Judges 19:1-30
1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubinea out of Bethlehemjudah.
2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendlyb unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.
4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.
5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfortc thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.
6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.
7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again.
8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon,d and they did eat both of them.
9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day drawethe toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over againstf Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.
11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.
16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.
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 whence comest thou?
18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receivethg me to 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 which 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 did eat and drink.
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 spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that 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 is 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 vileh 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 was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.
28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.
29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.
Judges 19:1. In those days, while Phinehas was highpriest, and in the first generation after Joshua's death. He is called her husband, Judges 19:3; and it was adultery for a woman so espoused to connect herself with another man.
Judges 19:2. His concubine played the whore. The LXX read, “was angry with him.” The Chaldaic reads, “despised him.”
Judges 19:11. When they were by Jebus; that is, Jerusalem; shalom was added to Jebus, it would seem, in memory of its peace. Joshua had taken the lower town; but the city or fortress called Zion, after the ark rested there, he could not take. 2 Samuel 5:7; 2 Samuel 5:9.
Judges 19:18. No man receiveth me. Benjamites without hospitality, without law, without religion! Habits of life which lead to awful issues. This however was a local sin; Israel, as a nation, abhorred the deed.
Judges 19:22. Sons of Belial. Lawless men. Deuteronomy 13:13.
Judges 19:24. My daughter, a maiden, said the poor man of mount Ephraim. An unoffending stranger is come under my sacred and absolute protection. Probably, like Lot, he had confidence that this overture would be rejected.
Judges 19:25. So the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them. A base man, devoid of soul; ready and cunning enough to excite the tribes to war, but a real coward himself.
Judges 19:29. Twelve pieces, which he sent first to Ephraim and Manasseh, and then to the ten tribes.
REFLECTIONS.
For a wandering family the patriarchal government was happy in every view. We hear of no defects, no reign of crimes and vice in the camp of Abraham; but it was by no means adequate to the wants of municipal and national society. Therefore the Israelites experienced many inconveniences in the transition from one form of government to another. The Lord had indeed appointed extraordinary judges, besides the judgment of the Urim; but the spirit of jealousy and independence in the several tribes opposed their salutary operation, and often to the ruin of the country. This Levite, travelling in the evening instead of the morning, for he was detained by the unseasonable civilities of his father-in-law, shunned Jebus, to lodge in Gibeah; not knowing that the Jebusites were all saints in comparison of apostate Benjamin. Religion has indeed degenerated to an awful state, when it is safer to form connections of a relative or commercial nature with the people of the world, rather than with professors of religion.
Benjamin's depravity was discovered by the want of hospitality. No one sheltering this stranger, though he wanted nothing for himself, or for his beasts; that civility was reserved for a poor man of mount Ephraim, sojourning in Gibeah to earn his bread. Charity is truly the glory of religion; and when that is fled away, nothing but evil remains in the heart.
The lewd and lawless sons of Belial, guilty of sodomy in their intentions, and of adultery and murder in their actions, give us a black portrait of the consummate wickedness to which the human heart may speedily attain. Probably one wretch more daring than the rest, first proposed the deed; and then the whole being already corrupt, instantly applaud the plan. A frantic tumultuous passion was excited, which was deaf to all argument, all cries, all entreaties. Instantly they rush into crimes which cannot be traced, which must not be named; crimes which heaven in mercy to the less guilty world, hides in the flames of hell, and conceals in volumes of eternal smoke. Ah, Israel: ah, Gibeah! Are these the children of fathers tutored of the Lord in the desert? Are these the descendants of men who had seen the wonderful works of the Lord, and sworn fidelity to his covenant? Is this the new generation, worse than the nations whom the Lord had nearly destroyed? Jebusites, keep your purity, contract no marriages with Israel, make no covenants with a people not worthy of the human name; for how should you believe that God raised up this people to punish and exterminate your race? Come not near to their sanctuary, listen not to their law, believe not their history, for the glories of the desert are now enveloped in the darkness of eternal shame. Yea, such and worse are the hasty inferences of weak man, when a people are contemplated under a cloud of crime; and it really requires some time for the less instructed of the human kind to distinguish between the precious and the vile.
The guilt however was not confined to the sons of Belial; the elders next morning by supineness, contaminated themselves, and the city also with all the crimes which the wicked had committed in the dark. They made no inquisition for blood. Every father was solicitous to save the honour and life of a son whom he ought to have disowned for ever. Here let magistrates, masters, and parents be instructed. Here is a tragic school, a black case which says, let every house be locked at a proper hour; let no groups of riotous men parade the streets in the silence of the night; let female virtue, the first source and best bond of society, be inviolably protected. Otherwise the guilty city and nation will forfeit its existence in the eyes of heaven. Thanks be to God, that this evil was confined to Benjamin, and was renounced with horror by all the assembled tribes.