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Judges Chapter
Nineteen
Judges 19
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.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Judges》
Judges 19
Verse 1
[1] And
it came to pass in those days
when there was no king in Israel
that there was
a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim
who took to him a
concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
A. concubine —
Heb. a wife
a concubine
that is
such a concubine as was also his wife:
called a concubine
only because she was not endowed. Perhaps he had nothing to
endow her with
being himself only a sojourner.
Verse 2
[2] And his concubine played the whore against him
and went away from him
unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah
and was there four whole months.
Against him —
That is
against her faith given to him.
Went away —
Either for fear of punishment; or
because her heart was alienated from him;
wherein not only she sinned
but her father by connivance at her sin
and
neglect of just endeavours for her reconciliation to her husband.
Verse 3
[3] And
her husband arose
and went after her
to speak friendly unto her
and to bring
her again
having his servant with him
and a couple of asses: and she brought
him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him
he
rejoiced to meet him.
Friendly — To
offer her pardon and reconciliation.
Verse 12
[12] And
his master said unto him
We will not turn aside hither into the city of a
stranger
that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
A stranger —
That is
of a strange nation: which the Canaanites possess; for though the city
Jerusalem had been taken by Caleb
chap. 1:8
yet the strong fort of Zion was still in
their hands
whence it is likely they did much molest
and afterwards by God's
permission
drive out the Israelites who dwelt there.
Verse 15
[15] And they turned aside thither
to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when
he went in
he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that
took them into his house to lodging.
To lodge —
Though they were soft and effeminate in other respects
yet they were
hard-hearted to strangers
and at that time there were no public-houses in that
country.
Verse 16
[16] And
behold
there came an old man from his work out of the field at even
which was
also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place
were Benjamites.
Ephraim —
Whence also the Levite was
which enclined him to shew the more kindness to his
country-man.
Benjamites —
This was indeed one of the cities belonging to the priests; but the cities
which were given to the priests
and whereof they were owners
were not
inhabited by the priests or Levites only
especially at this time when they
were but few in number
but by many other persons of different professions.
Verse 18
[18] And
he said unto him
We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount
Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah
but I am now going to
the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.
House of the Lord —
Which was in Shiloh. Thither he went
either because he lived there
for that
was in the tribe of Ephraim; or
rather
because he would there offer prayers
and praises
and sacrifices to God
for his mercy in reconciling him and his
wife.
Verse 20
[20] And
the old man said
Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me;
only lodge not in the street.
Let all
… — It
matters not whether thou wantest nothing or everything
I will take care to
supply all thy wants.
Verse 21
[21] So
he brought him into his house
and gave provender unto the asses: and they
washed their feet
and did eat and drink.
Washed — As
they used to do to travellers in those hot countries.
Verse 22
[22] Now
as they were making their hearts merry
behold
the men of the city
certain
sons of Belial
beset the house round about
and 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.
Merry —
That is
refreshing themselves with the provisions set before them.
Sons of belial —
Children of the devil
wicked and licentious men.
Verse 23
[23] And
the man
the master of the house
went out unto them
and said unto them
Nay
my brethren
nay
I pray you
do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come
into mine house
do not this folly.
Into my house —
And therefore I am obliged to protect him by the laws of hospitality.
Verse 26
[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 was
till it was light.
Fell down —
Namely
dead; killed partly with grief of heart
and partly with excessive
abuse. Thus the sin she formerly chose
verse 2
is now her destruction; and though her
husband pardoned her
God would punish her
at least as to this life.
Verse 29
[29] And
when he was come into his house
he took a knife
and laid hold on his
concubine
and divided her
together with her bones
into twelve pieces
and
sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
Sent — By
several messengers
with a relation of the fact.
Verse 30
[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 your minds.
Speak —
Let us meet together
and seriously consider
and every one freely speak what
is to be done in this case.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Judges》
19 Chapter 19
Verses 1-30
Whither goest thou?
and whence comest thou?
