Study it in the app“And it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a man, a Levite, residing as an alien in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, and he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah.”
And it happenedוַיְהִיin thoseבַּ הָהֵםdays,יָּמִיםwhen there was noוּ אֵיןkingמֶלֶךְin Israel,בְּיִשְׂרָאֵלthat there wasוַיְהִיa man,אִישׁa Levite,לֵוִיresiding as an alienגָּרin the remote partsבְּיַרְכְּתֵיof the hill countryהַרof Ephraim,אֶפְרַיִםand he tookוַיִּקַּחfor himselfלוֹa concubineאִשָּׁה פִילֶגֶשׁfrom Bethlehemמִבֵּית לֶחֶםof Judah.יְהוּדָה
happen
For something to occur or take place; many stories open with this word.
Where else “yehi” appearstime
Literally "the days": a period, an age, or the span of someone's life.
Where else “yamim” appearsking
A king who rules a people.
Where else “melech” appearsIsrael
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
Where else “yisrael” appearsman
An adult male person; also each man of a people, a trade or a place.
Where else “ish” appearsLevite
Levite: of the tribe of Levi.
Where else “levi” appearssojourn
To live in a place that is not your own.
Where else “gar” appearsfar end, recess
The farthest or deepest part: the back of a house or a cave, the ends of the earth, the edge of a territory.
Where else “yarkte” appearshill country
A whole region of high ground, like that of Ephraim or Judah.
Where else “har” appearsEphraim
Ephraim, the second son of Joseph; also the tribe that came from him and its land, and later a name of the northern kingdom. The name sounds like "be fruitful".
Where else “efrayim” appearstake a wife
"Take a wife": to marry.
Where else “yikach” appearswife
Literally "his woman": the one married to him.
Where else “isha” appearsconcubine
Concubine: a woman joined to a man in a recognized way, but with fewer rights than the main wife. It was a custom of the time that the Bible tells without making it a model.
Where else “filegesh” appearsBethlehem
See it on the mapWhere else “bet” appearsJudah
Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah; also the tribe that came from him and its land, and later the southern kingdom; King David came from it. The name sounds like "give thanks". Borne also by other Israelites.
Where else “yehuda” appearsBethlehem
Today: Bethlehem (Bayt Lahm), West Bank
A town in Judea, about 5.5 miles (9 km) south of Jerusalem.
Rachel died near it (Gen 35:19), Naomi and Ruth lived there (Ruth 1:1), and David was born there. Micah said a ruler would come from it, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; Matt 2:1).
1 · This verse (above)
2But his concubine prostituted herself against him and went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem of Judah, and she was there for some time, four months.
