“Translating the Bible, The Case of the Abusive Husband”
NOTE:
This post has been withdrawn. The post will be published in my book, Those Amazing Women of Ancient Israel. The book introduces an amazing group of women who made an impact on the political, religious, and the economic life of early Israelite society. The book will be published in the Fall of 2024 by Kregel Academics.
Visit my Amazon author’s page to purchase the book (click here).
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
A Note About This Post:
Before “Translating the Bible, The Case of the Abusive Husband” was withdrawn for publication, “Translating the Bible, The Case of the Abusive Husband” was read by 2,073 readers. “Translating the Bible, The Case of the Abusive Husband” was also shared 159 times by readers who enjoyed reading the post. You can read “Translating the Bible, The Case of the Abusive Husband” and other articles on the amazing women of the Old Testament by reading my forthcoming book Those Amazing Women of Ancient Israel. Below is the content of the book:
Those Amazing Women of Ancient Israel
CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1 Those Amazing Women of Ancient Israel
Part 1
Israel’s Social Concern for Women
Chapter 2 Israel’s Concern for Women
Chapter 3 The Status of Women in Israelite Society
Chapter 4 The Deuteronomic Concern for Women
Chapter 5 The Tenth Commandment (Deuteronomy 5:21)
Chapter 6 The Law of the Hebrew Slave
Part 2
Women Prophets
Chapter 7 Women Prophets in the Old Testament
Chapter 8 Miriam the Prophetess
Chapter 9 Deborah the Prophetess
Chapter 10 Isaiah’s Wife
Chapter 11 Huldah, A Prophet in Israel
Chapter 12 Noadiah the Prophetess
Chapter 13 The Nameless Prophetesses in the Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 14 The Seven Prophetesses of the Old Testament
Chapter 15 Women Who Proclaim the Good News
Chapter 16 The Daughters of Heman
Chapter 17 “Your Daughters Shall Prophesy”
Part 3
The Mothers of Israel
Chapter 18 Sarah: A Mother in Her Old Age
Chapter 19 Hagar: The Surrogate Mother
Chapter 20 Rachel: The Struggles of a Barren Woman
Chapter 21 Moses’s Two Mothers
Chapter 22 Sisera’s Mother: The Humanization of the Enemy
Chapter 23 Samson’s Mother: A Mother’s Disappointment
Chapter 24 Hannah: “The Barren Has Borne Seven”
Chapter 25 Rizpah: Reflections on a Mother’s Love
Chapter 26 Bathsheba: A Mother with Determination
Chapter 27 Solomon and the Two Mothers
Chapter 28 Jeroboam’s Wife: A Mother’s Agony
Chapter 29 Jesus’s Great-Grandmothers
Chapter 30 The Other Great-Grandmothers of Jesus
Chapter 31 Jezebel: A Great-Grandmother of Jesus
Chapter 32 The Genealogy of Jesus According to His Great-Grandmothers
Part 4
Abused Women
Chapter 33 Dinah, the Daughter of Jacob
Chapter 34 Tamar, the Wife of Er
Chapter 35 The Levite’s Concubine
Chapter 36 Bathsheba, the Wife of Uriah
Chapter 37 Tamar, the Daughter of David
Part 5
Women of Distinction
Chapter 38 Rahab: A Prostitute or an Innkeeper?
Chapter 39 Deborah, A Judge in Israel
Chapter 40 Jael: A Heroine in Israel
Chapter 41 Ruth, the Moabite
Chapter 42 Ahinoam, the Mother of Amnon
Chapter 43 Abishag, the Shunammite
Chapter 44 The Greatness That Was Jezebel
Chapter 45 Esther, the Queen of Persia
Bibliography
Index of Scriptures
Index of Authors
Index of Subjects
Index of Hebrew Words
I hope you will enjoy reading the book and develop a new appreciation for these amazing women of Ancient Israel.
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
If you enjoyed reading this post, you will enjoy reading my books.
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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
Dr Mariottini,
Growing up, (prior to college OT History with you at SBU), having, King James and New American Standard bibles, I had problems with thinking the concubine had been adulterous or went into prostitution because of what occurred in Gibeah. What the Levite did was horrible. I always thought IF she had done wrong, even under Hebrew law, his actions were still, unjust, illegal, and immoral. Even IF she had done such wrong she didn’t deserve that. Then for class you required the RSV Bible as one of our texts. Reading this passage there cleared it up and many other things in the Old Testament.
I appreciate reading about the translation of the Hebrew language to English and how it affects understanding the Word of God.
Sincerely,
Robert Haggy
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Robert,
Thank you for your comment. I enjoyed my time at SBU. It is amazing how many of my former students at SBU read my blog regularly. I am happy to know that by attending my classes at SBU you learned to read this tragic story in a different way. I wish more people would change their minds about this tragic story and the fate of this poor woman.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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I wonder too if the father’s actions support the idea that the husband was abusive. By allowing his daughter to remain home four months instead of sending her back, it seems he was in agreement with her decision to return home. It also seemed like he was doing everything he could to stall the return of his daughter with the Levite. Perhaps the stories he’d heard from his daughter made him fearful of upsetting the Levite, so he tried to avoid a direct confrontation.
