Bible Strands
Judges 19:15
They stopped to go in and lodge in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one would take them into his home for the night.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records a traveling Levite and his companion arriving at Gibeah of Benjamin as evening approaches, seeking lodging but meeting absolute refusal from the city's residents.
The words — וַ/יָּסֻ֣רוּ (va/i.ya.Su.ru) literally means "and they turned aside" to mark their deliberate detour toward the city, while בִּ/רְח֣וֹב (bi/r.Chov) denotes the "open square" or public thoroughfare where the Levite sat waiting.
The thread — This explicit failure to provide lodging parallels the hospitality mandate in Hebrews 13:2 and the stranger-rejection theme in Matthew 25:43, while the Levite's own journey details are clarified in Judges 19:18.
Why it lands — The text plainly documents how civic indifference to travelers creates the conditions for moral collapse, requiring readers to assess their own practical willingness to shelter outsiders without exception.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.
Cross-references
- Judges 19:18 The Levite replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I am going to the house of the LORD; but no one has taken me into his home,
- Matthew 25:43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’
- Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
- Genesis 18:2 And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
- Genesis 19:2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
- Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,