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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The three remaining chapters of this book contain a most tragical story
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of the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, patronised by the tribe of
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Benjamin, for which that tribe was severely chastised and almost
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entirely cut off by the rest of the tribes. This seems to have been
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done not long after the death of Joshua, for it was when there was no
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king, no judge, in Israel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:1,21:25">ver. 1, and <I>ch.</I> xxi. 25</A>),
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and Phinehas was then high priest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+20:28"><I>ch.</I> xx. 28</A>.
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These particular iniquities, the Danites' idolatry, and the Benjamites'
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immorality, let in that general apostasy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:7"><I>ch.</I> iii. 7</A>.
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The abuse of the Levite's concubine is here very particularly related.
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I. Her adulterous elopement from him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. His reconciliation to her, and the journey he took to fetch her
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home,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:3">ver. 3</A>.
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III. Her father's kind entertainment of him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:4-9">ver. 4-9</A>.
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IV. The abuse he met with at Gibeah, where, being benighted, he was
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forced to stop.
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1. He was neglected by the men of Gibeah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:10-15">ver. 10-15</A>)
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and entertained by an Ephraimite that sojourned among them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:16-21">ver. 16-21</A>.
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2. They set upon him in his quarters, as the Sodomites did on Lot's
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quests,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:22-24">ver. 22-24</A>.
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3. They villainously forced his concubine to death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:25-28">ver. 25-28</A>.
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V. The course he took to send notice of this to all the tribes of
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Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:29,30">ver. 29, 30</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud19_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud19_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Elopement of the Levite's Concubine; The Levite Reconciled to His Concubine; The Levite Benighted at Gibeah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1410.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass in those days, when <I>there was</I> no king
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in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side
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of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of
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Beth-lehem-judah.
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2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away
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from him unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there
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four whole months.
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3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly
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unto her, <I>and</I> to bring her again, having his servant with him,
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and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's
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house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to
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meet him.
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4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and
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he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and
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lodged there.
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5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early
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in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's
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father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a
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morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.
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6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them
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together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be
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content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be
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merry.
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7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged
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him: therefore he lodged there again.
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8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart:
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and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee.
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And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
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9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine,
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and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said
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unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you
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tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here,
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that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on
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your way, that thou mayest go home.
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10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and
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departed, and came over against Jebus, which <I>is</I> Jerusalem; and
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<I>there were</I> with him two asses saddled, his concubine also <I>was</I>
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with him.
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11 <I>And</I> when they <I>were</I> by Jebus, the day was far spent; and
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the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us
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turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
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12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither
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into the city of a stranger, that <I>is</I> not of the children of
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Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
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13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to
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one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
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14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down
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upon them <I>when they were</I> by Gibeah, which <I>belongeth</I> to
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Benjamin.
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15 And they turned aside thither, to go in <I>and</I> to lodge in
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Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the
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city: for <I>there was</I> no man that took them into his house to
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lodging.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The domestic affairs of this Levite would not have been related thus
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largely but to make way for the following story of the injuries done
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him, in which the whole nation interested themselves. Bishop Hall's
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first remark upon this story is, <I>That there is no complain of a
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public ordered state but there is a Levite at one end of it, either as
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an agent or as a patient.</I> In Micah's idolatry a Levite was active;
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in the wickedness of Gibeah a Levite was passive; <I>no tribe shall
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sooner feel the want of government than that of Levi;</I> and, in all
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the book of Judges, no mention is made of any of that tribe, but of
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these two. This Levite was of Mount Ephraim,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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He married a wife of Bethlehem-Judah. She is called his
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<I>concubine,</I> because she was not endowed, for perhaps he had
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nothing to endow her with, being himself a sojourner and not settled;
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but it does not appear that he had any other wife, and the margin calls
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her <I>a wife, a concubine,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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She came from the same city that Micah's Levite came from, as if
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Bethlehem-Judah owed a double ill turn to Mount Ephraim, for she was as
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bad for a Levite's wife as the other for a Levite.</P>
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<P>
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I. This Levite's concubine played the whore and eloped from her
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husband,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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The Chaldee reads it only that she <I>carried herself insolently to
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him,</I> or <I>despised him,</I> and, he being displeased at it, <I>she
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went away from him,</I> and (which was not fair) was received and
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entertained at her father's house. Had her husband turned her out of
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doors unjustly, her father ought to have pitied her affliction; but,
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when she treacherously departed from her husband to embrace the bosom
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of a stranger, her father ought not to have countenanced her sin.
