Judges 19:1 - Meaning and Application

The Levite’s family matters are told at length only to prepare for the wrongs that follow. In that sad story, the whole nation is involved. Bishop Hall noticed that when Israel had no good public order, a Levite was always somewhere at the center, either doing wrong or suffering it. In Micah’s idolatry, a Levite was active. In the wickedness of Gibeah, a Levite was helplessly involved. No tribe felt the lack of government sooner than Levi, and in all Judges, these are the only two Levites mentioned.

This Levite lived in Mount Ephraim (Judges 19:1). He had married a woman from Bethlehem-Judah. She is called his concubine because she was not given the full rights of a wife, perhaps because he had no property to give her, since he was only staying there as a resident and not settled. Still, the margin calls her a wife, and the text leaves room for that view. She came from the same town as Micah’s Levite, as if Bethlehem-Judah had given Mount Ephraim two bad connections, one after another.

First, this Levite’s concubine was unfaithful and left her husband (Judges 19:2). The Chaldee version says only that she treated him badly or despised him, and then left him. He was upset by this, and she went back to her father’s house, where she was welcomed. If her husband had wrongly driven her out, her father should have shown pity. But if she had abandoned her husband to cling to another man, her father should not have supported her sin. Parents often help bring ruin on their children by being too indulgent.

Second, the Levite himself went to win her back. This showed that there was no king or judge in Israel, because otherwise she would have been brought to justice as an adulteress. Instead, her injured husband took a long trip to speak kindly to her and ask for peace (Judges 19:3). If he had sent her away, it would have been wrong for him to take her back, as in Jeremiah 3:1. But since she had left him, it was a good thing for him to forgive her and take the first step toward reconciliation. Wisdom from above is gentle and easy to reason with. He spoke to her kindly, or, as the Hebrew phrase means, he spoke to her heart. This suggests that she was sorrowful and sorry for what she had done, which he likely learned before he came for her. God uses similar language about faithless Israel in Hosea 2:14, saying that He would bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.

Third, her father welcomed him warmly and did all he could to repair the harm he had helped cause by giving his daughter support after she left her husband. He wanted to strengthen the Levite’s willingness to be reconciled to her. He received him gladly, rejoiced to see him, and treated him generously for three days (Judges 19:4). The Levite, to show full forgiveness, accepted the kindness and did not reproach either the father or the daughter for the wrong that had been done. He was as calm and pleasant as on his wedding day. Everyone, especially those who serve God, should forgive as God forgives.

Everything looked hopeful for their life together, but if they had known what would happen within a day or two, their joy would have turned to grief. When family life seems safest, we should still rejoice with caution, because we do not know what trouble the next day may bring. We cannot see what danger is close by, but we should remember that it may be near. Then we will not be careless, as if tomorrow must surely be better than today (Isaiah 56:12).

Her father also urgently wanted him to stay longer, as another sign of welcome. His affection came partly from family ties, since the Levite was now his son-in-law and part of his household. Love and duty are owed to those joined to us by marriage as well as to our blood relatives. Those who show kindness like this Levite did may expect kindness in return. His affection also came from respect for the Levite as a servant of God’s house. If the Levite was the kind of Levite he ought to have been, then the father deserved credit for wanting his company, enjoying his conversation, and hoping to learn from him more about the Lord. He likely also hoped that the Lord would bless him because he had a Levite in his family.

The father pressed him to stay through the fourth day, and that was kind, since he did not know when they might meet again. The Levite, though well treated, was eager to leave. A good man’s heart is where his duty is, for a man who wanders away from his place is like a bird wandering from its nest. It usually shows either that a man has little to do at home or little desire to do what he should do at home when he enjoys staying long where he has no work. It is especially fitting to see a Levite willing to return to his place, even if it was only to a small flock in the wilderness. Yet this Levite gave in to their urging and stayed longer than he planned (Judges 19:5-7). We should avoid being too easily swayed and neglecting duty, but we should also avoid stubbornness that ignores the kindness of friends. After his resurrection, our Savior was persuaded to stay longer with his friends than He first seemed ready to do (Luke 24:28-29).

Her father then pressed him to stay until the afternoon of the fifth day, and that proved unkind, as events showed (Judges 19:8-9). He would not let him leave before dinner and promised an early meal, intending, as on the previous day, to keep him another night. But the Levite was eager to get to the house of the Lord at Shiloh (Judges 19:18), and because he was impatient to arrive, he would stay no longer. If they had started early, they might have found a safer place to sleep, and perhaps even reached Shiloh. We often find that what friends plan as kindness turns out, in the end, to be a real harm. What is meant for our good can become a trap. Who knows what is truly best for a man in this life? The Levite was unwise to leave so late. He might have reached home more safely if he had stayed one more night and traveled the next day.

On the way home, they had to spend the night at Gibeah, a city in Benjamin, later known as Gibeah of Saul. It lay on their road toward Shiloh and Mount Ephraim. As evening came on and the shadows lengthened, they had to think, as we should too, about where they would stay the night. Once darkness fell, they could not go on. People who walk in darkness do not know where they are going, and the night is meant for rest, just as the day is meant for work.

The servant suggested that they lodge in Jebus, later Jerusalem, which was still held by the Jebusites, the old Canaanite inhabitants. He said, “Let us stop in this city of the Jebusites” (Judges 19:11). If they had done that, they would likely have been treated better than they were in Gibeah of Benjamin. Corrupt Israelites are often worse, and more dangerous, than the Canaanites themselves. But the master, as a man from God’s own tribe, would not stay, even for one night, in a city of strangers (Judges 19:12). He did not refuse because he doubted his safety there, but because he did not want, if he could avoid it, to grow too familiar with them or depend on them for hospitality. By avoiding Jebus, he showed his protest against the wickedness of those who made friends with these doomed nations. Israelites, and especially Levites, should keep company with Israelites, not with the sons of the stranger.

They passed by Jebus, which was about five or six miles from Bethlehem, where they had come from, and since they could not reach Ramah before dark, they stopped at Gibeah (Judges 19:13-15). There they sat in the street, and no one offered them a place to stay. At that time, there were no inns or public houses in those lands like the ones we have now, where travelers can pay for lodging and meals. People carried their own supplies, as this Levite did (Judges 19:19), and they depended on the kindness and hospitality of local people. We should thank God for this comfort of travel, among others, that there are inns where strangers may be received and cared for for their money. Surely there is no country in the world where it is more pleasant to stay at home or more comfortable to travel than our own.

This traveler was a Levite, and God had especially commanded his people to show kindness to men of that tribe. Yet he found a very cold welcome at Gibeah. No one took them into his house. If the people there knew he was a Levite, that may have made those bad men even more unwilling to help him. Some will have to answer for this at the great day: “I was a stranger, and you did not take me in.”