Judges 20:4

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.

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered, and said,.... He rose up, and, in answer to their request, declared the whole affair as follows: and none so proper as he, who was upon the spot when it was done, and so near a relation of the deceased, and had a right to demand justice to be done; for from hence it appears that she was his lawful wife, though called a concubine: I came into Gibeah, that belongeth to Benjamin; which he so particularly describes, to distinguish it from another of the same name in the tribe of Judah, lest any mistake should be made, and an innocent people should suffer in their reputation, or otherwise; and which also would account for the tribe of Benjamin not being present at this convention: I and my concubine, to lodge; thither they came, not with an intention to stay, to sojourn there, and much less to do them any injury, or to infringe any of their rights and privileges; nor in the least to be burdensome to them, having brought all necessary provisions with them for themselves, servants, and cattle, only to get a night's lodging with them.

4-7. the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said—The injured husband gave a brief and unvarnished recital of the tragic outrage, from which it appears that force was used, which he could not resist. His testimony was doubtless corroborated by those of his servant and the old Ephraimite. There was no need of strong or highly colored description to work upon the feelings of the audience. The facts spoke for themselves and produced one common sentiment of detestation and vengeance.

Then the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, described the whole affair. הגּבעה בּעלי, the owners or citizens of Gibeah (see at Judges 9:2 ). "Me they intended to kill:" the Levite draws this conclusion from what had happened to his wife; the men of Gibeah had not expressed any such intention in Judges 19:22 . "All the country (lit. field) of the inheritance of Israel," i.e., all the land of the Israelites. זמּה is applied to the vice of lewdness, as in Leviticus 18:17 , which was to be punished with death. וגו לכם הבוּ, "give yourselves (לכם as dat. comm.) word and counsel here," i.e., make up your minds and pass sentence (vid., 2 Samuel 16:20 ). הלם, here, where you are all assembled together.

[Reformed Biblical] ## Judges 20:35 This is the total sum, whereof the particulars are related Jud_20:11 ,45 ; and for the odd hundred not there mentioned, they were killed in other places not there expressed. Judges 20:36 No text from Poole on this verse. ## Judges 20:37 Drew themselves along, or, extended themselves , i.e. whereas before they lay close and contracted into a narrow compass, now they spread themselves, and marched in rank and file, as armies do. Or, marched or went , Heb. drew their feet . So this verb is oft, used, as Gen_37:28 Exo_12:21 Jud_4:6 Job_21:33. Judges 20:38 No text from Poole on this verse. Judges 20:39 No text from Poole on this verse. Judges 20:

[Reformed Biblical] s they were loth to give up any of their brethren to justice, so they presumed the other tribes would never proceed to a war against them; and partly, from a Divine infatuation hardening that wicked tribe to their own destruction. ## Tell us; the verb is of the plural number, because they speak to the Levite, and his servant, and his host, who doubtless were present upon this occasion. ## Judges 20:4 The Levite; to whose relation the other two gave them consent. ## Judges 20:5 Thought to have slain me; except I would either submit to their unnatural lust, which I was resolved to withstand even unto death; or deliver up my concubine to them, which I was forced to do. Judges 20:6 i.e. A lewd folly; most ignominious and impudent wickedness. ## Judges 20:7 Children of Israel; the sons of that holy man, who for one filthy action left all eternal brand upon one of his own sons; a people in covenant with the holy God, whose honour you are obliged to vindicate, and who hath expressly commanded you to punish all such notorious enormities. ## Judges 20:8 We will not any of us go to his tent, i.e. his habitation, to wit, until we have revenged this injury. Judges 20:9 No text from Poole on this verse. ## Judges 20:10 That they may do according to all the folly that they have wrought; that we may punish them as such a wickedness deserves.

From the oak of Moreh Abram now moves to the hill east of Bethel, and pitches his tent, with "Bethel on the west and Ai on the east." These localities are still recognized - the former as Beiten, and the latter as Tell er-Rijmeh (the mount of the heap). Bethel was "a place," adjacent to which was the town called "Luz at the first" Genesis 28:19 . Jacob gave this name to the place twice Genesis 28:19 ; Genesis 35:15 . The name, then, was not first given at the second nomination by him. It follows that it may not have been first given at his first nomination. Accordingly we meet with it as an existing name in Abram's time, without being constrained to account for it by supposing the present narrative to have been composed in its present form after the time of Jacob's visit. On the other hand, we may regard it as an interesting trace of early piety having been present in the land even before the arrival of Abram. We shall meet with other corroborating proofs. Bethel continued afterward to be a place hallowed by the presence of God, to which the people resorted for counsel in the war with Benjamin Judges 20:18 , Judges 20:26 , Judges 20:31 ; Judges 21:2 , and in which Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves 1 Kings 12:29 . On the hill east of this sacred ground Abram built another altar; and called upon the name of the Lord. Here we bare the reappearance of an ancient custom, instituted in the family of Adam after the birth of Enok Genesis 4:26.

From the oak of Moreh Abram now moves to the hill east of Bethel, and pitches his tent, with "Bethel on the west and Ai on the east." These localities are still recognized - the former as Beiten, and the latter as Tell er-Rijmeh (the mount of the heap). Bethel was "a place," adjacent to which was the town called "Luz at the first" Genesis 28:19 . Jacob gave this name to the place twice Genesis 28:19 ; Genesis 35:15 . The name, then, was not first given at the second nomination by him. It follows that it may not have been first given at his first nomination. Accordingly we meet with it as an existing name in Abram's time, without being constrained to account for it by supposing the present narrative to have been composed in its present form after the time of Jacob's visit. On the other hand, we may regard it as an interesting trace of early piety having been present in the land even before the arrival of Abram. We shall meet with other corroborating proofs. Bethel continued afterward to be a place hallowed by the presence of God, to which the people resorted for counsel in the war with Benjamin Judges 20:18 , Judges 20:26 , Judges 20:31 ; Judges 21:2 , and in which Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves 1 Kings 12:29 . On the hill east of this sacred ground Abram built another altar; and called upon the name of the Lord. Here we bare the reappearance of an ancient custom, instituted in the family of Adam after the birth of Enok Genesis 4:26.