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Perhaps she would not have violated her duty to her husband if she had
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not known too well where she should be kindly received. Children's ruin
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is often owing very much to parents' indulgence.</P>
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<P>
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II. The Levite went himself to court her return. It was a sign there
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was no king, no judge, in Israel, else she would have been prosecuted
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and put to death as an adulteress; but, instead of that, she is
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addressed in the kindest manner by her injured husband, who takes a
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long journey on purpose to beseech her to be reconciled,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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If he had put her away, it would have been a crime in him to return to
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her again,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:1">Jer. iii. 1</A>.
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But, she having gone away, it was a virtue in him to forgive the
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offence, and, though the party wronged, to make the first motion to her
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to be friends again. It is part of the character of the wisdom from
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above that it is gentle and easy to be entreated. He spoke
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<I>friendly</I> to her, or <I>comfortably</I> (for so the Hebrew phrase
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of <I>speaking to the heart</I> commonly signifies), which intimates
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that she was in sorrow, penitent fore what she had done amiss, which
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probably he heard of when he came to fetch her back. Thus God promises
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concerning adulterous Israel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:14">Hos. ii. 14</A>),
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<I>I will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to
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her.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. Her father made him very welcome, and, by his extraordinary
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kindness to him, endeavoured to atone for the countenance he had given
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his daughter in withdrawing from him, and to confirm him in his
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disposition to be reconciled to her.
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1. He entertains him kindly, <I>rejoices to see him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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treats him generously for three days,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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And the Levite, to show that he was perfectly reconciled, accepted his
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kindness, and we do not find that he upbraided him or his daughter with
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what had been amiss, but was as easy and as pleasant as at his first
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wedding-feast. It becomes all, but especially Levites, to forgive as
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God does. Every thing among them gave a hopeful prospect of their
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living comfortably together for the future; but, could they have
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foreseen what befel them within one day or two, how would all their
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mirth have been embittered and turned into mourning! When the affairs
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of our families are in the best posture we ought to rejoice with
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trembling, because we know not what troubles one day may bring forth.
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We cannot foresee what evil is near us, but we ought to consider what
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may be, that we may not be secure, as if to-morrow must needs be as
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this day and <I>much more abundant,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+56:12">Isa. lvi. 12</A>.
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2. He is very earnest for his stay, as a further demonstration of his
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hearty welcome. The affection he had for him, and the pleasure he took
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in his company, proceeded,
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(1.) From a civil regard to him as his son-in-law and an ingrafted
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branch of his own house. Note, Love and duty are due to those to whom
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we are related by marriage as well as to those who are bone of our
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bone: and those that show kindness as this Levite did may expect to
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receive kindness as he did. And,
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(2.) From a pious respect to him as a Levite, a servant of God's house;
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if he was such a Levite as he should be (and nothing appears to the
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contrary) he is to be commended for courting his stay, finding his
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conversation profitable, and having opportunity to learn from him the
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<I>good knowledge of the Lord,</I> hoping also that <I>the Lord will do
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him good because he has a Levite</I> to be his son-in-law, and will
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bless him for his sake.
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[1.] He forces him to stay the fourth day, and this was kind; not
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knowing when they might be together again, he engages him to stay as
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long as he possibly could. The Levite, though nobly treated, was very
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urgent to be gone. A good man's heart is where his business is; for
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<I>as a bird that wanders from her nest so is the man that wanders form
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his place.</I> It is a sign a man has either little to do at home, or
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little heart to do what he has to do, when he can take pleasure in
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being long abroad where he has nothing to do. It is especially good to
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see a Levite willing to go home to his few sheep in the wilderness. Yet
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this Levite was overcome by importunity and kind persuasion to stay
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longer than he intended,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:5-7"><I>v.</I> 5-7</A>.
