And behold, an old man …: As the Levite and his concubine were sitting in the square, obviously discouraged, an old man approaches. This long introduction and description of the man shows that he will play an important role in the story. The details here also help to slow down the story and build suspense. The Hebrew word hinneh rendered behold introduces this new character, who arrives on the scene somewhat unexpectedly. Given the circumstances, we might say “Finally, an old man appeared….” It is hard to know how long the Levite and his concubine waited, so Contemporary English Version‘s “Soon an old man…” may not be correct. We might say “All of a sudden [or, Just then] an old man arrived….”

An old man was coming from his work in the field at evening: Once again the word man is prominent, this time modified by the adjective old. In most cultures an old man is respected, so translators should take care to use an expression that is in no way derogatory. Was coming renders a Hebrew participle, a verb form that often occurs with the word hinneh. The man was coming from his work in the field. In ancient Israel farms were located outside the towns, and people walked long distances to reach them. For field see verse 13.9. Translators might also speak of a “farm” (Good News Translation) or “plantation.” The additional information that it was at evening paints a picture of a person who has worked hard all day and is probably not in a position to receive guests in his home.

The man was from the hill country of Ephraim: The fact that the old man was from Ephraim is crucial to the story. He shows interest in the Levite and his concubine, even though he does not yet know that they too are from the same area (see verse 19.1). Though a pronoun would have been sufficient in Hebrew, the word man is repeated once again. For the hill country of Ephraim, see verse 2.9.

And he was sojourning in Gibe-ah: This clause gives another point in common between the old man and the Levite. Both were sojourners, that is, neither was in his hometown. For the Hebrew verb rendered was sojourning (gur), see verse 17.7. The Levite had just arrived in Gibeah, while the old man had obviously moved from his hometown to this place. We might say “He had taken up residence in Gibeah” or “He too was a stranger in Gibeah.” This fact is crucial to the story. The Benjaminites should have been the first ones to offer a stranger a place to stay, but in this case, it is another stranger who provides hospitality.

The men of the place were Benjaminites is literally “and the men of the place [were] Benjaminites.” This is a background statement to remind the audience that the story is taking place in Benjaminite territory (see verse 19.14). This clause begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction, which Revised Standard Version omits. Some languages will have particles or special conjunctions to introduce this kind of aside. Good News Translation puts this comment in parentheses. The men of the place refers to the inhabitants of Gibeah. The Hebrew word rendered men (ʾish) appears once more, as part of the literary features of this passage. Though this word can refer to males, here it seems to refer to the inhabitants. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders the men of the place as “the townspeople,” and Good News Translation has “the other people there.” Contemporary English Version is more specific with “Most of the people who lived in Gibeah.” The narrator goes to great length to emphasize the fact that the people of Gibeah were Benjaminites, and that the old man was not one of them. To show this emphasis, we may render this clause as “This was the Benjaminite region” or “This was the region where the Benjaminites lived.” Benjaminites means “sons of the right hand.” As in the Ehud episode (verse 3.15), this meaning will be part of an important wordplay later in the story (verse 20.16).

Translation models for this verse are:

• All of a sudden, an old man appeared. He was returning from his work in the fields at evening time. He was an Ephraimite from the hill country, who had taken up residence in Gibeah. (The other people in that town were all Benjaminites.)

• As they were there waiting, an old man suddenly appeared, arriving in the evening from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, and was a stranger too, since the inhabitants of Gibeah were Benjaminites.

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 .