What Does Judges 19:6 Mean?
And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together; for the young woman's father had said to the man, Be willing, I pray you, and lodge all night, and let your heart be good.
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 they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.THE KEY
The heart’s merriment is phrased as its becoming good, yet the welcome’s ease does not promise a safe night.
THE MEANING
A shared meal can hold real warmth while danger gathers around it. The father’s request reaches inward, asking for the man’s heart to be at ease, even as the invitation to stay brings the scene toward a night of terrible violence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A pleasant welcome does not guarantee that everyone under its roof is safe.
THE ROOT
וְיִיטַב
veyitav
GROWS FROM
יטב
yatab
Be good, fare well, or be pleasing.
“let your heart be good” in this verse is veyitav. The verb underneath “merry” frames the heart as becoming good or faring well. The same expression appears in 1 Kings 21:7 as Ahab is urged to eat and feel well before Naboth is killed, so the phrase names invited ease without guaranteeing safety.
ALSO GROWS
yatab: Be good or fare well.
יָטַב
This form makes the heart’s merriment a state of well-being, broader than cheerfulness alone.
heitiv: Do good or make well.
הֵיטִיב
This form expresses goodness as something brought about, echoing the host’s wish for the man’s heart to be well.
THE PATTERN
A meal can join bodily nourishment to an eased heart, while the surrounding story reveals whether that ease is refuge or danger.
And I will take a morsel of bread, and prop up your hearts. After that you shall pass on, for therefore you have crossed over to your servant. And they said, So you shall make it, as you have spoken.And Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now reign over Israel? Rise, and eat food, and let your heart be good. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.And they, holding fast day by day with one passion in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, took their food with gladness and singleness of heart.THE THREAD
And Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now reign over Israel? Rise, and eat food, and let your heart be good. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.Both verses use וייטב לבך (veyitav libbekha, “and let your heart be good”), from יטב (yatab, “be good, go well”). In Kings, the invitation is spoken just before Naboth is killed, revealing how an eased heart can coexist with danger already gathering.
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