Judges 19:23

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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The unnamed host steps outside to address the mob surrounding his door. He commands the gathered men to halt their intended violence against his guest.

The words — בַּ֣עַל הַ/בַּ֔יִת (Ba‘al habbayit) literally means "master of the house," identifying the speaker by his domestic authority. אַל־ (al-) functions as a prohibitive "do not," marking the host's urgent command to stop the proposed act.

The thread — The text links this mob's demand to the violation in Genesis 34:7 and the host's desperate bargain to the mutilation in Judges 20:6. The plea against violating a guest mirrors the warning in 2 Samuel 13:12.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that hospitality does not neutralize moral responsibility. It forces the reader to confront how cultural norms can be weaponized to justify atrocity.

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 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.

Cross-references

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 should not be done.
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.
2 Samuel 13:12 “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not violate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!
Genesis 19:6 Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him.
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 in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.
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 in Israel.’”