Judges 19:15

15 They stopped there to spend the night. They came to the public square of the city and sat down, but no one invited them 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 He said, "Come on. Let's try to make it to Gibeah or Ramah so we can spend the night in one of those cities."

14 So they went on. The sun went down as they came near Gibeah, which belongs to the tribe of Benjamin.

15 They stopped there to spend the night. They came to the public square of the city and sat down, but no one invited them home to spend the night.

16 Finally, in the evening an old man came in from his work in the fields. His home was in the mountains of Ephraim, but now he was living in Gibeah. (The people of Gibeah were from the tribe of Benjamin.)

17 He saw the traveler in the public square and asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"