Judges 19:15

15 They went to spend the night there. The Levite entered Gibeah and sat down in the city square, because no one offered to take them home for the night.

Judges 19:15 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 19:15

And they turned aside thither to go in and lodge in Gibeah,
&c.] Instead of going right forward, and passing by Gibeah, over against which they were, they turned out of their road, and went into the city to seek a lodging in it:

and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city;
to see whether any person would invite him into any of their houses, as was usual in those hospitable times and countries, and where there were few inns for the entertainment of travellers and strangers, or none at all, and especially in cities; if any where, they were upon the public road:

for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging;
the spirit of hospitality being greatly declined, and even gone from among them; or as some think, those that had such a spirit, and were willing to receive strangers, were afraid, because of their wicked neighbours, who would beset their houses to abuse strangers, as the sequel of this history shows.

Judges 19:15 In-Context

13 He told his servant, "Let's go someplace else. We'll spend the night either at Gibeah or Ramah."

14 So they went on. It was sunset by the time they arrived at Gibeah. (Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.)

15 They went to spend the night there. The Levite entered Gibeah and sat down in the city square, because no one offered to take them home for the night.

16 That evening an old man came into the city from his work in the fields. He was from the mountain region of Ephraim but lived in Gibeah. The other people who lived there were from the tribe of Benjamin.

17 He saw the traveler in the city square. So the old man asked, "Where do you come from? And where are you going?"