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We ought to avoid the extreme of an over-easy yielding, to the neglect
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of our duty on the one hand, and that of moroseness and wilfulness, to
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the neglect of our friends and their kindness on the other hand. Our
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Saviour, after his resurrection, was prevailed upon to stay with his
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friends longer than he at first intimated to be his purpose,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:28,29">Luke xxiv. 28, 29</A>.
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[2.] He forces him to stay till the afternoon of the fifth day, and
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this, as it proved, was unkind,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>.
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He would by no means let him go before dinner, promises him he shall
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have dinner early, designing thereby, as he had done the day before, to
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detain him another night; but the Levite was intent on the <I>house of
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the Lord at Shiloh</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
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and, being impatient to get thither, would stay no longer. Had they set
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out early, they might have reached some better lodging-place than that
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which they were now constrained to take up with, nay, they might have
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got to Shiloh. Note, Our friends' designed kindnesses often prove, in
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the event, real injuries; what is meant for our welfare becomes a trap.
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<I>Who knows what is good for a man in this life?</I> The Levite was
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unwise in setting out so late; he might have got home better if he had
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staid a night longer and taken the day before him.</P>
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<P>
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IV. In his return home he was forced to lodge at Gibeah, a city in the
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tribe of Benjamin, afterwards called <I>Gibeah of Saul,</I> which lay
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on his road towards Shiloh and Mount Ephraim. When it drew towards
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night, and the shadows of the evening were stretched out, they began to
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think (as it behoves us to do when we observe the day of our life
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hastening towards a period) where they must lodge. When night came they
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could not pursue their journey. <I>He that walketh in darkness knoweth
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not whither he goes.</I> They could not but desire rest, for which the
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night was intended, as the day for labour.
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1. The servant proposed that they should lodge in Jebus, afterwards
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Jerusalem, but as yet in the possession of Jebusites. "Come," said the
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servant, "let us lodge in this city of the Jebusites,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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And, if they had done so, it is probable they would have had much
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better usage than they met with in Gibeah of Benjamin. Debauched and
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profligate Israelites are worse and much more dangerous than Canaanites
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themselves. But the master, as became one of God's tribe, would by no
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means quarter, no, not one night, in a city of strangers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
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not because he questioned his safety among them, but he was not
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willing, if he could possibly avoid it, to have so much intimacy and
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familiarity with them as a night's lodging came to, nor to be so much
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beholden to them. By shunning this place he would witness against the
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wickedness of those that contracted friendship and familiarity with
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these devoted nations. Let Israelites, Levites especially, associate
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with Israelites, and not with the <I>sons of the stranger.</I>
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2. Having passed by Jebus, which was about five or six miles from
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Bethlehem (the place whence they came), and not having daylight to
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bring them to Ramah, they stopped at Gibeah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:13-15"><I>v.</I> 13-15</A>);
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|
|
|
there they sat down in the street, nobody offering them a lodging. In
|
|
these countries, at that time, there were no inns, or public-houses, in
|
|
which, as with us, travellers might have entertainment for their money,
|
|
but they carried entertainment along with them, as this Levite did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and depended upon the courtesy and hospitality of the inhabitants for a
|
|
lodging. Let us take occasion hence, when we are in journeys, to thank
|
|
God for this, among other conveniences of travelling, that there are
|
|
inns to entertain strangers, and in which they may be welcome and well
|
|
accommodated for their money. Surely there is no country in the world
|
|
wherein one may stay at home with more satisfaction, or go abroad with
|
|
more comfort, than in our own nation. This traveller, though a Levite
|
|
(and to those of that tribe God had particularly commanded his people
|
|
to be kind upon all occasions), met with very cold entertainment at
|
|
Gibeah: <I>No man took them into his house.</I> If they had any reason
|
|
to think he was a Levite perhaps that made those ill-disposed people
|
|
the more shy of him. There are those who will have this laid to their
|
|
charge at the great day, <I>I was a stranger and you took me not
|
|
in.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Levite Entertained at Gibeah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1410.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the
|
|
field at even, which <I>was</I> also of mount Ephraim; and he
|
|
sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place <I>were</I> Benjamites.
