Judges 19:10

Judges 19:1 INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 19 This chapter gives an account of a sad affair of a Levite and his concubine, and of the bad consequence of it, how that she played the whore, and went away from him to her father's house, whither he followed her, and where he was kindly entertained by her father several days, Jude 19:1 and then set out on his journey to his own country; and passing by Jebus or Jerusalem, he came to Gibeah, and could get no lodging, Jude 19:10, but at length was taken in by an old man, an Ephraimite, Jude 19:16 when the house where he was beset by some wicked men in Gibeah, with the same intent as the men of Sodom beset the house of Lot, Jude 19:22 and after some expostulation of the old man with them, the concubine was brought out to them and abused by them even unto death, Jude 19:25 upon which the Levite her husband cut her into twelve pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, which was shocking and surprising, Jude 19:29 the consequence of which is related in the next chapter. Ver. 1. And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel,....

17:7-13 Micah thought it was a sign of God's favour to him and his images, that a Levite should come to his door. Thus those who please themselves with their own delusions, if Providence unexpectedly bring any thing to their hands that further them in their evil way, are apt from thence to think that God is pleased with them.

But the man would not tarry that night,.... He was determined upon his journey; he perceived there was no end of the solicitations of his father-in-law, and did not know how long he intended to detain him, and therefore was resolved not to hearken to him any longer: but he rose up and departed; rose up from his seat, took his leave of his father-in-law, and proceeded on his journey: and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; which was then called Jebus, because inhabited by the Jebusites, as appears from the following verse; this was about six miles from Bethlehem (p); so far they were come on in their journey homewards: and there were with him two asses saddled; which he brought with him when he came to Bethlehem, Judges 19:3 now said to be "saddled", either for him and his concubine to ride on; or they were bound or girt, as the word signifies, being loaded with bread, and wine, and provender; or it may be one of them was for him and his concubine to ride on by turns, and the other to carry the provisions: and his concubine also was with him; matters being now made up between them, she had agreed to go with him, and did, which was the end of his coming to her father's house; and therefore this is observed on that account, as well as for what follows in the tragical part of this history. (p) Hieron. de loc. Heb. fol. 89. E.

Verse 10. - Jebus . See Judges 1:21 , note. Jerusalem is numbered among Joshua's conquests at Joshua 10:23 ; Joshua 12:10 . But from this verse it would appear that the Israelite population had withdrawn and left the city to be entirely occupied by the Jebusites, who held it till the time of David ( 2 Samuel 5:6 ). Jerusalem is only about two hours from Bethlehem. Judges 19:10

This is a perfect picture of the manners of the time. It is probable that the father showed more than usual hospitality, in order to ensure the kind treatment of his daughter by her husband. These particulars are given to account for their journey running so far into the evening, which was the immediate cause of the horrible catastrophe which followed.

10 . Jebus ] Only here and in 1 Chronicles 11:4-5 as the old name of Jerusalem. Long before the Israelite occupation, however, the Amarna tablets c. 1400 b.c. refer to the city as Urusalim (Nos. 180, 181, 183, 185 Winckler); and the O.T. itself gives early evidence for the antiquity of the name, Jdg 1:7-8 ; Jdg 1:21 , Joshua 15:63 JE, 2 Samuel 5:6 . We are told that the Jebusites lived there, Jdg 1:21 , Josh. l.c., 2 Sam. l.c., and it may have been possible to speak of the Jebusite , meaning Jerusalem (in P, Joshua 15:8 ; Joshua 18:28 ; Joshua 18:16 ); but Jebus is merely an inference from the name of the inhabitants, not a survival from prehistoric times. Lagrange indeed thinks that the way in which the servant alludes to this city of the Jebusites implies that the text originally read Jerusalem in Jdg 19:10-11 , and that Jebus is due to a copyist who wished to correct the reading in accordance with his theory. See G. A. Smith, Jerusalem , i. pp. 266 f.

10-12. the man … departed, and came over against Jebus—The note, "which is Jerusalem," must have been inserted by Ezra or some later hand. Jebus being still, though not entirely (Jud 1:8) in the possession of the old inhabitants, the Levite resisted the advice of his attendant to enter it and determined rather to press forward to pass the night in Gibeah, which he knew was occupied by Israelites. The distance from Beth-lehem to Jerusalem is about six miles. The event showed that it would have been better to have followed the advice of his attendant—to have trusted themselves among aliens than among their own countrymen.

When at length he rose up, with his concubine and his attendant, to go away, the father entreated his daughter once more: "Behold the day has slackened to become evening, spend the night here! Behold the declining of the day, spend the night here," etc. חנות inf. of חנה, to bend, incline. The interchange of the plural and singular may be explained from the simple fact that the Levite was about to depart with his wife and attendant, but that their remaining or departing depended upon the decision of the man alone. But the Levite did not consent to remain any longer, but set out upon the road, and came with his companions to before Jebus, i.e., Jerusalem, which is only two hours from Bethlehem (compare Rob. Pal. ii. 375 and 379). עד־נכח, to before Jebus, for the road from Bethlehem to Shiloh went past Jerusalem.

JUDGES 18:31 So they set them up Micah’s engraved image which he made, all the time that God’s house was in Shiloh. [ Judges 19 ] ADAM CLARK'E BIBLE COMMENTARY JUDGES JUDGES 19:1 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite living on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah. A Levite and his concubine disagree; and she leaves him and goes to her father's house, Judges 19:1, Judges 19:2. He follows to bring her back, and is kindly entertained by her father five days, Judges 19:3-8. He returns; and lodges the first night at Gibeah, in the tribe of Benjamin, Judges 19:9-21. The men of Gibeah attack the house, and insist on abusing the body of the Levite; who, to save himself, delivers to them his concubine, whose life falls a victim to their brutality, Judges 19:22-27. The Levite divides her dead body into twelve pieces, and sends one to each of the twelve tribes; they are struck with horror, and call a council on the subject, Judges 19:28-30. Verse 1 There was no king in Israel - All sorts of disorders are attributed to the want of civil government; justice, right, truth, and humanity, had fallen in the streets. Took to him a concubine - We have already seen that the concubine was a sort of secondary wife; and that such connections were not disreputable, being according to the general custom of those times. The word ‫פילגש‬ pilegesh, concubine, is supposed by Mr.