Judges 19:15

_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._ He went in ... sat him down in a street of the city. The towns of Palestine at this remote period could not, it seems, furnish any establishment in the shape of an inn or public lodging-house; and hence, we conclude that the custom, which is still frequently witnessed in the cities of the East, was then not uncommon for travelers who were late in arriving, and who had no introduction to a private family, to spread their bedding in the streets, or, wrapping themselves up in their cloaks, pass the night in the open air. In the Arab towns and villages, however, the sheikh, or some other person, usually comes out and urgently invites the strangers to his house. This was done also in ancient Palestine ...

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 true; there were such places, though not very frequent. Joseph's brethren found their money in their sacks when they loosed them at an _inn_, Genesis 42:27. The house of Rahab was an _inn_, Joshua 2:1. And the woman whose house Samson frequented at Gaza was a _hostess_, or one who kept a place of _public_ _entertainment_....

A STREET - Probably the square or place within the gates, where courts were held, bargains made, and where the chief men and strangers congregated....

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 THEY TURNED ASIDE THITHER TO GO IN AND LODGE IN GIBEAH,.... Instead of going right forward, and passing by Gibeah, over against which they were, they turned out of their road, and went into the city to seek a lodging in it: AND WHEN HE WENT IN, HE SAT HIM DOWN IN A STREET OF THE CITY; to see whether any person would invite him into any of their houses, as was usual in those hospitable times and countries, and where there were few inns for the entertainment of travellers and strangers, or none at all, and especially in cities; if any where, they were upon the public road: FOR THERE WAS NO MAN THAT TOOK THEM INTO HIS HOUSE TO LODGING; the spirit of hospitality being greatly declined, and even gone from among them; or as some think, those that had such a spirit, and were willing to receive strangers, were afraid, because of their wicked neighbours, who would beset their houses to abus...

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

STREET. open place....

_and he went in, and sat him down_ The verbs should probably be read as plurals. _the street_ Rather BROAD PLACE (Judges 19:17_; Judges 19:20_), Genesis 19:2 b, usually near the gate, 2 Chronicles 32:6; Nehemiah 8:1; Nehemiah 8:3; Nehemiah 8:16 etc. At this point we begin to notice parallels with...

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