And he lifted up his eyes, and saw …: Coming from the fields and arriving in the town square, the old man (he) looks around and sees the group of travelers. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And introduces the next action, but many versions omit it (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). New International Version prefers to cast this clause as a dependent clause, saying “When he looked and saw…” (similarly NET Bible). He lifted up his eyes, and saw renders a well-known Hebrew idiom, which if translated literally, would be unnatural in most languages. Translators can use some natural equivalent, for example, “he caught sight of” or simply “he saw.”
The wayfarer in the open square of the city: The wayfarer is literally “the man, the traveling one,” which refers to the Levite. Here the Hebrew word for “man” (ʾish) appears yet again, as it does throughout this section. In most languages the wayfarer may be translated “the traveler” (Good News Translation, New International Version) or “the stranger.” The text does not say how the old man recognized the Levite as a stranger but this was probably obvious from his clothes, his donkeys, and so on. Also, the fact that the Levite was sitting in the open square of the city (see verse 19.15) waiting for help may have indicated that he was a foreigner. Obviously the old man sees not just the Levite but the whole group.
And the old man said: Naturally in this culture, he would have addressed the husband, rather than the concubine or the servant. The old man may be rendered simply “the man” or “he” (New Living Translation) if this is more natural in the target language. In many languages it will be necessary to first say the man approached the Levite and his group before speaking, so translators might say “and he went up to them, and he said.” In this context the general verb said may be translated “asked.”
Where are you going? and whence do you come?: These two questions are the old man’s polite way of beginning a conversation with the Levite. However, in many languages an initial word such as “Welcome” might be necessary. These questions are similar to those which the angel of the LORD asks Hagar in Gen 16.8. Here as there, they are questions of information, not rhetorical questions, and the Levite immediately answers them. Where are you going? asks for the Levite’s final destination, while whence do you come? asks for his starting point. In many languages it will be more natural to put these questions in reverse order. Whence is an old English word meaning “from where.” The second question may be rendered “Where are you coming from?” or “Where have you come from?” The Hebrew pronoun for you is singular, but in many languages it will be better to use a plural “you.” We might say “Where have you [all] come from? And where are you headed?” For those languages that prefer indirect speech here, see the second model below.
Translation models for this verse are:
• And when he saw the travelers in the town square, he approached them and said, “Greetings, friends. Where have you come from? And where are you going?”
• As he was coming, the old man saw the stranger waiting in the middle of the town and asked him where he had come from and where he was going.
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 .