What Does Judges 19:20 Mean in the King James?
And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse makes peace concrete as a promise to carry a stranger’s lack and bring him in from exposure.
THE MEANING
The welcome gives peace a physical shape: the traveler’s unmet needs rest on the host, and he is not left in the street. The scene that follows exposes the promise’s terrible limit: the concubine is handed to a mob that sexually abuses her, so shelter offered to one guest does not keep everyone under that roof safe.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A host’s welcoming words mean everyone in his house is safe; the scene shows that shelter can be offered to a traveler while a woman under the same roof is sexually abused.
THE ROOT
מַחְסוֹרְךָ
maḥsōrekha
GROWS FROM
חסר
To lack, be short, or be incomplete.
“wants” in this verse is maḥsōrekha. The phrase gathers “all your lack” and sets it “upon me.” The host’s offer is material: he accepts responsibility for the traveler’s needs, rather than merely wishing him peace.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāsēr: To be lacking or short.
חָסֵר
The root names an actual absence, giving the traveler’s need weight in the host’s offer.
maḥsōr: Lack, need, or deficiency.
מַחְסוֹר
This is the noun behind “wants”: the host offers to take the traveler’s unmet needs upon himself.
שָׁלוֹם
shalom wholeness
GROWS FROM
שלם
To be whole, complete, or sound.
“peace” in this verse is shalom wholeness. Shalom carries wholeness and soundness, so the greeting reaches beyond quiet or polite words. Its promise is tested by whether the shelter becomes protection for the vulnerable beneath that roof.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete, or sound.
שָׁלֵם
This branch shows the wholeness carried inside the host’s greeting.
shillem: To pay, repay, or make good.
שִׁלֵּם
The same root can describe making good what is owed, echoing the host’s offer to take responsibility for what the traveler lacks.
תָּלִין
tālin
GROWS FROM
לין
To lodge or spend the night.
“lodge” in this verse is tālin. The verb points to the traveler’s immediate exposure through the night. The offer brings him indoors, while the scene shows that being inside a house alone does not guarantee safety.
ALSO GROWS
līnāh: An overnight stay or lodging.
לִינָה
This word shares the root’s focus on where someone passes the night.
mālōn: A lodging place.
מָלוֹן
The shared root links the act of lodging to the place meant to shelter a traveler.
THE PATTERN
Welcome takes a stranger’s exposure and material needs into the host’s care.
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.THE THREAD
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.The word rendered “peace” is שָׁלוֹם (shalom), meaning wholeness, the same word in the old man’s greeting. This verse says that wholeness is pursued through action, sharpening the question of whether the offer of shelter becomes real protection.
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