Judges 19:23

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
man	הָאִישׁ֙ ha.'Ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
master	בַּ֣עַל Ba.'al	H1167	a master · noun, common masculine singular construct
house	הַבַּ֔יִת ha.Ba.yit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
out	וַיֵּצֵ֣א vai.ye.Tze'	H3318	to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Nay	אַל 'al-	H408	not (the qualified negation · negative particle
brethren	אַחַ֖י 'a.Chai	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
wickedly	תָּרֵ֣עוּ ta.Re.'u	H7489	properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
seeing	אַ֠חֲרֵי 'A.cha.rei	H310	properly · cardinal number, masculine plural construct
man	הָאִ֤ישׁ ha.'Ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
come	בָּ֞א ba'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
house	בֵּיתִ֔י bei.Ti	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
do	תַּעֲשׂ֖וּ ta.'a.Su	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
folly	הַנְּבָלָ֥ה ha.ne.va.Lah	H5039	foolishness · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 34:7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought f…
Judges 20:6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committe…
2 Samuel 13:12 And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly.
Genesis 19:6-7 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
Deuteronomy 22:21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: be…
Joshua 7:15 And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgress…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 19:22–end

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 mean 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 sons of Belial, 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 h…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 19:22

THE GIBEAHITES ABUSE HIS CONCUBINE TO DEATH. (Jdg 19:22-28) certain sons of Belial beset the house--The narrative of the horrid outrage that was committed; of the proposal of the old man; the unfeeling, careless, and in many respects, inexplicable conduct of the Levite towards his wife, disclose a state of morality that would have appeared incredible, did it not rest on the testimony of the sacred historian. Both men ought to have protected the women in the house, even though at the expense of their lives, or thrown themselves on God's providence. It should be noted, however, that the guilt of such a foul outrage is not fastened on the general population of Gibeah.

John Gill on Judges 19:23

And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them,.... Opened the door, and went out to converse with them, and talked them after this manner: and said unto them, nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; it is plain he understood them in such sense, that they meant not bare knowledge of the man, as who he was, &c. but to commit wickedness the most abominable; so great, that it cannot be well said how great it is; and to dissuade from it, he uses the most tender language, and the most earnest entreaties: seeing this man is come into my house, do not this folly; he argues from the law of hospitality, which ought not to be infringed; a man being obliged to protect a stran…

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The Church Fathers

The old man, going out, begged them not to defile his guest's stay with a base crime, contemplating violation of a privilege reverenced even by savage nations of barbarous peoples; they could not insultingly mistreat a fellow tribesman of his, legitimately born, a married man, without causing wrath in their heavenly judge.
— Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 33

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Benjamin, The Tribe Of — The contrast between the warlike character of the tribe and the peaceful image of its progenitor comes out in many scattered notices. Benjamin was the only tribe which seems to have pursued archery…
Gibeah — A hill or hill-town, “of Benjamin” (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as “Gibeah of Saul” (11:4; Isa. 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite’s concubine which led to the…
Micah — A shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? (1.) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Judg. 17, apparently for the purpose of leading to an account of the settlement of…
Wise, wisdom — A moral rather than an intellectual quality. To be “foolish” is to be godless (Ps. 14:1; comp. Judg. 19:23; 2 Sam. 13:13). True wisdom is a gift from God to those who ask it (Job 28:12-28; Prov.…
Wolf — Heb. zeeb, frequently referred to in Scripture as an emblem of treachery and cruelty. Jacob’s prophecy, “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf” (Gen. 49:27), represents the warlike character of that tribe…
Gibeah · .The people’s wickedness — .The people’s wickedness
Lasciviousness · .The Gibeahites — .The Gibeahites
Rape · General references — General references
Travellers · Protected by those who entertained them — Protected by those who entertained them

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 19:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 19:22–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 19:22

John Gill on Judges 19:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Judges 19:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 19:22–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 19:22

John Gill on Judges 19:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 19:15–end

Rashi on Judges 19:22