191 And it cometh to pass, in those days, when there is no king in Israel, that there is a man a Levite, a sojourner in the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he taketh to him a wife, a concubine, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah; 2 and commit whoredom against him doth his concubine, and she goeth from him unto the house of her father, unto Beth-Lehem-Judah, and is there days—four months. 3 And her husband riseth and goeth after her, to speak unto her heart, to bring her back, and his young man 'is' with him, and a couple of asses; and she bringeth him into the house of her father, and the father of the young woman seeth him, and rejoiceth to meet him. 4 And keep hold on him doth his father-in-law, father of the young woman, and he abideth with him three days, and they eat and drink, and lodge there. 5 And it cometh to pass, on the fourth day, that they rise early in the morning, and he riseth to go, and the father of the young woman saith unto his son-in-law, 'Support thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye go on.' 6 And they sit and eat both of them together, and drink, and the father of the young woman saith unto the man, 'Be willing, I pray thee, and lodge all night, and let thy heart be glad.' 7 And the man riseth to go, and his father-in-law presseth on him, and he turneth back and lodgeth there. 8 And he riseth early in the morning, on the fifth day, to go, and the father of the young woman saith, 'Support, I pray thee, thy heart;' and they have tarried till the turning of the day, and they eat, both of them. 9 And the man riseth to go, he and his concubine, and his young man, and his father-in-law, father of the young woman, saith to him, 'Lo, I pray thee, the day hath fallen toward evening, lodge all night, I pray thee; lo, the declining of the day! lodge here, and let thine heart be glad—and ye have risen early to-morrow for your journey, and thou hast gone to thy tent.' 10 And the man hath not been willing to lodge all night, and he riseth, and goeth, and cometh in till over-against Jebus (It 'is' Jerusalem), and with him 'are' a couple of asses saddled; and his concubine 'is' with him. 11 They 'are' near Jebus, and the day hath gone greatly down, and the young man saith unto his lord, 'Come, I pray thee, and we turn aside unto this city of the Jebusite, and lodge in it.' 12 And his lord saith unto him, 'Let us not turn aside unto the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel, thither, but we have passed over unto Gibeah.' 13 And he saith to his young man, 'Come, and we draw near to one of the places, and have lodged in Gibeah, or in Ramah.' 14 And they pass over, and go on, and the sun goeth in upon them near Gibeah, which is to Benjamin; 15 and they turn aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah, and he goeth in and sitteth in a broad place of the city, and there is no man gathering them into the house to lodge.
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.