CHAPTER XIX _A Levite and his concubine disagree; and she leaves him and_ _goes to her father's house_, 1, 2. _He follows to bring her back, and is kindly entertained by her_ _father five days_, 3-8. _He returns; and lodges the first night at Gibeah, in the tribe_ _of Benjamin_, 9-21. _The me... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:2. _PLAYED THE WHORE_] Neither the _Vulgate, Septuagint,_ _Targum_, nor _Josephus_, understand this word as implying any act of conjugal infidelity on the woman's part. They merely state that the _parties disagreed_, and the woman returned to her father's house. Indeed all the circu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:3. _HE REJOICED TO MEET HIM._] He hoped to be able completely to reconcile his daughter and her husband.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:8. _AND THEY TARRIED UNTIL AFTERNOON_] Merely that they might avoid the _heat of the day_, which would have been very inconvenient in travelling.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:9. _THE DAY GROWETH TO AN END_] חנות היום _chanoth haiyom_, "the day is about to pitch its tent;" that is, it was near the time in which travellers ordinarily pitched their tents, to take up their lodging for the night.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:11. _WHEN THEY_ WERE _BY JEBUS_] This was _Jerusalem_, in which, though after the death of Joshua it appears to have been partly conquered by the tribe of Judah, yet the Jebusites kept the strong hold of Zion till the days of David, by whom they were finally expelled. Judges 1:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:15. _NO MAN - TOOK THEM INTO HIS HOUSE TO LODGING._] There was probably no _inn_ or house of _public entertainment_ in this place, and therefore they could not have a lodging unless furnished by mere _hospitality_. To say that there were _no inns in those_ _primitive times_, is not t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:19. _THERE IS BOTH STRAW AND PROVENDER FOR OUR ASSES._] In the countries principally devoted to _pasturage_, there was no _hay_; but as they raised some corn, they took great care of their _straw_, chopped it very small, and having mixed it with _barley, beans_, or the pounded kernel... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:20. _ALL THY WANTS_ LIE _UPON ME_] Here was genuine hospitality: "Keep your bread and wine for yourselves, and your straw and provender for your asses; you may need them before you finish your journey; I will supply all your wants for this night, therefore do not lodge in the street.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:22. _SONS OF BELIAL_] Profligate fellows. Deuteronomy 13:13. _THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM._] See Genesis 19:5. These were genuine sodomites as to their practice; sons of Belial, rascals and miscreants of the deepest dye; worse than brutes, being a compound of beast and devil inseparably bl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:24. HERE IS _MY DAUGHTER, A MAIDEN_] Such a proposal was made by _Lot_ to the men of Sodom, Genesis 19:8, but nothing can excuse either. That the rights of _hospitality_ were sacred in the East, and most highly regarded we know; and that a man would defend, at the expense of his life... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:25. _SO THE MAN TOOK HIS CONCUBINE_] The word יחזק _yachazek_, which we here translate simply _took_, signifies rather to _take_ or _seize by violence_. The woman would not go out to them; but her graceless husband _forced_ her to go, in order that he might save his own body. He coul... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:26. _FELL DOWN AT THE DOOR_] She had strength to reach the door, but not to knock for admittance: when she reached the door she fell down dead! The reason of this abominable and horrid catastrophe is strongly signified by the original words, Judges 19:25: וידעו אותה ויתעללו בה כל הל... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:29. _DIVIDED HER - INTO TWELVE PIECES_] There is no doubt that with the _pieces_ he sent to each tribe a circumstantial account of the barbarity of the men of Gibeah; and it is very likely that they considered each of the pieces as expressing an _execration_, "If ye will not come and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 19:30. _THERE WAS NO SUCH DEED DONE NOR SEEN_] They were all struck with the enormity of the crime; and considered it a sovereign disgrace to all the tribes of Israel. _CONSIDER OF IT_] Literally, _Put it to yourselves; take counsel_ _upon it; and speak_. This was the prelude to the co... [ Continue Reading ]