Judg 19:14-28 | TNotes

19:15 ^a The normal rules of hospitality in Israel and the rest of the Near East obligated a citizen of the town to take them in (cp. Isa 58:7 ^b; Luke 14:13-14 ^c; Rom 12:13 ^d; 1 Tim 3:2 ^e; 5:10 ^f; Heb 13:2 ^g; 1 Pet 4:9 ^h). The Levite had funds and provisions (Judg 19:19 ⁱ), so there was even less excuse. This erosion of common civility is yet another evidence of social dysfunction at the time of Judges.
19:16 ^j The old man was from the hill country of Ephraim rather than the territory of Benjamin. The natives of Gibeah were all unwilling to help.
19:18 ^k now I’m returning home: The Levite said nothing about his own status, or about why he was traveling.
19:20 ^l The note of urgency in the old man’s response foreshadowed the coming trouble (cp. Gen 19:2-3 ^m).
19:22 ⁿ troublemakers: Hebrew sons of Belial; see study notes on 1 Kgs 21:10; 1 Sam 1:16; 2 Cor 6:15. Their goal was homosexual rape. Cp. Gen 19:4-5 ^o.
19:23 ^p For this man is a guest in my house: It was shameful to be inhospitable to a visitor, but the evil demands of the crowd went beyond lack of hospitality. They intended violence against the visitor (see 20:5 ^q).
19:24 ^r The old man attempted to preserve the social obligation of hospitality at the cost of handing over the vulnerable to be harmed (cp. Jas 1:27 ^s). There is no way, for our age or theirs, to soften the horror of what followed. The period of the judges was coming to an end in deepest depravity. Something was fundamentally amiss.
19:25 ^t Contrast the instruction to husbands in Eph 5:25-28 ^u.
Summary for Judg 19:28-29: 19:28-29 ^v The Levite’s actions exemplify the horror of a corrupt culture.