Judges 19:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again.

NIV: And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night.

NASB: However, the man got up to go; but his father-in-law urged him, and he spent the night there again.

CSB: The man got up to go, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed and spent the night there again.

NLT: The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law kept urging him to stay, so he finally gave in and stayed the night.

KJV: And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again.

NKJV: And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again.

A man's attempt to pick up his runaway concubine (Judges 19:1–4) has turned into a kind of social comedy revolving around manners. The Levite came to his unfaithful concubine's family home with every intention to be kind to her. His goal was to take her back to his home in Ephraim. Both she and her father have seemed happy that he has come.

They couple has stayed for three days and enjoyed her father's hospitality. The Levite woke up early on the fourth day to get on the road back home, but the woman's father insisted he have a quick bite before leaving (Judges 19:5–6). That brief meal turned into eating and drinking for a while until the father said, "Why don't you stay another night and leave tomorrow?"

The Levite now tries to refuse. He is ready to go. He gets up to leave. He cannot, though, resist his father-in-law's insistence that he stay just one more day and night. So, the Levite and his concubine stay another night.

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 5/6/2024 4:35:47 AM