The past and the future
These two questions were usually proposed of old to the
traveller
by the inhabitants of any district through which he might be
passing; nor were they unnatural in a state of society wherein the infrequency
of journeying must have rendered the appearance of a stranger a matter of
curiosity
and where
owing to the want of houses of public entertainment
hospitality was an important and necessary duty. What are we all
in truth
but
wayfaring men--journeying towards a city of habitation? We are
like this
Levite
sojourners passing through the streets--guests that tarry but a night
and who require only a temporary shelter. Whence come we? and whither are we
going?
1. The former of these questions
if generally considered
might be
answered by remembering that we have no reason to vaunt of our origin
since
that is but of yesterday
and of the earth. “Why is dust and ashes proud?“ If a
recollection of our lowly origin might thus subdue the imperious
and
liberalise the selfish
a sense of our sinful extraction ought in no less measure
to abase the self-dependent. “Whence come we?” Some among us have come from the
suffering of affliction. Have we been purified in that furnace? Has the storm
pelting on the wayfaring man
accelerated his homeward pace? Others have come
from experiencing remarkable instances of the Divine mercy. They have come from
some of the smooth plots of greensward
the isles of palm-trees in the waste.
How have they profited by the blessing? Have they thanklessly attributed their
success to good fortune
or boldly to their own arm
instead of acknowledging
the hand of the Father of lights? Have they tithed the bounty to poverty and
distress?
2. It has been said (though the remark is a quaint conceit) that the
heathen deity Janus
from whom the first month in our year derives its name
was described in the ancient mythology as having two faces
the one looking on
the past
and the other on the future. But there hardly needs so fanciful an
allusion as this to advance our contemplations from the irrevocable past to the
solemn future. On that future let us next direct our forethought
turning our
attention from our origin to our destination
“Whither goest thou?” We are
travelling in a circle. We are hastening back to the earth
from whence we
proceeded. Dust we are
and unto dust we shall return.
3. Place now these two questions together; view the line of life from
its commencement to its termination; consider the past with reference to the
future
and the future as a continuation of the past. If there be any who have
arrived at the present season from a year
or a life
which they can review
only with shame and sorrow--who
to the question
“Whence comest thou? “ can
only reply
like Satan to Jehovah
“We come from going to and fro in the earth
and from wandering up and down in it”--let them think of the end of those
hitherto squandered days
to which they are ever speeding
and know not how
near they are come
that they may
if possible
redeem the time that is past
and improve that which is passing. (J. Grant
M. A.)
Let all thy wants be upon
me.
Helping others
1. This old man’s practice commends to us a double duty: the one that
we should be ready to remove grief from our brethren
and to quiet their
troubled minds as we may. For grief and heaviness do much hinder the mind from
doing any duty; especially they being deeply seated in the heart
and turbulent
passions of themselves
and therefore the easing it of them is a setting of it
at liberty.
2. The second duty we learn is more particularly the duty of
hospitality; which as far as need required he did unto this Levite. The like
kindness is to be showed by us to strangers sad in heart
being known to be
brethren
that they be used of us kindly and in all courtesy
but in no wise to
grieve them
being already heavy-hearted. (R. Rogers.)
Consider of it
take
advice
and speak your minds.--
Deliberation
I. There are some
actions so shocking that all men do
upon the first hearing of them
without
taking time to consider
without asking the opinion of others
unanimously agree
to condemn them. Now
amongst those truths which do thus gain our assent upon
the first view I think we may justly reckon those judgments which we form
concerning the essential differences of moral good and evil. For our sight is
not more quick in discerning the variety of figures and colours
nor more taken
with the beauty of some
or displeased with the deformity of others; the nicest
ear hath not a more distinct perception of the harmony or discord of sounds;
nor doth the most delicate palate more accurately distinguish tastes than our
intellectual faculties do apprehend the plain distinction between right and
wrong
honest and dishonest
good and evil
and find an agreeableness and
satisfaction in the one
a disagreeableness and dissatisfaction in the other.
And it is for very wise and good reasons that God hath so formed our faculties
that concerning such actions as are extraordinary in either kind
such as are extremely good or
extremely wicked
all men should be able to judge thus readily and thus truly.
