Judges 19:16-21

Judges 19:16-21

[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:  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,  thou? and whence  comest  [18] And he said  unto him, We are passing  from Bethlehemjudah  toward the side  of mount  Ephraim;  to Bethlehemjudah,  but I am now going  to the house  of the LORD;  and there is 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  which is with thy servants:  there is no want  of any thing.  [20] And the old  man  said,  Peace  be with thee; howsoever  let all thy wants  lie upon me; only lodge  not in the street.  [21] So he brought  him into his house,  unto the asses:  and they washed  their feet,  and did eat  and drink. 

What does Judges 19:16-21 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The old man who took the Levite and his traveling companions in for the night evidently had moved to Gibeah temporarily, perhaps as a farm laborer ( Judges 19:16; cf. Judges 19:23; Genesis 19:9). The contrast between this stranger"s hospitality and the Gibeahites" lack of it stands out in the text. The writer of Judges used a tragicomic literary style to emphasize the terrible moral and spiritual climate in Israel at this time. [1] One wonders if the men of Gibeah knew that the Levite was a Levite. Was their refusal to grant him shelter as a servant of Yahweh a deliberate act of disrespect for the Lord? Judges 19:19 shows that there was no reason for the Gibeahites to refuse the Levite hospitality.
Beginning with Judges 19:21 this story begins to sound like a replay of what happened to Lot in Sodom (cf. Genesis 19:1-3). Gibeah proved to be New Sodom. [2]