|
|
17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man
|
|
in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest
|
|
thou? and whence comest thou?
|
|
18 And he said unto him, We <I>are</I> passing from Beth-lehem-judah
|
|
toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence <I>am</I> I: and I went
|
|
to Beth-lehem-judah, but I <I>am now</I> going to the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>;
|
|
and there <I>is</I> no man that receiveth me to house.
|
|
19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and
|
|
there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and
|
|
for the young man <I>which is</I> with thy servants: <I>there is</I> no
|
|
want of any thing.
|
|
20 And the old man said, Peace <I>be</I> with thee; howsoever <I>let</I>
|
|
all thy wants <I>lie</I> upon me; only lodge not in the street.
|
|
21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto
|
|
the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Though there as not one <I>of</I> Gibeah, yet it proved there was one
|
|
<I>in</I> Gibeah, that showed some civility to this distressed Levite,
|
|
who was glad that any one took notice of him. It was strange that some
|
|
of those wicked people, who, when it was dark, designed so ill to him
|
|
and his concubine, did not, under pretence of kindness, invite them in,
|
|
that they might have a fairer opportunity of perpetrating their
|
|
villany; but either they had not wit enough to be so designing, or not
|
|
wickedness enough to be so deceiving. Or, perhaps, none of them
|
|
separately thought of such a wickedness, till in the black and dark
|
|
night they got together to contrive what mischief they should do. Bad
|
|
people in confederacy make one another much worse than any of them
|
|
would be by themselves. When the Levite, and his wife, and servant,
|
|
were beginning to fear that they must lie in the street all night (and
|
|
as good have laid in a den of lions) they were at length invited into a
|
|
house, and we are here told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Who that kind man was that invited them.
|
|
|
|
1. He was a man of Mount Ephraim, and only sojourned in Gibeah,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Of all the tribes of Israel, the Benjamites had most reason to be kind
|
|
to poor travellers, for their ancestor, Benjamin, was born upon the
|
|
road, his mother being then upon a journey, and very near to this
|
|
place,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:16,17">Gen. xxxv. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yet they were hard-hearted to a traveller in distress, while an honest
|
|
Ephraimite had compassion on him, and, no doubt, was the more kind to
|
|
him, when, upon enquiry, he found that he was his countryman, of Mount
|
|
Ephraim likewise. He that was himself but a sojourner in Gibeah was the
|
|
more compassionate to a wayfaring man, for he <I>knew the heart of a
|
|
stranger,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:9,De+10:19">Exod. xxiii. 9; Deut. x. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Good people, that look upon themselves but as strangers and sojourners
|
|
in this world, should for this reason be tender to one another, because
|
|
they all belong to the same better country and are not at home here.
|
|
|
|
2. He was an old man, one that retained some of the expiring virtue of
|
|
an Israelite. The rising generation was entirely corrupted; if there
|
|
was any good remaining among them, it was only with those that were old
|
|
and going off.
|
|
|
|
3. He was coming home from his work out of the field at eventide. The
|
|
evening calls home labourers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:23">Ps. civ. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, it should seem, this was the only labourer that this evening
|
|
brought home to Gibeah. The rest had given themselves up to sloth and
|
|
luxury, and no marvel there was among them, as in Sodom, abundance of
|
|
uncleanness, when there was among them, as in Sodom, abundance of
|
|
idleness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:49">Ezek. xvi. 49</A>.
