Judges 19:3

_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 HIM._ Went after her, to speak friendly unto her - Hebrew, 'speak to her heart' in a kindly and affectionate manner, so as to rekindle her affection. Accompanied by a servant, he arrived at the house of his father-in-law, who rejoiced to meet him, in the hope that a complete reconciliation would be brought about between his daughter and her husband. The Levite, yielding to the hospitable importunities of his father-in-law, prolonged his stay for days....

Verse Judges 19:3. _HE REJOICED TO MEET HIM._] He hoped to be able completely to reconcile his daughter and her husband....

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 HER HUSBAND AROSE,.... From the place where he lived: AND WENT AFTER HER; to Bethlehemjudah, where her father lived: TO SPEAK COMFORTABLY TO HER "or to her heart" l; having heard perhaps that she repented of her sin, or if it was only upon a quarrel between them, his anger might cool and subside, and therefore sought for a reconciliation; and which was the more commendable in him, as he did not put her away, but she departed from him: and TO BRING HER AGAIN; to his own city, and to his own house and bed, as before: HAVING HIS SERVANT WITH HIM, AND A COUPLE OF ASSES; one of them for her to ride upon, and the other to carry provisions on: AND SHE BROUGHT HIM INTO HER FATHER'S HOUSE; it seems she met with him before he came thither, in the fields, or in the street; and by this it appears that she was glad to see him, and received him in a loving manner, and introduced him into

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

FRIENDLY. Hebrew "to her heart". affectionately....

_to speak kindly unto her_ See marg., and cf. Genesis 34:3; Genesis 50:21; Isaiah 40:2. _to bring her again_ More natural than the alternative reading given in the marg. _a couple of asses_ for the necessaries of the journey; by Eastern custom the woman would be expected to walk, Judges 19:10. _and she brought him_ implies that the reconciliation has taken place; but as nothing is said about this, many prefer to read with LXX. cod. A _and he went_. _he rejoiced_ Evidently the Levite was considered to be a desirable son in law, and he had come back to claim his property....

AND HER HUSBAND AROSE, AND WENT AFTER HER, TO SPEAK FRIENDLY UNTO HER— In the original, _to speak her heart,_ to refer to their former endearments, and to ask how she could be so unkind to him, and so very unkind to herself. Even the upbraidings of the quiet and relenting are sweet: not like the strivings of the fierce and inexorable, who bite and devour all that have thwarted them in their way; but they are calm, and courteous, like the spirit which watches over their character. How could such a temper woo the damsel, and not bring her back? Or how could the father of the damsel, beholding such a scene, have a heart open to any impressions but those mentioned in the latter clause; that _when he saw him, he rejoiced to meet him;_ urged his stay, from day to day, with that soft invitation, _comfort thine heart,—and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry._ If _mercy_ and _truth_ thu...

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