Judges 19:15

15 They stopped^[a] to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into their home to spend 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 "Come on," he said, "let's try to reach one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah."

14 So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.

15 They stopped to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into their home to spend the night.

16 In the evening, an old man came in from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was residing in Gibeah, and the men of that place were Benjaminites.

17 When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, "Where are you going, and where do you come from?"

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit stopped there