Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 19:24
Behold, [here is] my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
24. The verse is clearly dependent on Gen 19:8, and, as Bertheau and Moore think, may be an addition to heighten the resemblance between the two situations. It does not really fit into the context; and his concubine is out of place in view of Jdg 19:25; while the Hebrew exhibits grammatical irregularities which raise a doubt as to the originality of the text. Reading Jdg 19:25 as the sequel of Jdg 19:23 the narrative becomes much more intelligible.
As it stands, the verse illustrates the extravagant lengths to which the duties of hospitality could be carried. To save his guest the master of the house is prepared to sacrifice his daughter. Pushed to this extreme, the code of honour becomes a sanction of dishonour. The writer, however, does not question the morality of the proceeding.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 24. Here is my daughter, a maiden] Such a proposal was made by Lot to the men of Sodom, Ge 19:8, but nothing can excuse either. That the rights of hospitality were sacred in the East, and most highly regarded we know; and that a man would defend, at the expense of his life, the stranger whom he had admitted under his roof, is true; but how a father could make such a proposal relative to his virgin daughter, must remain among those things which are incomprehensible.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He offers this to avoid a greater and more unnatural sin, which he thought they designed; but it seems they did not, their abuse being confined to the woman, and not extended to the man, who also was in their power, if they had lusted after him. But this offer was sinful, because he offered that which was not in his nor in the mans power to dispose of, even the chastity of his daughter, and the mans wife; and because no man must do any evil, though never so small, for the prevention of any evil of sin or misery, or for the procuring of the greatest good, Rom 3:8; though his sin was much mitigated by his ignorance, by his honest and generous intention of protecting a stranger, by the force which was in some sort put upon him, and by the suddenness and violence of the temptation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Behold, here is my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine,…. His own daughter, a virgin, and the concubine of the Levite his guest:
them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you; those he proposed to bring out, and deliver to them, to lie with, to do with as they pleased to gratify their raging lust, which to do was more than he ought, or had power to do: he had no right to prostitute his own daughter, and much less the concubine or wife of another man, though perhaps it might be with the consent of the Levite; but all this he said in a hurry and surprise, in a fright and terror, and of two evils choosing the least, and perhaps in imitation of Lot, whose case might come to remembrance:
but unto this man do not so vile a thing; as he apprehended that to be which they were desirous of, whether to kill him, as he himself says,
Jud 20:5 or to commit the unnatural sin, and which, rather than comply with, he should have chosen to have been slain.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(24, 25) Behold, here is my daughter . . .The main horror of these verses lies, and is meant to lie, in the nameless infamy to which these men had sunk, of whom we can only say,
Non ragionam di lor ma guarda passa.
But we must not omit to notice that the conduct of the old man and the Levite, though it is not formally condemned, speaks of the existence of a very rudimentary morality, a selfishness, and a low estimate of the rights and sacred dignity of women, which shows from what depths the world has emerged. If it was possible to frustrate the vile assault of these wretches in this way it must have been possible to frustrate it altogether. There is something terribly repulsive in the selfishness which could thus make a Levite sacrifice a defenceless woman, and that woman his wife, for a whole night to such brutalisation. The remark of St. Gregory is very weighty: Minus peccatum admittere ut gravius evitetur est a scelere victimas offerre Deo.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. Humble ye them This was a proposition most shocking to our Christian instincts, but far less revolting, though not blameless, in that ancient time. It was a thing that had not occurred before in Israel. The fact here related shows how degraded was woman’s condition even in ancient Israel. She was regarded principally as the object meant for man to gratify his sensual lust upon, and held well nigh the position of a slave to him. But was it strange when, even now, in Japan and other lands, it is a common custom for parents to sell their daughters to persons to be subjected to lives of prostitution? A Christian lady, writing from Yokohama, Japan, in August, 1871, says: “In the suburbs of this city my friend pointed out to me a square of native houses in which, he told me, the licensed prostitution of the city is carried on. The victims are the fairest, choicest young girls of the place. They are sold by their parents, and the more beautiful they are, the higher price they command. From eight hundred to a thousand were confined in that square; and this is only what is found in every city in this land.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“ Look, here is my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine. I will bring them out now and you may humble them and do with them what seems good to you. But do not any such folly to this man.”
It may seem incomprehensible to us that he should offer his own daughter, presumably a virgin, to their evil lusts, but the man he was defending was holy to the Lord and enjoying his hospitality. Beside that the women came a very poor second.
It is significant that the concubine was also his guest, and as a wife would surely be seen as more important than the male servant. Yet he offered both women to them. This suggests that the laws of hospitality in Israel were primarily applicable to men, and only to women as companions of the men. He possibly had in mind that at least with the women it would be natural sex, (we note he did not offer the male servant), and he would not therefore share their guilt for sodomy. They would hopefully survive it as the man probably would not. That Lot offered to do the same with his daughters demonstrates the general attitude of people then in such matters (Gen 19:8). This was a recognised solution in such circumstances. The men must be protected at all costs under the sacred laws of hospitality.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 19:24 Behold, [here is] my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
Ver. 24. Behold, here is my daughter. ] This was a rash and sinful offer, to prostitute his daughter and the concubine to their brutish and boundless lusts. God preserved the maiden from these impure petulant dogs. As for the concubine, one saith that she offered herself for the deciding of the controversy, and of her own accord, Messalina like, went forth to them. But that is not likely. See Jdg 19:25 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
vile
the matter of this folly.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Behold: The rites of hospitality are regarded as sacred and inviolable in the East, and a man who has admitted a stranger under his roof, is bound to protect him even at the expense of his life. On these high notions only, the influence of which an Asiatic mind alone can appreciate, can the present transaction be either excused or palliated.
them: Gen 19:8, Rom 3:8
humble ye: Gen 34:2, *marg. Deu 21:14
so vile a thing: Heb. the matter of this folly
Reciprocal: 2Sa 13:13 – Now therefore
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 19:24. Behold, here is my daughter, &c. The master of the house came at last to a resolution that it was less wickedness to prostitute the women to their lusts than the Levite. The dilemma to which he was reduced was indeed dreadful, nevertheless he is not to be justified in the proposal which he makes, no more than Lot was to be justified in a similar case, in offering his two daughters to satisfy the lusts of the men of Sodom. Although of two evils we must choose the less, yet, as we have there observed, of two sins we must choose neither, nor ever do evil that good may come.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
19:24 Behold, [here is] my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, {h} and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
(h) That is, abuse them, as in Gen 19:8.