|
|
|
|
But he that was honestly diligent in his business all day was disposed
|
|
to be generously hospitable to these poor strangers at night. Let men
|
|
<I>labour, that they may have to give,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+4:28">Eph. iv. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
It appears from
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>
|
|
|
|
that he was a man of some substance, and yet had been himself at work
|
|
in the field. No man's estate will privilege him in idleness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How free and generous he was in his invitation. He did not stay
|
|
till they applied to him to beg for a night's lodging; but when he saw
|
|
them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
enquired into their circumstances, and anticipated them with his
|
|
kindness. Thus our good God answers before we call. Note, A charitable
|
|
disposition expects only opportunity, not importunity, to do good, and
|
|
will succour upon sight, unsought unto. Hence we read of a <I>bountiful
|
|
eye,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+22:9">Prov. xxii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
If Gibeah was like Sodom, this old man was like Lot in Sodom, who
|
|
<I>sat in the gate</I> to invite strangers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+19:1">Gen. xix. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus <I>Job opened his doors to the traveller,</I> and would not suffer
|
|
him to <I>lodge in the street,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:32">Job xxxi. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How ready he was to give credit to the Levite's account of himself
|
|
when he saw no reason at all to question the truth of it. Charity is
|
|
not apt to distrust, but <I>hopeth all things</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+13:7">1 Cor. xiii. 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
and will not make use of Nabal's excuse for his churlishness to David,
|
|
<I>Many servants now-a-days break away from their masters,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:10">1 Sam. xxv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Levite, in his account of himself, professed that he was now going
|
|
<I>to the house of the Lord</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
for there he designed to attend, either with a trespass-offering for
|
|
the sins of his family, or with a peace-offering for the mercies of his
|
|
family, or both, before he went to his own house. And, if the men of
|
|
Gibeah had any intimation of his being bound that way, probably they
|
|
would therefore be disinclined to entertain him. The Samaritans would
|
|
not receive Christ because his face was towards Jerusalem,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:53">Luke ix. 53</A>.
|
|
|
|
But for this reason, because he was a Levite and was now going to the
|
|
house of the Lord, this good old man was the more kind to him. Thus he
|
|
received a disciples <I>in the name of a disciple,</I> a servant of God
|
|
for his Master's sake.
|
|
|
|
2. How free he was to give him entertainment. The Levite was himself
|
|
provided with all necessaries
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
wanted nothing but a lodging, but his generous host would be himself at
|
|
the charge of his entertainment
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Let all thy wants be upon me;</I> so he <I>brought him into his
|
|
house,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus God will, some way or other, raise up friends for his people and
|
|
ministers, even when they seem forlorn.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jud19_30"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Wickedness of Gibeah; The Israelites Roused to Revenge.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1410.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 <I>Now</I> as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the
|
|
men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round
|
|
about, <I>and</I> beat at the door, and spake to the master of the
|
|
house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into
|
|
thine house, that we may know him.
|
|
23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them,
|
|
and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, <I>nay,</I> I pray you, do not
|
|
<I>so</I> wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do
|
|
not this folly.
|
|
24 Behold, <I>here is</I> my daughter a maiden, and his concubine;
|
|
them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them
|
|
what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a
|
|
thing.
|
|
25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his
|
|
concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her,
|
|
and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day
|
|
began to spring, they let her go.
|
|
26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down
|
|
at the door of the man's house where her lord <I>was,</I> till it was
|
|
light.
|
|
27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of
|
|
the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his
|
|
concubine was fallen down <I>at</I> the door of the house, and her
|
|
hands <I>were</I> upon the threshold.
|
|
28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none
|
|
answered. Then the man took her <I>up</I> upon an ass, and the man
|
|
rose up, and gat him unto his place.
|
|
29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and
|
|
laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, <I>together</I> with her
|
|
bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of
|
|
Israel.