For
in human life
it often happens that an occasion is given us of doing some
great good
or a temptation laid before us to commit some great evil
when
there is no leisure allowed us of entering into a long deliberation
in which
cases it is necessary that we should act according to our present light; and
therefore by Providence wisely ordered that we should enjoy such open daylight
that there should be no danger of our stumbling. By this method God hath made
the same wholesome provision for the security of our souls as He hath done for
preserving the health of our bodies. To such meats as might prove noxious to
us
and being once taken down
digested
and mingled with the mass of our blood
might quickly destroy our lives
we have often so strong an antipathy that we
refrain from them merely on account of this natural aversion
without
considering the mischievous consequences
that might arise from our indulging ourselves in them; and in the like manner
those sins which carry with them the greatest malignity
and which are most
perilous to the souls of men
do create in our minds an utter abhorrence.
II. Although such
actions do at the first view appear very odious
yet in order to confirm or
rectify our first judgments it is proper to consider them farther
and to take
in the advice of others
When a thing appears crooked to the eye upon the first
view
we cannot but pay so much deference to the testimony of our senses as to
presume it such; but because this appearance may sometimes proceed from a defect
in the organ
and not from any real crookedness in the object
for our better
satisfaction we measure it by a rule
and then pronounce with more certainty
concerning it. And the same method we ought to observe in judging of moral
actions; if they
at the first sight
appear notoriously wicked
we cannot but
entertain a violent suspicion of their being such; but because this appearance
may arise from some corruption of our judgment
when there is no obliquity in
the actions themselves
the best way to prevent all possibility of error will
be to examine them by the only infallible test
the law of God. But this
sentence will carry still more weight if we do not depend too much upon our own
judgments
but call in the advice of others. Men are so apt to differ in their
opinions
and take so great a delight in contradicting each other
that those
truths must carry with them a more than ordinary degree of evidence in which
all or most men do agree. He who considers what a wide difference there is in
the ways of men’s thinking and judging
from the difference of their
complexions
tempers
education
character
profession
age
religion
and
other innumerable specialities by which they are distinguished one from
another
and disposed to form very different judgments concerning the same
persons or things
will not be surprised to find that several men do seldom
concur in the verdict which they pass upon those actions that fall within their
observation. Some speculative truths there are in which the interests of men
being not at all concerned all may unanimously agree; some rules of life there
may be
though these much fewer than the other
which most men may join in the
approbation of; some virtues and vices which
considered abstractedly and
without regard to persons
they may agree to praise or to condemn
but when
they come to judge of actions
not as they are in idea and theory
but as they
are in reality and fact
nor as they are in books
but as they are performed by
such and such men
here several things will offer themselves to influence and
bias their judgments. When
therefore
notwithstanding there are so many and
strong obstacles to hinder men from concurring in their opinions
any actions
are condemned by a general consent
this unanimity of judgment is
though not a
demonstrative proof
yet a very strong presumption
that such actions are
notoriously wicked
and in reality such as they do universally appear.
III. When any
actions do
both at the first view and also upon farther inquiry
appear very
flagitious
we should then
without any reserve
openly and freely speak our
minds concerning them. A mark of infamy hath
by the universal consent of all
civilised nations
been set upon some actions
tending either to the great
disparagement of human nature
or to the great disturbance of civil societies
that a sense of shame and fear of disgrace might be powerful curbs to restrain
men from doing such vile things as would be sure to stain their reputations
and to fix an
indelible blot of ignominy upon their memories. The greatest mischief that can
possibly be done to the souls of men is to discourage them from doing their
duty by speaking evil of what God hath commanded
and to encourage them in the
commission of sin by speaking well of what God hath condemned
and therefore a
woe is justly denounced by the prophet Isaiah against those who call good evil
and evil good. But the interests of virtue and piety are also very much
endamaged by those who
though they do not go so far as to call evil good
do
yet
by a criminal silence
forbear to call it evil; and therefore those
priests are accused by God of violating His laws and profaning His holy things
who put no difference between the holy and profane
neither show the difference
between the clean and the unclean. (Bp. Smalridge.).
──《The Biblical Illustrator》