16 And lo, a man, an aged one, hath come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man 'is' of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he 'is' a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place 'are' Benjamites. 17 And he lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the man, the traveller, in a broad place of the city, and the aged man saith, 'Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?' 18 And he saith unto him, 'We are passing over from Beth-Lehem-Judah unto the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim—thence I 'am', and I go unto Beth-Lehem-Judah; and to the house of Jehovah I am going, and there is no man gathering me into the house, 19 and both straw and provender are for our asses, and also bread and wine there are for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man with thy servants; there is no lack of anything.' 20 And the old man saith, 'Peace to thee; only, all thy lack 'is' on me, only in the broad place lodge not.' 21 And he bringeth him in to his house, and mixeth 'food' for the asses, and they wash their feet, and eat and drink.
22 They are making their heart glad, and lo, men of the city, men—sons of worthlessness—have gone round about the house, beating on the door, and they speak unto the old man, the master of the house, saying, 'Bring out the man who hath come unto thine house, and we know him.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 19:16-22
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.