Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 19:28
And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her [up] upon an ass, and the man rose up, and got him unto his place.
28. The sheer brutality of the Levite’s words prepares us for his savage appeal for vengeance.
but none answered ] The LXX spoils the effect by adding for she was dead. Josephus tries to palliate it: ‘her husband thought that she was overcome by deep sleep,’ Ant. Jdg 19:2; Jdg 19:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
None answered; for she was dead, as is said, Jdg 20:5.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said unto her, up, and let us be going,…. He spoke to her as supposing her asleep, in order to awake her, and prepare for their journey with all the haste they could, lest greater mischief should befall them:
but none answered; for she was dead; and her death was occasioned, as Josephus w says, partly through grief at what she had suffered, and partly through shame, not daring to come into the sight of her husband; but chiefly through the injuries done her by the number of persons that had lain with her: so it is reported x of the Thessalonians, when they took Phocis, many women were destroyed through the abundance of rapes committed upon them. To these Abarbinel adds, the cold of the night, being without her clothes, or anything to cover her:
then the man took her up upon an ass; and carried off her dead body, without making any remonstrance to the inhabitants, from whom he could not expect that any justice would be done him:
and the man rose up, and got him unto his place; to his city on one side Mount Ephraim, to which he made as much haste as he could, instead of going to the house of God at Shiloh, as he proposed; for now the circumstances of things were changed with him, and instead of sacrificing and giving praise to God in his house, his business was to seek for justice from the tribes of Israel.
w Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8.) x Herodot. Urania, sive, l. 8. c. 33.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(28) But none answered.The sacred writer, in his horror, will not say that she was dead.
Upon an ass.Rather, the ass, which had borne her while she was living. The omission of every detail, the narration of the naked facts in the simplest words, without pausing to say so much as a single word respecting the Levites or the old mans feelings, is a striking example of the difference of the historic method of ancient and modern times.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 19:28 a
‘And he said to her, “Up, and let us be going.” But there was no answer.’
He thought that she was sleeping and spoke to her to wake her and let her know that they were leaving this dreadful place. But the callousness of his words are probably intended to remind us of her position. Or possibly they were said gently and with compassion.
However, when there was no answer, the Levite realised with unbelievable bitterness in his heart what had happened. She was dead. They had killed her. What she had suffered had been too much for her and her heart had given way. And the beasts who had raped her had gone back to their houses, also unaware of what they had finally done, and unaware too of the vengeance they had brought on themselves.
Had she lived that might have been the end of the affair. A lesson learned, an experience endured which was no doubt experienced by many travellers, but life going on. But she died, and her death would have awful consequences.
Jdg 19:28 b
‘Then he took her up on the ass, and the man rose up and took himself to his place.’
There was no visit to the house of Yahweh. He had nothing now to give thanks for. So he carried off her dead body, without making any remonstrance to the inhabitants, from whom he could not expect any justice. But the demands for justice and vengeance were in his heart.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 19:28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her [up] upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.
Ver. 28. And he said unto her, Up. ] Little thinking she had been dead, but either asleep, or sick from ill-humour.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
an = the.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
But none: Jdg 20:5, 1Ki 18:29
Reciprocal: Jdg 4:14 – Up 1Sa 9:26 – Up
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
19:28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her [up] upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his {k} place.
(k) Meaning, home to mount Ephraim.