191 It was an era when there was no king in Israel. A Levite, living as a stranger in the backwoods hill country of Ephraim, got himself a concubine, a woman from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But she quarreled with him and left, returning to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She was there four months. 3 Then her husband decided to go after her and try to win her back. He had a servant and a pair of donkeys with him. When he arrived at her father's house, the girl's father saw him, welcomed him, and made him feel at home. 4 His father-in-law, the girl's father, pressed him to stay. He stayed with him three days; they feasted and drank and slept. 5 On the fourth day, they got up at the crack of dawn and got ready to go. But the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Strengthen yourself with a hearty breakfast and then you can go." 6 So they sat down and ate breakfast together. 7 The man got up to go, but his father-in-law kept after him, so he ended up spending another night. 8 On the fifth day, he was again up early, ready to go. The girl's father said, "You need some breakfast." They went back and forth, and the day slipped on as they ate and drank together. 9 But the man and his concubine were finally ready to go. Then his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Look, the day's almost gone - why not stay the night? There's very little daylight left; stay another night and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get an early start and set off for your own place." 10 But this time the man wasn't willing to spend another night. He got things ready, left, and went as far as Jebus (Jerusalem) with his pair of saddled donkeys, his concubine, and his servant. 11 At Jebus, though, the day was nearly gone. The servant said to his master, "It's late; let's go into this Jebusite city and spend the night." 12 But his master said, "We're not going into any city of foreigners. We'll go on to Gibeah." 13 He directed his servant, "Keep going. Let's go on ahead. We'll spend the night either at Gibeah or Ramah." 14 So they kept going. As they pressed on, the sun finally left them in the vicinity of Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. 15 They left the road there to spend the night at Gibeah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 19:1-15
Chapter Contents
The wickedness of the men of Gibeah.
The three remaining chapters of this book contain a very sad history of the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, in Benjamin. The righteous Lord permits sinners to execute just vengeance on one another, and if the scene here described is horrible, what will the discoveries of the day of judgment be! Let each of us consider how to escape from the wrath to come, how to mortify the sins of our own hearts, to resist Satan's temptations, and to avoid the pollutions there are in the world.