What Does Judges 19:3 Mean?
And her husband rose and went after her, to speak to her heart and to bring her back, having his servant with him and a yoke of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house, and when the father of the young woman saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.
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 her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.THE KEY
He comes intending to bring her back, but the verse’s only completed return is her bringing him into her father’s house.
THE MEANING
The verse holds intention and outcome apart: a person can pursue reconciliation and speak toward another’s heart, yet that person’s response still takes its own shape. Here, the return he seeks remains an aim; she brings him into her father’s home, and her father rejoices to meet him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Wanting to restore a bond does not prove that the other person has returned.
THE ROOT
לְדַבֵּר עַל־לִבָּהּ
lədabbēr ʿal-libbāh
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
speak, utter words
“to speak to her heart” in this verse is lədabbēr ʿal-libbāh. The Hebrew says, literally, to speak upon her heart. The same word-family can name both a spoken word and a matter, so the speech is part of his attempt to bring her back, not merely a pleasant tone around it.
ALSO GROWS
dābār: word; matter, thing
דָּבָר
The link between a word and a matter makes his speech part of what is happening between them.
dibbēr: to speak, say
דִּבֵּר
This is the speaking action in the verse, directed toward her heart.
לַהֲשִׁיבָהּ
lahashivah
GROWS FROM
שוב
sh-w-b
turn back, return
“bring her back” in this verse is lahashivah. The verb describes his purpose as causing her to return, or bringing her back. Yet the verse records his aim and her movement into her father’s house; it does not say that she returns to him.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: return, turning back
תְּשׁוּבָה
It carries the same movement of turning back that he seeks for her.
mēshīv: one who brings back, restores
מֵשִׁיב
This form makes explicit the causative sense in his stated purpose: he wants to bring her back.
THE PATTERN
An approach toward restoration is not the same as a completed return; completion takes a responding movement.
Let the wicked leave his way, and the man of crookedness his plans. Let him turn back to the LORD, and he will have compassion on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly release.Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts, Turn to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the LORD of hosts.And he rose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and his inward parts were moved, and he ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him.THE THREAD
Therefore, behold, I will coax her and lead her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.Both verses use the Hebrew construction דבר על לבה, literally, speak upon her heart. Hosea makes clear why the KJV’s “friendly” carries the sense of speech aimed at the heart, while Judges still leaves the intended return unresolved.
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