|
|
30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such
|
|
deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came
|
|
up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take
|
|
advice, and speak <I>your minds.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
<I>mean</I> 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 <I>sons of
|
|
Belial,</I> that is, ungovernable men, men that would endure no yoke,
|
|
children of the devil (for he is Belial), resembling him, and joining
|
|
with him in rebellion against God and his government. Sons of Benjamin,
|
|
of whom Moses had said, <I>The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in
|
|
safety by him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:12">Deut. xxxiii. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
have become such sons of Belial that an honest man cannot lodge in
|
|
safety among them. The sufferers were a Levite and his wife, and that
|
|
kind man that gave them entertainment. We are strangers upon earth, and
|
|
must expect strange usage. It is said <I>they were making their hearts
|
|
merry</I> when this trouble came upon them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
If the mirth was innocent, it teaches us of what uncertain continuance
|
|
all our creature comforts and enjoyments are; when we are ever so well
|
|
pleased with our friends, we know not how near our enemies are; nor, if
|
|
it be well with us this hour, can we be sure it will be so the next. If
|
|
the mirth was sinful and excessive, let it be a warning to us to keep a
|
|
strict guard upon ourselves, that we grow not intemperate in the use of
|
|
lawful things, nor be transported into indecencies by our cheerfulness;
|
|
for <I>the end of that mirth is heaviness.</I> God can soon change the
|
|
note of those that are making their hearts merry, and turn their
|
|
laughter into mourning and their joy into heaviness. Let us see what
|
|
the wickedness of these Benjamites was.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They made a rude and insolent assault, in the night, upon the
|
|
habitation of an honest man, that not only lived peaceably among them,
|
|
but kept a good house and was a blessing and ornament to their city.
|
|
They beset the house round, and, to the great terror of those within,
|
|
beat as hard as they could at the door,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
A man's house is his castle, in which he ought to be both safe and
|
|
quiet, and, where there is law, it is taken under the special
|
|
protection of it; but there was no king in Israel to keep the peace and
|
|
secure honest men from the sons of violence.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They had a particular spite at the strangers that were within their
|
|
gates, that only desired a night's lodging among them, contrary to the
|
|
laws of hospitality, which all civilized nations have accounted sacred,
|
|
and which the master of the house pleaded with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Seeing that this man has come into my house.</I> Those are base and
|
|
abject spirits indeed that will trample upon the helpless, and use a
|
|
man the worse for his being a stranger, whom they know no ill of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. They designed in the most filthy and abominable manner (not to be
|
|
thought of without horror and detestation) to abuse the Levite, whom
|
|
perhaps they had observed to be young and comely: <I>Bring him forth
|
|
that we may know him.</I> We should certainly have concluded they meant
|
|
only to enquire whence he came, and to know his character, but that the
|
|
good man of the house, who understood their meaning too well, by his
|
|
answer lets us know that they designed the gratification of that most
|
|
unnatural and worse than brutish lust which was expressly forbidden by
|
|
the law of Moses, and called an <I>abomination,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:22">Lev. xviii. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that are guilty of it are ranked in the New Testament among the
|
|
worst and vilest of sinners
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+1:10">1 Tim. i. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
and such as <I>shall not inherit the kingdom of God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:9">1 Cor. vi. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) This was the sin of Sodom, and is thence called <I>Sodomy.</I> The
|
|
Dead Sea, which was the standing monument of God's vengeance upon
|
|
Sodom, for its filthiness, was one of the boundaries of Canaan, and lay
|
|
not many miles off from Gibeah. We may suppose the men of Gibeah had
|
|
seen it many a time, and yet would not take warning by it, but did
|
|
worse than Sodom
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:48">Ezek. xvi. 48</A>),
|
|
|
|
and sinned just <I>after the similitude of their transgression.</I> Who
|
|
would have expected (says bishop Hall) such extreme abomination to come
|
|
out of the loins of Jacob? Even the worst pagans were saints to them.
|
|
What did it avail them that they had the ark of God in Shiloh when they
|
|
had Sodom in their streets--God's law in their fringes, but the devil
|
|
in their hearts? Nothing but hell itself can yield a worse creature
|
|
than a depraved Israelite.
