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Judges
Chapter 19
{Suffering
Caused by the Rejection of Authority}
1~~And
it came to pass in those days,
when
there was no king in Israel {no authority},
that
there was a certain Levite
sojourning
on the side of mount Ephraim,
who
'took to him' a woman/wife {'ishshah}
{this woman is called 'concubine' but she is his wife though
RBT says she is much younger than himself - she came to him}
out
of Bethlehem-Judah.
{Note: This was before the age of Kings. This was before Saul. This was when Israel was a Theocracy - directly ruled by God through His Judges/Authorities. 'There was no king in the land' meant that God's Word was not honored in the land. Here the problem of no authority starts in Bethlehem.}
2~~And
his woman/wife played the whore out beyond him,
and
went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehem-Judah,
and
was there four whole months.
{Note: Apparently, he is older so she wanted to go out with the young men in the area. Apparently, the husband is very much in love with her and did not take a stand against her adultery. He had the absolute right to divorce her for her infidelity, but without authority all grace types suffer. It also would have been grace to recognize her free will to leave him, but he did not. He has a broken heart and is suffering and wants her back.}
3~~And
her husband arose,
and
went after her,
to
'speak to her heart'
{idiom meaning to speak to her soul - to speak friendly to her to
return to him - this is grace},
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.
4~~And
his father in law, the damsel's father,
'enjoyed
his company'/'retained him'.
And he abode with him three days.
So they did eat and drink, and lodged there.
{Note: The father-in-law recognized the greatness of this man and threw a great party for him that lasted 3 days.}
5~~And
it came to pass on the fourth day,
when
they arose early in the morning,
that
he rose up to depart.
And
the damsel's father said unto his son in law,
"Comfort
your heart/'right lobe' with a morsel of bread,
and
afterward go your way."
{idiom: we would say 'stay for breakfast first, then go'}
6~~And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together.
For
the damsel's father had said unto the man,
"Be
content, please/I pray you,
and
delay/tarry all night,
and
let your heart/'right lobe' be merry."
7~~And
when the man rose up to depart,
his
father in law urged him . . .
therefore
he lodged there again {staying now the 4th night}.
8~~And
he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart
and
the damsel's father said,
"Comfort
your heart, please/I pray you."
And
they delayed/tarried until afternoon,
and
they did eat both of them.
9~~And
when the man rose up to depart,
he,
and his 'young wife'/concubine,
and
his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him,
"Behold,
now the day draws toward evening,
please/I
pray you delay/tarry all night.
Behold,
the day grows to an end, lodge here,
that
your heart may be merry;
and
tomorrow get you early on your way,
that
you may go home."
10~~But
the man would not delay/tarry that night,
but
he rose up and departed {a late start},
and
came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem.
And
there were with him two asses saddled,
his
wife also was with him.
11~~And
when they were by Jebus,
the
day was far spent
and
the servant said unto his master,
"Come,
please/'I pray you',
and
let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it."
{Note: The Jebusites were heathens and very warlike people but they were also very hospitable (they controlled the area of Jerusalem for 400 years before David would, later from this point, end up taking it). He would have been safe in the city.}
{Husband's
Big Mistake}
12~~And
his master said unto him,
"We
will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger,
that
is not of the sons of Israel {bene Yisra'el}.
We will pass over to Gibeah."
{Note: Gibeah is one of the cities of the Benjamites. It is the city from which King Saul will come. It is also the city where Absalom started his revolution against his father, King David.}
13~~And
he said unto his servant,
"Come,
and let us draw near
to
one of these places to lodge all night . . .
in
Gibeah or in Ramah
{had yet to make up his mind for sure where}.
14~~And they passed on and went their way.
And
the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah,
which
belongs to Benjamin.
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 'city square' of the city . . .
for
there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.
{Note: He could not find anyone to take his band in, so he set up a campfire in the city square and was going to spend the night there.}
16~~And,
behold,
there
came an old man from his work out of the field
at
evening time {sun is going down},
who
was also of mount Ephraim.
And he sojourned/'living temporarily' in Gibeah.
But the men of the place were 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,
"Where
do you go and from where do you come?"
{a friendly greeting}
18-19~~And
he said unto him,
"We
are passing from Bethlehem-Judah
toward
the side of mount Ephraim . . . I am from there.
And
I went to Bethlehem-Judah, but I am now going
to
the house of Jehovah/God and there is no man
who
receives me to house
{no one offered this stranger any hospitality}. 19~~
Yet
there is both straw and provisions for our asses.
And
there is bread and wine also for me,
and
for your 'young wife'/'handmaiden'
{'your' is a polite way of talking' - they do not know each other},
and
for the young man which is with your servants.
There is no lack of anything."
20~~
And the old man said,
"
Greeting/'Peace be with you'.
However,
let all your needs lie upon me . . .
only
lodge not in the street."
{idiom: means greetings, please come to my house as my guest}
21~~So
he brought him into his house,
and
gave provisions unto the asses
and
they washed their feet,
and
did eat and drink.
22~~Now
as they were making their hearts merry
{they were having a good time},
behold,
certain men of the city . . . 'sons of Belial'/'sons of ruin'
{sons of Belial are not good - they have scar tissue on their souls},
beset
the house round about, and beat at the door,
and
spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying,
"Bring
forth the man that came into your house,
that
we may know him."
{means that they are homosexuals and want to sodomize the man}
23~~And
the man, the master of the house,
went
out unto them, and said unto them,
"No,
my brethren, no, please/'I pray you, do not so wickedly . . .
seeing
that this man is come into my house . . . do not this evil."
24~~"Behold,
here is my daughter . . . a virgin
and
his {the Levite's} paramour {piylegesh}
them
I will bring out now,
and
afflict you them
{means to rape and otherwise humiliate them},
and
do with them what seems good unto you . . .
but
to this man do not so vile a thing."
25~~But
the men would not listen to him.
So
the man {the Levite} took his paramour {piylegesh},
and
brought her forth unto them
and
they knew/raped her,
and
abused her all the night until the morning.
{this was gang rape of maybe 30 men}
And
when the day began to spring, they let her go.
{Note:
The old man did not protect his women. The Levite did not protect
his woman. When authority is rejected, there are no heroes and there
will be none in the next three chapters.}
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 {'adown} was . . . till it was light.
27~~And
her lord {'adown} rose up in the morning,
and
opened the doors of the house,
and
went out to go his way.
And,
behold, the woman his paramour {piylegesh}
was
fallen down at the door of the house
{he was leaving without her - but he discovered her outside the
house},
and
her hands were upon the threshold.
{Note: This so called man had grace and forgave his wife for her infidelities. Now, he has dropped so low, that he is going to sneak out without even looking for her! In the Hebrew it means she died here thinking of him! She was reaching out for him! (SideNote: The Hebrew is much worse than RBT would translate into English here).}
28~~And
he said unto her,
"Up,
and let us be going."
But
none answered.
{means all the onlookers also thought she was alive
so they had nothing to say}
Then
the man took her up upon an ass,
{he sat her dead body on the saddle}
and
the man rose up,
and
got him unto his home.
{Note: The Hebrew of this verse indicates that he knows she is dead. He is 'faking' like she is still alive so that HE can get out of the city alive himself!}
29~~And
when he was come into his house,
he
took a knife,
and
laid hold on his paramour {piylegesh},
and
cut her up . . . together with her bones . . . into twelve pieces,
and
sent her into all the coasts of Israel
{idiom for all the tribes of Israel}.
30~~And
it was so, that all who 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."
{this is the note that the Levite sent with all the twelve pieces of
his dead wife}
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