. We can simply say “The man started to leave” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or keeping the ironic link, “As the Levite rose to go home.”
His father-in-law urged him: If the previous clause is rendered as a dependent one, the Hebrew waw conjunction at the beginning of this clause can be omitted, as in Revised Standard Version. However, if the preceding clause is rendered as an independent one, this conjunction might be translated “but” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Otherwise, a sequential “Then” might be appropriate. For father-in-law see verse 19.4. The Hebrew verb rendered urged is the same one used in the story of Lot in Gen 19.3 when he encourages visitors to spend the night. It means to “press” or “pressure” someone. In many cultures it would be virtually impossible to refuse such an invitation, without causing a loss of face, especially since it involves the father-in-law. Many languages will need to add that he was persuading the Levite “to stay.” For example, Revised English Bible says “but his father-in-law urged him to stay.”
As noted above, till he lodged there again is literally “and he returned and he lodged there.” Some languages will introduce this consequence with “So.” The pronoun he refers to the Levite, but his concubine, his servant, and anyone else in his party are also in view. Translators can decide whether the singular he or a plural “they” would be more appropriate. The Hebrew verb for “returned” is shuv, which occurs often in this book (see verse 2.19). Since it does not seem that the Levite had already left, here the verb seems to mean that the Levite “changed his mind.” Revised Standard Version uses the adverb again to express this verb. For lodged see verse 19.4. The adverb there refers to the father-in-law’s house.
Translation models for this verse are:
• The Levite got up to leave, but his father-in-law urged him to stay, so he spent the night there again.
• When the Levite was about to leave, his father-in-law insisted he stay. So they remained one more 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 .