|
|
|
|
(2.) This was the punishment of their idolatry, that sin to which they
|
|
were, above all others, most addicted. Because they liked not to
|
|
retain God in their knowledge, therefore he gave them up to these vile
|
|
affections, by which they dishonoured themselves as they had by their
|
|
idolatry dishonoured him and turned his glory into shame,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:24,28">Rom. i. 24, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
See and admire, in this instance, the patience of God. Why were not
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|
these sons of Belial struck blind, as the Sodomites were? Why were not
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|
fire and brimstone rained from heaven upon their city? It was because
|
|
God would leave it to Israel to punish them by the sword, and would
|
|
reserve his own punishment of them for the future state, in which those
|
|
that <I>go after strange flesh</I> shall <I>suffer the vengeance of
|
|
eternal fire,</I>
|
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:7">Jude 7</A>.</P>
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<P>
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|
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4. They were deaf to the reproofs and reasoning of the good man of the
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|
house, who, being well acquainted (we may suppose) with the story of
|
|
Lot and the Sodomites, set himself to imitate Lot,
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|
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
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Compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+19:6-8">Gen. xix. 6-8</A>.
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He went out to them as Lot did, spoke civilly to them, called them
|
|
brethren, begged of them to desist, pleaded the protection of his house
|
|
which his guests were under, and represented to them the great
|
|
wickedness of their attempt: "Do not so wickedly, so very wickedly." He
|
|
calls it <I>folly</I> and <I>a vile thing.</I> But in one thing he
|
|
conformed too far to Lot's example (as we are apt in imitating good men
|
|
to follow them even in their false steps), in offering them his
|
|
daughter to do what they would with. He had not power thus to
|
|
prostitute his daughter, nor ought he to have done this evil that good
|
|
might come. But this wicked proposal of his may be in part excused from
|
|
the great surprise and terror he was in, his concern for his guests,
|
|
and his having too close a regard to what Lot did in the like case,
|
|
especially not finding that the angels who were by reproved him for it.
|
|
And perhaps he hoped that his mentioning this as a more natural
|
|
gratification of their lust would have sent them back to their common
|
|
harlots. But <I>they would not hearken to him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Headstrong lusts are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; they
|
|
sear the conscience and make it insensible.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. They got the Levite's wife among them, and abused her to death,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
They slighted the old man's offer of his daughter to their lust, either
|
|
because she was not handsome or because they knew her to be one of
|
|
great gravity and modesty: but, when the Levite brought them his
|
|
concubine, they took her with them by force to the place appointed for
|
|
their filthiness. Josephus, in his narrative of this story, makes her
|
|
to be the person they had a design upon when they beset the house, and
|
|
says nothing of their villainous design upon the Levite himself. They
|
|
saw her (he says) in the street, when they came into the town, and were
|
|
smitten with her beauty; and perhaps, though she was reconciled to her
|
|
husband, her looks did not bespeak her to be one of the most modest.
|
|
Many bring mischief of this kind upon themselves by their loose
|
|
carriage and behaviour; a little spark may kindle a great fire. One
|
|
would think the Levite should have followed them, to see what became of
|
|
his wife, but it is probable he durst not, lest they should do him a
|
|
mischief. In the miserable end of this woman, we may see the righteous
|
|
hand of God punishing her for her former uncleanness, when she played
|
|
the whore against her husband,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though her father had countenanced her, her husband had forgiven her,
|
|
and the fault was forgotten now that the quarrel was made up, yet God
|
|
remembered it against her when he suffered these wicked men thus
|
|
wretchedly to abuse her; how unrighteous soever they were in their
|
|
treatment of her, in permitting it the Lord was righteous. Her
|
|
punishment answered her sin, <I>Culpa libido fuit, poena libido
|
|
fuit--Lust was her sin, and lust was her punishment.</I> By the law of
|
|
Moses she was to have been put to death for her adultery. She escaped
|
|
that punishment from men, yet vengeance pursued her; for, if there was
|
|
no king in Israel, yet there was a God in Israel, a God that judgeth in
