And his master said to him: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “But” (Good News Translation) here, since it introduces an unexpected response. His master refers again to the Levite (see verse 19.11). In this context the general verb said may be rendered “refused” or “protested.”

We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel: The Levite does not want to have anything to do with the foreigners living in Jebus. For the verb turn aside, see verse 19.11. The city of foreigners refers to Jebus, where the Jebusites lived. This group lived originally in Canaan and proved too strong for the Israelites to drive out (verse 1.21). One of the major shortcomings of the Israelites described in the beginning of this book is the fact that they did not keep themselves separate from the people of Canaan. Often as they tried to drive out the Canaanites, they would mix with them, intermarrying and adopting their idolatrous practices. Thus it is somewhat surprising that here the Levite refuses to spend even one night with these foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel. Perhaps by emphasizing the dangers of people who are not Israelites, the narrator is setting the scene for the shock of the treatment the Levite will receive from his own people (verse 19.25). Good News Translation gives a good model: “We’re not going to stop in a city where the people are not Israelites.” Contemporary English Version reorders the sentence and is quite effective: “They aren’t Israelites, and I refuse to spend the night there.”

But we will pass on to Gibe-ah: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered but introduces the next clause, as the Levite proposes that they bypass Jebus and go to Gibe-ah, an Israelite town. There is great irony here, since he obviously thinks he will be safer in Israelite territory than in a city of foreigners. While some languages might use a connector such as but or “rather,” others may prefer to omit this conjunction (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The use of the Hebrew verb rendered pass on (ʿavar) is another case of a keyword being used in an ironic way (see verse 3.26). In Exo 12.23 the angel of death “passed over” the country of Egypt, sparing the Israelites, and at a crucial time in their history, the Israelites “passed through” the Sea of Reeds (Num 33.8). But here, the Levite will pass on to disaster. Translators should try to keep this link, perhaps by saying “Let’s rather go across [or, cross over] to Gibeah.” To Gibe-ah is literally “until Gibeah,” a town about 5 kilometers (3 miles) north of Jerusalem, in the territory of Benjamin.

Translation models for this verse are:

• But his master refused to go into a city whose inhabitants were not Israelites. Instead, he said they should pass on to the town of Gibeah.

• His master refused, saying, “We will not go into that town where strangers live. They are not Israelites. Let’s rather pass on to Gibeah.”

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 .