Jueces 19:18

18 El viajero le respondió:—Estamos de paso. Venimos de Belén de Judá, y vamos a una zona remota de la región montañosa de Efraín, donde yo vivo. He estado en Belén de Judá, y ahora me dirijo a la casa del SEÑOR, pero nadie me ha ofrecido alojamiento.

Jueces 19:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 19:18

And he said unto him, we are passing from Bethlehemjudah,
&c.] He answers to his last question first, for this was the place from whence they came:

towards the side of Mount Ephraim:
thither they were going, which is an answer to the first question: and then adds, which is more than what was requested,

from thence am I;
that is, he was an inhabitant of a city on one side of Mount Ephraim, but what that city was, he says not, nor is it elsewhere said:

and I went to Bethlehemjudah;
on what account he does not declare, but the above narrative clearly shows for what reason he went thither:

but I am now going to the house of the Lord;
that is, the tabernacle in Shiloh, there he proposed to go first to offer sacrifice for the success of his journey, and for the reconciliation of his wife to him, and to pray to God for happiness in his family yet to come, and where some think his habitation was; but rather it was at some distance, not far from Mount Ephraim, and on the side of it, whither he should return when he had performed those acts of religion and devotion, which he judged were his duty:

and there is no man that receiveth me to house:
that had invited him to his house to take a lodging there, as was common to do to travellers, as the instances of Abraham, Lot, Job, and others, show. It was a law with the Lucani (a people in Italy), that if a stranger came at sun setting, and was desirous of coming under the roof of anyone, if such an one did not receive him, he was to be fined, and suffer the punishment of inhospitality F20.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 4. c. 1.

Jueces 19:18 In-Context

16 Aquella noche volvía de trabajar en el campo un anciano de la región montañosa de Efraín, que vivía en Guibeá como forastero, pues los hombres del lugar eran benjaminitas.
17 Cuando el anciano miró y vio en la plaza de la ciudad al viajero, le preguntó:—¿A dónde vas? ¿De dónde vienes?
18 El viajero le respondió:—Estamos de paso. Venimos de Belén de Judá, y vamos a una zona remota de la región montañosa de Efraín, donde yo vivo. He estado en Belén de Judá, y ahora me dirijo a la casa del SEÑOR, pero nadie me ha ofrecido alojamiento.
19 Tenemos paja y forraje para nuestros asnos, y también pan y vino para mí y para tu sierva, y para el joven que está conmigo. No nos hace falta nada.
20 —En mi casa serás bienvenido —le dijo el anciano—. Yo me encargo de todo lo que necesites. Pero no pases la noche en la plaza.
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