|
|
the earth. We must not think it enough to make our peace with men, whom
|
|
by our sins we have wronged, but are concerned, by repentance and
|
|
faith, to make our peace with God, who sees not as men see, nor makes
|
|
so light of sin as men often do. The justice of God in this matter does
|
|
not at all extenuate the horrid wickedness of these men of Gibeah, than
|
|
which nothing could be more barbarous and inhuman.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The notice that was sent of this wickedness to all the tribes of
|
|
Israel. The poor abused woman made towards her husband's lodgings as
|
|
soon as ever the approach of the day-light obliged these sons of Belial
|
|
to let her go (for these works of darkness hate and dread the light),
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Down she fell at the door, with her hands on the threshold, begging
|
|
pardon (as it were) for her former transgression, and in that posture
|
|
of a penitent, with her mouth in the dust, she expired. There he found
|
|
her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
supposed her asleep, or overcome with shame and confusion for what had
|
|
happened, but soon perceived she was dead
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
took up her dead body, which, we may suppose, had all over it marks of
|
|
the hands, the blows, and other abuses, she had received. On this sad
|
|
occasion he waived his purpose of going to Shiloh, and went directly
|
|
home. He that went out in hopes to return rejoicing came in again
|
|
melancholy and disconsolate, sat down and considered, "Is this an
|
|
injury fit to be passed by?" He cannot call for fire from heaven to
|
|
consume the men of Gibeah, as those angels did who were, after the same
|
|
manner, insulted by the Sodomites. There was no king in Israel, nor
|
|
(for aught that appears) any sanhedrim, or great council, to appeal to,
|
|
and demand justice from. Phinehas is high priest, but he attends
|
|
closely to the business of the sanctuary, and will be no judge or
|
|
divider. He has therefore no other way left him than to appeal to the
|
|
people: let the community be judge. Though they had no general stated
|
|
assembly of all the tribes, yet it is probable that each tribe had a
|
|
meeting of their chiefs within itself. To each of the tribes, in their
|
|
respective meetings, he sent by special messengers a remonstrance of
|
|
the wrong that was done him, in all its aggravating circumstances, and
|
|
with it a piece of his wife's dead body
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
both to confirm the truth of the story and to affect them the more with
|
|
it. He divided it into twelve pieces, <I>according to the bones,</I> so
|
|
some read it, that is, by the joints, sending one to each tribe, even
|
|
to Benjamin among the rest, with the hope that some among them would be
|
|
moved to join in punishing so great a villany, and the more warmly
|
|
because committed by some of their own tribe. It did indeed look very
|
|
barbarous thus to mangle a dead body, which, having been so wretchedly
|
|
dishonoured, ought to have been decently interred; but the Levite
|
|
designed hereby, not only to represent their barbarous usage of his
|
|
wife, whom they had better have cut in pieces thus than have used as
|
|
they did, but also to express his own passionate concern and thereby to
|
|
excite the like in them. And it had the desired effect. All that saw
|
|
the pieces of the dead body, and were told how the matter was,
|
|
expressed the same sentiments upon it.
|
|
|
|
1. That the men of Gibeah had been guilty of a very heinous piece of
|
|
wickedness, the like to which had never been known before in Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was a complicated crime, loaded and blackened with all possible
|
|
aggravations. They were not such fools as to make a mock at this sin,
|
|
or turn the story off with a jest.
|
|
|
|
2. That a general assembly of all Israel should be called, to debate
|
|
what was fit to be done for the punishment of this wickedness, that a
|
|
stop might be put to this threatening inundation of debauchery, and the
|
|
wrath of God might not be poured upon the whole nation for it. It is
|
|
not a common case, and therefore they stir up one another to come
|
|
together upon the occasion with this: <I>Consider of it, take advice,
|
|
and speak your minds.</I> We have here the three great rules by which
|
|
those that sit in council ought to go in every arduous affair.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let every man retire into himself, and weigh the matter
|
|
impartially and fully in his own thoughts, and seriously and calmly
|
|
consider it, without prejudice on either side, before he speaks upon
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Let them freely talk it over, and every man take advice of his
|
|
friend, know his opinion and his reasons, and weigh them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Then let every man speak his mind, and give his vote according to
|
|
his conscience. In the multitude of such counsellors there is
|
|
safety.</P>
|
|
|
|
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