Judges 19:6-16

6 So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. Then the girl's father said to the man, "Please stay one more night, and have a good time."

7 The man rose to leave, but his father-in-law pressed him, so he stayed there again.

8 The morning of the fifth day, he got up early to leave; but the girl's father said, "Why don't you have something to eat, and leave this afternoon?" So the two men ate.

9 When the man got up to leave with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Look, it's almost evening. Please stay the night - you see that it's getting late. Stay on, enjoy yourself, and tomorrow get going early on your way home."

10 But the man wouldn't stay that night; so he got up and left with his concubine and his two saddled donkeys; and they arrived at Y'vus, also known as Yerushalayim.

11 By the time they arrived at Y'vus it was nearly evening; and the servant said to his master, "Why don't we go on into this city of the Y'vusi and stay there?"

12 But his master said to him, "We won't go into a city of foreigners which doesn't belong to the people of Isra'el. We'll go on across to Giv'ah."

13 He said to his servant, "Let's go, and we'll get to one of those places; we'll stay in Giv'ah or Ramah."

14 So they went on and kept traveling, until the sun set on them near Giv'ah, which belongs to Binyamin.

15 There they turned off the road to go and stay in Giv'ah. He went in and sat down in the city's open space, since no one had offered his home for them to spend the night.

16 In time, at nightfall, an old man came from his work in the field. He was from the Efrayim hills and was staying in Giv'ah, although the residents were of Binyamin.

Judges 19:6-16 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.