Judges 19:13-23

13 And he said to his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places, and lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah.

14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them [when they were] by Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

15 And they turned aside thither, to go in, to lodge in Gibeah. And he went in, and sat down in the open place of the city; and there was no one that received him into his house to pass the night.

16 And behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even; and the man was of mount Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjaminites.

17 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the open place of the city; and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?

18 And he said to him, We are travelling from Bethlehem-Judah towards the further side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I; and I went to Bethlehem-Judah, and I have to do with the house of Jehovah; and there is no man that receives me into his house.

19 And we have both straw and provender for our asses; and I have bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man with thy servants: there is no lack of anything.

20 Then the old man said, Peace be with thee; only let all thy wants lie on me; but lodge not in the street.

21 And he brought him into his house, and gave the asses provender; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

22 They were making their hearts merry, when behold, the men of the city, sons of Belial, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him.

23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, No, my brethren, I pray you, do not wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this villany.

Judges 19:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 19

This chapter gives an account of a sad affair of a Levite and his concubine, and of the bad consequence of it, how that she played the whore, and went away from him to her father's house, whither he followed her, and where he was kindly entertained by her father several days, Jud 19:1-9 and then set out on his journey to his own country; and passing by Jebus or Jerusalem, he came to Gibeah, and could get no lodging, Jud 19:10-15, but at length was taken in by an old man, an Ephraimite, Jud 19:16-21 when the house where he was beset by some wicked men in Gibeah, with the same intent as the men of Sodom beset the house of Lot, Jud 19:22-24 and after some expostulation of the old man with them, the concubine was brought out to them and abused by them even unto death, Jud 19:25-28 upon which the Levite her husband cut her into twelve pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, which was shocking and surprising, Jud 19:29,30 the consequence of which is related in the next chapter.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'broadway.'
• [b]. Lit. 'walk with.'
• [c]. i.e. of iniquity. It is literally 'men, sons of Belial,' according to a usual Hebrew idiom: see ver. 23.