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Judges 19:23

in Judges 19

The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly.

KJV

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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This verse in Judges 19

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
This man is come into mine house - He appeals to the sacred rights of hospitality, just as Lot did Gen 19:8. Both cases betray painfully the low place in the social scale occupied by woman in the old world, from which it is one of the glories of Christianity to have raised her.

This site's exposition

do not do this wicked thing

on Judges 19:23-24

The old man answers as Lot did at Genesis 19:6 to 8, with “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing”, and then offers his own daughter in the guest's place. The narrator reports the offer and records neither approval nor rebuke. Both hosts defend the man under their roof, and both put forward against him a woman of their own household.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

LETTER 33 · Written before 397.

proposed

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.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But in one thing he conformed too far to Lot's example (as we are apt in imitating good men to follow them even in their false steps), in offering them his daughter to do what they would with.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Those that are guilty of it are ranked in the New Testament among the worst and vilest of sinners ( 1 Tim. i. 10 ), and such as shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi. Now, (1.) This was the sin of Sodom, and is thence called Sodomy.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

24 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֵּצֵ֣אand he went out

    vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • אֲלֵיהֶ֗םto them

    ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times

  • הָאִישׁ֙the man

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • בַּ֣עַל[the] master of

    baalH1167 →84 times

  • הַבַּ֔יִתthe house

    habayitH1004 →2046 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them

    ʾalehemH413 →5510 times

  • אַל־may [you] not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • אַחַ֖יO brothers my

    ʾachaiH251 →630 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תָּרֵ֣עוּyou do evil

    tareuH7489 →

  • נָ֑אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • אַ֠חֲרֵיafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־that

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • בָּ֞אhe has come

    ba'H935 →2568 times

  • הָאִ֤ישׁthe man

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • הַזֶּה֙<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • אַל־may [you] not

    ʾal-H413 →5510 times

  • בֵּיתִ֔יhouse my

    beitiH1004 →2046 times

  • אַֽל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תַּעֲשׂ֖וּyou do

    taasuH6213 →2628 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַנְּבָלָ֥הthe disgraceful folly

    hanevalahH5039 →13 times

  • הַזֹּֽאת׃<the> this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Samuel 13:12“No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!5 worksJudges 20:6Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.5 worksGenesis 34:7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.5 worksGenesis 19:6–7Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him.3 worksDeuteronomy 22:21she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.3 worksJoshua 7:15The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage in Israel.’”3 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Samuel 30:23But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.2 worksGenesis 19:7“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing!2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 22:21

    she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous…

    it leads to

    • Genesis 34:7

      When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that…

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Samuel 13:12–13

      “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Deuteronomy 13:5

      Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the…

  • Through

    2 Samuel 13:12

    “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

    it leads to

    • Judges 20:6

      Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • Leviticus 20:17

      If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of…

    • Leviticus 18:9

      You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.

  • Through

    Judges 20:6

    Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 7:15

      The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Judges 19:29

      When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.

About Judges

A Levite Finds a Woman's Corpse — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
A Levite Finds a Woman's Corpse — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 19 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 33; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 19 →