Judges 19:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And his father-in-law, the girl 's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there.

NIV: His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.

NASB: His father-in-law, the girl’s father, prevailed upon him, and he remained with him for three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.

CSB: His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him, and he stayed with him for three days. They ate, drank, and spent the nights there.

NLT: Her father urged him to stay awhile, so he stayed three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping there.

KJV: And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.

NKJV: Now his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there.

The Levite man and his concubine have been reunited (Judges 19:1–3), which her father seems glad to see. Whatever happened to cause their split appears forgiven and resolved.

Before returning to the Levite's home in Ephraim, the Levite's father-in-law insists the couple stay with him for three days. He is either expressing the infamously extravagant hospitality of the ancient middle east, or he simply wants to spend time with the pair. The Levite receives this graciously, eating and drinking with his father-in-law for three days.

After this time, the situation becomes more complex.

Judges 19:1–10 describes a Levite's journey to retrieve his runaway concubine. For reasons not given, she leaves him and goes back to her father. Months later, the Levite arrives to retrieve her, seemingly with complete forgiveness. The woman and her father are glad, and the father pressures them to stay for several days. Finally, the Levite insists on leaving. He refuses to stay in the then-Gentile-controlled city of Jebus. Instead, they will continue after dark to Gibeah. Ironically, this will lead them into shocking danger.

A Levite man travels to reconcile with his runaway concubine. On their way back home, they spend the night in the city of Gibeah, in the home of an old man. The wicked men of the town form a mob, demanding the Levite be handed over to be raped. Instead, the Levite forces his concubine outside; the mob rapes and beats her until sunrise. The Levite finds her body, carries it home, and cuts it into twelve pieces. He sends these pieces throughout Israel. This shocks the entire nation into demanding some action be taken against Gibeah.

This chapter's stomach-turning depravity provides another example of the great wickedness in Israel, in an era when everyone did whatever they wanted to without regard for law or God (Judges 21:25). A mob of rapists murders a Levite man's concubine. He sends pieces of her body throughout the nation. This shocks the people into demanding justice. In the following chapters, the tribe of Benjamin refuses to hand over their guilty members. Israel is plunged into civil war.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).

Accessed 9/7/2024 10:17:04 PM