Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 19:9
And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
9. Behold, now the day draweth toward evening behold, the day groweth to an end ] lit. the day sinks to become evening the camping-time ( ?) of the day. The doubling of phrases points to a conflation of sources, while the phrases themselves are too high-flown for a prose narrative. Some mss. of the LXX read Behold, the day is declined ( Jdg 19:8) toward evening, lodge thou here to-day also. Probably this is nearer to the original.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This is a perfect picture of the manners of the time. It is probable that the father showed more than usual hospitality, in order to ensure the kind treatment of his daughter by her husband. These particulars are given to account for their journey running so far into the evening, which was the immediate cause of the horrible catastrophe which followed.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. The day groweth to an end] chanoth haiyom, “the day is about to pitch its tent;” that is, it was near the time in which travellers ordinarily pitched their tents, to take up their lodging for the night.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The day groweth to an end, Heb. it is the encamping time of the day, i.e. the evening, when armies having marched in the day, begin to pitch their camp; or, when the sun that makes the day begins to encamp himself and go toward rest; so it is a poetical expression taken from hence, that the sun, when he sets, seems to vulgar eyes to go to rest.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. the day draweth towardeveningHebrew, “the pitching time of day.”Travellers who set out at daybreak usually halt about the middle ofthe afternoon the first day, to enjoy rest and refreshment. It was,then, too late a time to commence a journey. But duty, perhaps,obliged the Levite to indulge no further delay.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine, and his servant,…. Rose up from table, having comfortably refreshed themselves:
his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, behold, now the day draweth towards evening; or is “remiss”, or “weak” n; that is, the heat, light, and strength of the sun abated, and became weaker and more remiss, as it does the more it declines, and is nearer setting:
I pray you tarry all night; suggesting, it was a very improper time to set out in on a journey:
behold, the day groweth to an end; or “behold, it is the encampment of the day” o, when the day or sun seems to be pitching its tent, and going to rest; or it being the time when an army on the march stops and pitches their tents, in order to continue all night; or when men go to their tents and habitations, and lie down and take their rest:
lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and let us have another pleasant evening together, which cannot be had in an inn upon the road; you cannot be comfortable there, as here, and therefore be persuaded to stay, since it is not possible to get home tonight:
and tomorrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home; to thy city, as the Targum; signifying, that he should not insist upon their staying any longer, and then they might set out on their journey as soon as they pleased.
n “debilitata est”, Pagninus, Vatablus; “remissus est”, Junius & Tremellius. o “castrametatio diei”, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When at length he rose up, with his concubine and his attendant, to go away, the father entreated his daughter once more: “ Behold the day has slackened to become evening, spend the night here! Behold the declining of the day, spend the night here, ” etc. inf. of , to bend, incline. The interchange of the plural and singular may be explained from the simple fact that the Levite was about to depart with his wife and attendant, but that their remaining or departing depended upon the decision of the man alone. But the Levite did not consent to remain any longer, but set out upon the road, and came with his companions to before Jebus, i.e., Jerusalem, which is only two hours from Bethlehem (compare Rob. Pal. ii. 375 and 379). , to before Jebus, for the road from Bethlehem to Shiloh went past Jerusalem.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(9) The day draweth toward evening.Literally, is weak, or has slackened to evening. The father had purposely detained the Levite till late, in the hopes of inducing him to spend one more night under his roof. The forms of Eastern politeness would render it difficult for the Levite to resist these importunities.
The day groweth to an end.Literally, it is the bending or declining of the day, not, as in the margin of our version, the pitching time of the day.
Home.Literally, to thy tent, which may be something more than a mere reminiscence of the earlier stage of the national existence. (Comp. To your tents, O Israel, 1Ki. 12:16, &c.) The Levite is conscious that if the father has been too pressing he has himself been too self-indulgent, and too fond of good living. His experience is that of all weak and vacillating people: first, unnecessary delay, and then overstrained hurry.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 19:9 a
‘And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine, and his servant.’
Interestingly this is the first indication that we know that the concubine had agreed to go back with him, although the hospitality shown did suggest it. Night was now approaching and he wanted to be on his way as quickly as possible.
Jdg 19:9 b
‘His father-in-law, the damsel’s father, said to him, “See, the day now draws (literally ‘weakens’) towards evening, I pray you stay all night. Look, 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 (literally ‘to your tents’, a colloquialism).” ’
“The day weakens.” The sun’s heat and light were abating. ‘The day grows to an end.’ Literally the day was ‘making its encampment’ for the night. Once again his father in law suggested he stay the night. This had no doubt been his intention all along. And he tried to play on the fact of how much more attractive it would be to eat and drink the night away, rather than start on a journey as darkness approached, and find lodgings which would be far less comfortable. The day was ‘camping down’ for the night, why did he not do the same?
“And tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go to your tents.” His father-in-law realised that the Levite’s patience was now strained. There comes a time when too much hospitality can become an embarrassment. So he promised that he would let him go first thing the next day. ‘Go to your tents’ is probably not to be taken literally, unless he is hinting at the fact that for the next night or so they will have to tent out. It was probably an ancient phrase which meant ‘your home’, coming from a time when their tents were their homes.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 19:9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
Ver. 9. And when the man rose up to depart. ] As home is homely; neither is there any perfume so sweet to a traveller as his own smoke.
The day draweth toward evening.
The day groweth to an end.
Lodge here, that thine heart may be merry.
“ C , .”
Show your stranger all courtesy while he is willing to stay, but send him away timeously, when desirous to be gone.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the day: Luk 24:29
draweth: etc. Heb. is weak
the day groweth to an end: Heb. it is the pitching time of the day, Jer 6:4. That is, it was near the time in which travellers ordinarily pitched their tents, to take up their lodging for the night. In the latter part of the afternoon, eastern travellers begin to look out for a place for this purpose. So Dr. Shaw observes, “Our constant practice was to rise at break of day, set forward with the sun, and travel to the middle of the afternoon; at which time we began to look out for encampments of Arabs; who, to prevent such parties as ours from living at free charges upon them, take care to pitch in woods, valleys, or places the least conspicuous.”
to morrow: Pro 27:1, Jam 4:13, Jam 4:14
home: Heb. to thy tent
Reciprocal: Exo 18:27 – General Jdg 16:25 – their hearts Jdg 19:6 – let thine heart Rth 3:7 – his heart 2Sa 13:28 – heart is merry
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
19:9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go {c} home.
(c) That is, to the town or city where he lived.