16 Then behold , an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening . Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim , and he was staying in Gibeah , but the men of the place were Benjamites . 17 And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler e in the open square of the city ; and the old man said , "Where are you going , and where do you come from?" 18 He said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim , for I am from there , and I went to Bethlehem in Judah . But I am now going to my house , and no man will take me into his house . 19 "Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys , and also bread and wine for me, your maidservant , and the young man who is with your servants ; there is no lack of anything e ." 20 The old man said , " Peace to you. Only let me take care of all your needs ; however , do not spend the night in the open square ." 21 So he took him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder , and they washed their feet and ate and drank .
22 While they were celebrating e , behold , the men of the city , certain worthless fellows , surrounded the house , pounding the door ; and they spoke to the owner of the house , the old man , saying , "Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have relations with him." 23 Then the man , the owner of the house , went out to them and said to them, "No , my fellows , please do not act so wickedly ; since e this man has come into my house , do not commit this act of folly . 24 " Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine . Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them whatever you wish e . But do not commit such an act of folly against this man ." 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning , then let her go at the approach of dawn . 26 As the day began to dawn e , the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man's house where e her master was, until full daylight . 27 When her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way , then behold , his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold . 28 He said to her, "Get up and let us go ," but there was no answer . Then he placed her on the donkey ; and the man arose and went to his home . 29 When he entered his house , he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her in twelve e pieces , limb by limb , and sent her throughout the territory of Israel . 30 All who saw it said , "Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day . Consider it, take counsel and speak up!"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 19:16-30
Chapter Contents
The wickedness of the men of Gibeah.
The three remaining chapters of this book contain a very sad history of the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, in Benjamin. The righteous Lord permits sinners to execute just vengeance on one another, and if the scene here described is horrible, what will the discoveries of the day of judgment be! Let each of us consider how to escape from the wrath to come, how to mortify the sins of our own hearts, to resist Satan's temptations, and to avoid the pollutions there are in the world.