Bible Strands
Judges 19:25
But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Levite acts after his host's failed plea to protect his guest, handing his concubine to the hostile mob at night. The men of the city reject his warning and seize her instead.
The words — The Hebrew אָב֤וּ ('a.Vu) literally means "they were willing," describing the mob's refusal to heed the host's warning. The phrase בְּ/פִ֣ילַגְשׁ֔/וֹ (be./Fi.lag.Sh/o) literally translates to "on his concubine," marking the Levite's transfer of her to the attackers.
The thread — This narrative of unchecked violence and moral collapse parallels the sensuality and impurity described in Ephesians 4:19. It also echoes the breakdown of covenant relationships and divine judgment seen in Jeremiah 5:7.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how quickly hospitality and justice collapse when a community abandons moral restraint. It asks the reader to confront the consequences of yielding to depravity without offering comfort or excuse.
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
But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 4:19 Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.
- Genesis 4:1 And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
- Jeremiah 5:7 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
- Hosea 7:4 They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough.
- Hosea 9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
- Hosea 10:9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?