Judges 19:17-27

17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, "Whither goest thou? And from whence comest thou?"

18 And he said unto him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the side of Mount Ephraim; from thence am I. And I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man who receiveth me to his house.

19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses, and there is bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaid and for the young man who is with thy servants. There is no want of any thing."

20 And the old man said, "Peace be with thee. Howsoever, let all thy wants lie upon me. Only lodge not in the street."

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

22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about and beat at the door, and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring forth the man who came into thine house, that we may know him."

23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them and said unto them, "Nay, my brethren! Nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly! Seeing that this man has come into mine house, do not this folly.

24 Behold, here is my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine. Them I will bring out now, and humble ye them and do with them what seemeth good unto you; but unto this man do not so vile a thing!"

25 But the men would not hearken to him. So the man took his concubine and brought her forth unto them, and they knew her and abused her all the night until the morning; and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.

27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and behold, the woman, his concubine, had fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.

Judges 19:17-27 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.