Judges 19:25 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 19:22-30

Here is, I. The great wickedness of the men of Gibeah. One could not imagine that ever it should enter into the heart of men that had the use of human reason, of Israelites that had the benefit of divine revelation, to be so very wicked. ?Lord, what is man!? said David, ?what a mean creature is he!? ?Lord, what is man,? may we say upon the reading of this story, ?what a vile creature is he, when he is given up to his own heart's lusts!? The sinners are here called sons of Belial, that is,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 19:25

But the men would not hearken to him ,.... Especially with respect to his daughter, whom they knew very well, and had no affection for, perhaps was not handsome enough for them: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them ; that is, not the old man, but the Levite took his own wife or concubine, and put her forth to them, very probably with her consent, to try if that would pacify them, she being a fair and beautiful woman, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel suggest; and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 19:25

So the man took his concubine - The word יחזק yachazek , which we here translate simply took, signifies rather to take or seize by violence. The woman would not go out to them; but her graceless husband forced her to go, in order that he might save his own body. He could have but little love for her, and this was the cause of their separation before. The men of Gibeah who wished to abuse the body of the Levite; the Levite who wished to save his body at the expense of the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 19:1-30

The war with Benjamin (19:1-21:25)A Levite whose concubine had run away from him came to Judah looking for her. When they were reunited, her father was so pleased he did not want them to leave. They therefore stayed with him a few days, then set out to return to the Levite’s home in Ephraim (19:1-9).The route back to Ephraim took the couple through the tribal territory of Benjamin. Looking for somewhere to sleep the night, they preferred not to stay in Jerusalem, which was inhabited by... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 19:25

Judges 19:25. But the men would not hearken to him— It is plain, from Jdg 19:5 of the next chapter, that all the particulars of this matter are not related. The Levite, resolutely bent to defend his own chastity, probably found no other way to save that and his life, than by giving up his concubine, and therefore of two evils chose the least. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 19:1-30

1. The atrocity in Gibeah ch. 19This incident and chapter closely relate to those that follow. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 19:22-26

The immorality of the Gibeahites 19:22-26Only a group of "worthless fellows" ("sons of Beliel," i.e., ungodly men, AV, RV) surrounded the stranger’s house (Judges 19:22). However, the men of Gibeah as a whole defended the actions of this group. Furthermore the whole tribe of Benjamin refused to punish them (Judges 20:13-14). This points to the Benjamites’ sympathy for the perpetrators of this atrocity who lived in Gibeah. The "worthless" men repeated the request of the Sodomites in Lot’s day... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 19:1-30

The Wickedness of GibeahA 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... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 19:24-25

(24, 25) Behold, here is my daughter . . .—The main horror of these verses lies, and is meant to lie, in the nameless infamy to which these men had sunk, of whom we can only say,“Non ragionam di lor ma guarda è passa.”But we must not omit to notice that the conduct of the old man and the Levite, though it is not formally condemned, speaks of the existence of a very rudimentary morality, a selfishness, and a low estimate of the rights and sacred dignity of women, which shows from what depths the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Judges 19:1-30

Judges 19:1 On the night before he fled from Geneva, Rousseau relates how finding himself unusually wakeful, 'I continued my reading beyond my usual hour, and read the whole passage ending at the story of the Levite of Ephraim in the book of Judges, if I mistake not, for since then I have never seen it. This story made a great impression on me, and in a kind of dream my imagination still ran upon it.' Suddenly wakened by the news that his Émile was proscribed, he drove off, and composed,... read more