Judges 19:13

_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._ In Gibeah, or in Ramah. The first of these places was five miles northeast, the other from four to five north, of Jerusalem....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 19:1 WHEN THERE WAS NO KING (Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 21:25). It appears from Judges 20:27, Judges 20:28 that the events narrated in these three last chapters of the Book of Judges happened in the lifetime of Phinehas, and while the ark was at Shiloh (see Judges 20:27, note). Phinehas evidently outlived Joshua ...

AND HE SAID TO HIS SERVANT, COME, AND LET US DRAW NEAR,.... And get on as fast as we can: TO ONE OF THESE PLACES TO LODGE ALL NIGHT, IN GIBEAH, OR IN RAMAH; which were both in the tribe of Benjamin, and he left it to his servant to go to either, to that which was most convenient, because of the time of the day, it being near sun setting; now, as before observed, Gibeah was not quite four miles from Jerusalem; whereas, according to Jerom s, Ramah was six miles, and therefore we find they took up at Gibeah, as being nearest of these two places; Joshua 18:24 Joshua 18:25 Hosea 5:8 s De loc. Heb. fol. 94. B....

2. ISRAEL'S MORAL CONDITION AND THE WAR ON BENJAMIN CHAPTER 19 The Levite and His Concubine _ 1. The Levite and the unfaithful woman (Judges 19:1)_ 2. The fate of the concubine (Judges 19:22) The results of departure from God are now revealed in the awful corruption and violence so faithfully recorded in this chapter. The moral condition of Israel has gone down to the same level of the Canaanites; they sank even lower than the nations whom God had doomed to destruction. We do not repeat the horrible details of this deed of lust and violence. Apostasy from God, rejection of the truth is followed by moral corruption. Romans 1:26 shows the vileness of the Gentiles, who turned their backs to the

JUDGES 19-21. In the story of the outrage of Gibeah, there is a combination of history and midrash. Hosea (Judges 9:9) makes allusion to the days of Gibeah, as a time of notorious moral depravity in Israel, and the events which he had in view doubtless form the basis of the present chapter. But when Israel is called the congregation (Judges 20:18), when the elders of the congregation are introduced, and when the tribes come automatically together as one man (Judges 20:1; Judges 20:11), making a national army ten times as great as Barak's, it is apparent that this is a modernised version of the story, written in the language of the congregation. It is

_Gibeah_ Here, as in Isaiah 10:29 b, clearly south of Ramah, now er-Râm; it may well have occupied the ruined site called Tell el-Fûl, 2¾ miles N. of Jerusalem. This is the Gibeah of Saul mentioned in 1 Samuel 10:26; 1 Samuel 11:4; 1 Samuel 15:34, Is. l.c. (see Jos., _Wars_Judges 19:2; Judges 19:1), and known also as G. of Benjamin, 1 Samuel 13:2; 1Sa 13:15;...

The Crime at Gibeah and Its Punishment Judges 19:1 to Judges 21:25 _The Levite and His Concubine Judges 19:1-30_ 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 concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there four whole months. 3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly 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

THE WICKEDNESS OF GIBEAH A Levite and his concubine meet with foul treatment at Gibeah, a town of Benjamin. The indignation of the other tribes is roused against the Benjamites. This chapter gives the cause of the war between the rest of the tribes and Benjamin, with which the remainder of Judges is concerned. It is difficult to determine the period to which this war should be assigned. In Judges 20 there is no recognised leader or judge in Israel, but all the tribes (quite differently from elsewhere) act together 'as one man' (Judges 20:1); and the numbers given (Judges 20:2; Judges 20:15) imply a very large population; though an army app

LIFE WITHOUT LAW JUDGES _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 19 V1 At that time, *Israel’s people had no king. A man from Levi’s *tribe lived in the hills. These were where Ephraim’s *tribe was. The part where he lived was a long way from the main places. He took a *concubine from Bethlehem. This was in the area where Judah’s *tribe lived. V2 But she was not loyal to him. She left him. And she went back to her father’s house in Bethlehem-Judah. After she had been there for 4 months, V3 her husband went there. He went because he wanted to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two *mules. She took him into her father’s house. When her father saw him, he welcomed him gladly. V4 The girl’s father made him stay. He stayed with the father for three days. He ate and he drank. He also

OR IN RAMAH. — This town, now _el-Ram,_ is only two miles beyond Gibeah. The two places are often mentioned together (Hosea 5:8). The Levite is naturally anxious to push on homewards as fast as he can. Perhaps he knew that Gibeah did not bear a good character, and that it would be better to get as far as Ramah if possible. In countries where there are no public inns, each town and village gets a character of its own from the reports of travellers....