What Does Judges 19:13 Mean?
And he said to his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.THE KEY
The Hebrew for “draw near” shares its root with korban, “drawing near,” so the travelers’ choice is more than a route to shelter: it is an entry into proximity.
THE MEANING
Night is closing in, and the question becomes immediate: which place can hold the travelers until morning? The Hebrew phrase translated “draw near” carries approach as entry into proximity, so the destination is more than a point they reach.
THE ROOT
וְנִקְרְבָה
weniqrevah
GROWS FROM
קרב
qarav
Approach; come near.
The verb translated “draw near” comes from קרב (qarav), “approach,” the same root behind קָרְבָּן (qorban), “drawing near.” English makes the travelers’ movement sound geographic; the shared root also lets it carry the sense of entering proximity.
ALSO GROWS
qarov: Near; close.
קָרוֹב
This branch makes clear that the travelers move toward nearness, not merely toward a destination.
qorban: Drawing near; an offering that marks approach.
קָרְבָּן
This branch reveals how the root’s idea of approach can carry a sense of entering relation.
וְלַנּוּ
welanu
GROWS FROM
לון
lun
Lodge; spend the night.
The verse uses a form of לון (lun), “lodge” or “spend the night.” Its family names both the overnight stay and a lodging place, holding the act of staying and the place that receives it close together.
ALSO GROWS
linah: An overnight stay; lodging.
לִינָה
This branch makes the night’s duration part of what lodging means.
malon: A lodging place; an inn.
מָלוֹן
This branch names the place where the travelers’ overnight stay can happen.
THE PATTERN
As darkness advances, finding rest becomes a choice of where to remain.
And he came upon a certain place, and lodged there all night, because the sun had come in; and he took stones from that place and set them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.But they pressed him, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day has already leaned. And he went in to stay with them.THE THREAD
And he said, Do not draw near here. Loosen the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is set-apart ground.The same Hebrew root, קרב (qarav), “approach,” shapes “draw near” here and “Draw not nigh” there. Exodus makes the boundary around a place explicit; beside it, Judges’ search for lodging carries the same question of what it means to approach a place.
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