Judges 20:4

4 The Levi, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, "I came to Giv'ah, which belongs to Binyamin, I and my concubine, to stay the night;

Judges 20:4 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 20:4

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain,
answered, and said
He rose up, and, in answer to their request, declared the whole affair as follows: and none so proper as he, who was upon the spot when it was done, and so near a relation of the deceased, and had a right to demand justice to be done; for from hence it appears that she was his lawful wife, though called a concubine:

I came into Gibeah, that belongeth to Benjamin;
which he so particularly describes, to distinguish it from another of the same name in the tribe of Judah, lest any mistake should be made, and an innocent people should suffer in their reputation, or otherwise; and which also would account for the tribe of Benjamin not being present at this convention:

I and my concubine, to lodge;
thither they came, not with an intention to stay, to sojourn there, and much less to do them any injury, or to infringe any of their rights and privileges; nor in the least to be burdensome to them, having brought all necessary provisions with them for themselves, servants, and cattle, only to get a night's lodging with them.

Judges 20:4 In-Context

2 The leaders of all the tribes of Isra'el presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 foot soldiers armed with swords.
3 Now the people of Binyamin heard that the people of Isra'el had gone up to Mitzpah. The people of Isra'el said, "Tell us, how was this crime committed?"
4 The Levi, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, "I came to Giv'ah, which belongs to Binyamin, I and my concubine, to stay the night;
5 and the men in Giv'ah attacked me and surrounded the house I was staying in at night. They wanted to kill me, but instead they raped my concubine to death.
6 I took my concubine's body, cut it into pieces and sent them throughout all the territories belonging to Isra'el; because they committed a shockingly obscene and degrading crime in Isra'el.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.