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Emilee,
You have a good point. It is possible that the father was in agreement with his daughter’s decision to return home. However, if you read the text, if was the father who insisted that the Levite stay with him for three days: “Her father urged him to stay awhile, so he stayed three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping there” (Judges 19:4 NLT). It is possible that her father was trying to convince his daughter to return to her husband. It took two more days for the Levite to return home with his wife. I doubt that she returned willingly to the Levite’s home.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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Sir. Good article, thank you.
In v.19, the Levite includes himself as “your servant” when speaking to the old man.
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Deecline,
Thank you for your comment. It was polite to call oneself “your servant” when talking to another person.
Claude Mariottini
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What are your thoughts on Michael Heiser’s work?
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Charles,
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with his work. I say unfortunately because many people refer to his work. I may have to take some time and became acquainted with some of his works.
Thank you for your question.
Claude Mariottini
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Thank you as I have always disliked the way this is often spoken about by ministers. We all know that concubines or second wives had no control over their lives and it was courageous of her to go home.
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Vickys,
Thank you for your comment. Most pastors use either the KJV or the NIV when the preach, thus they are unable to see the problem with the text. Also, many pastors do not do much research before preparing their sermons. Pastors must consult books that agree with them and books that disagree with them and then make their own mind.
Concubines had a difficult time in the houses of their husbands. Someday I may take the time and write a post on concubines.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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Whenever the Israelites sank to a point where everyone did as they saw fit, God always gave them a second chance. (And still does.) After this story in Judges about the abused wife, there are two encouraging stories about women, Ruth then Hannah, who both produced sons who were good men (assuming there are no mistranslations in my text…).
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Trish,
Thank you for your comment. You are right, Ruth and Hanna gave birth to sons that made great contributions to the life of the people of God. And I can assure you, there are no mistranslations in the text.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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Another insightful article. Thanks. Makes sense.
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Paul,
Thank you. I am glad to know that you enjoyed reading the article.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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It’s a horrible story. There appears to be some cultural pattern going on in the repetition. It is difficult to say exactly who is coercing whom about what. The violence in the story reflects Sodom. But I don’t see anywhere or any other example where I could justify a homonym for znh. I can’t say that anger is an adequate guess.
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Bob,
Thank you for reading and commenting on my post. According to the Koehler-Baumgartner Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), the second meaning of the Hebrew word znh comes from the Akkadian word zenū which means “to be angry,” “to hate.”
From my perspective, the story only makes sense if the woman left her husband if he did something to her, not that she did something to him.
Claude Mariottini
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This is such an insightful and wise blog. I agree with all that you’ve said. Once one understands that ‘being unfaithful to her husband’ can be understood as being upset with him and leaving him, all the rest is very clear. It makes total sense to infer that he was a typical narcissist, able to charm with his words and being abusive behind closed doors. The rest of the story bears this out, even to the point that he incites a war in which many more women are abused, merely by telling the story his own way.
I am writing a book with the stories of some women who have been misrepresented or overlooked, and this woman is one whose story I have attempted to tell, and it’s very much down the same lines as you have expounded on. I would love to put this link in the discussion points, if that would be okay with you.
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Bev,
Thank you for you comment. This story has been highly misunderstood because most sermons are based on the KJV and its translation of the text. People who preach from this text do not do the kind of research that will allow them to see the problem with the KJV translation of Judges 19:2.
I rejoice to know that you are writing a book on women who have been misrepresented. Feel free to use the link to this post on your book. I have written several articles on Old Testament women who have been misrepresented or overlooked. If you look at the Archive section of my blog, you will discover several series of studies on these women. I am sure you will find information that will help your research.
And thank you for subscribing to my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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Thanks so much, Claude. I will definitely take advantage of your scholarship.
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Thank you for quoting the Septugint version.
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Cynthia,
You are welcome. Whenever dealing with problems of translation, I always consult the Septuagint.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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Great interpretation. Concubines and servants had no bodily agency. Consent didn’t exist for them.
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Avigail,
You are correct. Female slaves were at the service of their masters. Concubines, however, were secondary wives and they had more rights than a female slave.
Claude Mariottini
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The rights of concubines would a great topic for a post. I would read it, if you will write it. The word “slaves” in the Torah/Tanakh is often mistranslated into English as “servants” or “handmaidens” to make it more palatable.
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Avigail,
I am in the process of writing a book on slavery in the Old Testament. I will write a post on the rights of the concubine, but not now. I am having some medical issues. I will have surgery at the end of November and will be taking two weeks off from posting. The post probably will be written in January 2023.
Claude Mariottini
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Wishing you a complete recovery. I’m no stranger to health issues and surgeries. Keeping you in my thoughts for healing. 🙏
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Avigail,
Thank you for your words of concern. The surgery went well and my vision is returning. In a few days I will give a full report about the surgery.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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Thanks for the update. Good news to hear!! Wishing you the best possible outcome and return to health.
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