Judges 19:9

Jdg 19:9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.

Ver. 9. And when the man rose up to depart.] As home is homely; neither is there any perfume so sweet to a traveller as his own smoke.

The day draweth toward evening.] Heb., Is weak and remiss.

The day groweth to an end.] Mansio diei, the sun is hastening to his lodging; for so it seemeth to do when it setteth.

Lodge here, that thine heart may be merry.] This importunity was an incivility. Homer’s rule in this case is very good:

“Cρη ξεινον παρεοντα φιλειν, εθελοντα δε πεμπειν.”

Show your stranger all courtesy while he is willing to stay, but send him away timeously, when desirous to be gone.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, is weak.

Or, the day lodgeth.

To wit, to the town or city where he dwelt.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the day draweth toward evening--Hebrew, "the pitching time of day." Travellers who set out at daybreak usually halt about the middle of the afternoon the first day, to enjoy rest and refreshment. It was, then, too late a time to commence a journey. But duty, perhaps, obliged the Levite to indulge no further delay.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. The day groweth to an end] חנות היום chanoth haiyom, "the day is about to pitch its tent;" that is, it was near the time in which travellers ordinarily pitched their tents, to take up their lodging for the night.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) The day draweth toward evening.—Literally, is weak, or has slackened to evening. The father had purposely detained the Levite till late, in the hopes of inducing him to spend one more night under his roof. The forms of Eastern politeness would render it difficult for the Levite to resist these importunities.

The day groweth to an end.—Literally, it is the bending or declining of the day, not, as in the margin of our version, “the pitching time of the day.”

Home.—Literally, to thy tent, which may be something more than a mere reminiscence of the earlier stage of the national existence. (Comp. “To your tents, O Israel,” 1Ki_12:16, &c.) The Levite is conscious that if the father has been too pressing he has himself been too self-indulgent, and too fond of good living. “His experience is that of all weak and vacillating people: first, unnecessary delay, and then overstrained hurry.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. Behold, now the day draweth toward evening … behold, the day groweth to an end] lit. the day sinks to become evening … the camping-time (?) of the day. The doubling of phrases points to a conflation of sources, while the phrases themselves are too high-flown for a prose narrative. Some mss. of the LXX read Behold, the day is declined (Jdg_19:8) toward evening, lodge thou here to-day also. Probably this is nearer to the original.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine, and his servant,.... Rose up from table, having comfortably refreshed themselves:

his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, behold, now the day draweth towards evening; or is "remiss", or "weak" (n); that is, the heat, light, and strength of the sun abated, and became weaker and more remiss, as it does the more it declines, and is nearer setting:

I pray you tarry all night; suggesting, it was a very improper time to set out in on a journey:

behold, the day groweth to an end; or "behold, it is the encampment of the day" (o), when the day or sun seems to be pitching its tent, and going to rest; or it being the time when an army on the march stops and pitches their tents, in order to continue all night; or when men go to their tents and habitations, and lie down and take their rest:

lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and let us have another pleasant evening together, which cannot be had in an inn upon the road; you cannot be comfortable there, as here, and therefore be persuaded to stay, since it is not possible to get home tonight:

and tomorrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home; to thy city, as the Targum; signifying, that he should not insist upon their staying any longer, and then they might set out on their journey as soon as they pleased.

(n) "debilitata est", Pagninus, Vatablus; "remissus est", Junius & Tremellius. (o) "castrametatio diei", Drusius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This is a perfect picture of the manners of the time. It is probable that the father showed more than usual hospitality, in order to ensure the kind treatment of his daughter by her husband. These particulars are given to account for their journey running so far into the evening, which was the immediate cause of the horrible catastrophe which followed.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Depart. Hebrew and Septuagint add, "early," before the sun was up to render travelling incommodious. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The day groweth to an end, Heb. it is the encamping time of the day, i.e. the evening, when armies having marched in the day, begin to pitch their camp; or, when the sun that makes the day begins to encamp himself and go toward rest; so it is a poetical expression taken from hence, that the sun, when he sets, seems to vulgar eyes to go to rest.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Draweth toward evening. The Hebrew phrase, which is uncommon, is, The day is slackening to become evening, i.e. the heat and the light of the day are becoming slack and weak, and evening is coming on. The day groweth to an end. Another unusual phrase; literally, Behold the declining of the day, or, as some render it, the encamping of the day, as if the sun after his day"s journey was now pitching his tent for the night. Go home. Literally, to thy tent, as in Jud_1:20:8. So the phrase, To your tents, O Israel, means, Go home. (see 1Ki_12:16, etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When at length he rose up, with his concubine and his attendant, to go away, the father entreated his daughter once more: "Behold the day has slackened to become evening, spend the night here! Behold the declining of the day, spend the night here," etc. חנות inf. of חנה, to bend, incline. The interchange of the plural and singular may be explained from the simple fact that the Levite was about to depart with his wife and attendant, but that their remaining or departing depended upon the decision of the man alone. But the Levite did not consent to remain any longer, but set out upon the road, and came with his companions to before Jebus, i.e., Jerusalem, which is only two hours from Bethlehem (compare Rob. Pal. ii. 375 and 379). עד־נכח, to before Jebus, for the road from Bethlehem to Shiloh went past Jerusalem.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

now the day is advancing toward evening

"the day is almost over" or "it is almost evening"

translationWords

Levi

concubine

servant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Has waned. The sun [has waned] from full strength, and has begun setting.

It is the time of day for encamping. The time when all travellers turn in to encamp indoors.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.