Judges 20:5

Jdg 20:5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, [and] thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.

Ver. 5. And the men of Gibeah.] Some certain varlets there; not all the city, as once at Sodom. {Gen 19:4-5} But because these were not punished, but countenanced, all became guilty.

And thought to have slain me.] As they have done my concubine: {a} and perhaps they threatened to kill him, if he would not come forth, and be abused by them.

And my concubine have they forced.] The monks in Bohemia ravished a sister of that noble warrior, Zisca; in revenge whereof he took arms, overthrew three hundred monasteries, and did many more great exploits against the Papists there, and in other parts of Germany.

{a} i.e., Abuti me praepostera libidine usque ad mortem. - Val.

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.

Jdg 20:5-6. Slain me — Except I would either submit to their unnatural lust, which I was resolved to withstand even unto death, or deliver up my concubine to them, which I was forced to do. Lewdness and folly — That is, a lewd folly; most ignominious and impudent wickedness.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, chief, or lord.

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

(5) The men of Gibeah.—Literally, the lords of Gibeah, as in Jdg_9:2. We cannot infer that they were heathen inhabitants of the town, though they behaved as if they were. If the phrase implies that they were men in positions of authority, it perhaps shows why there was no rescue and little resistance. This is also probable, because there could not have been the same unwillingness to give up to justice a few lawless and insignificant offenders.

Thought to have slain me.—Obviously some circumstances of the assault have been omitted in Jdg_19:22-25. The Levite colours the whole story in the way most favourable to himself.

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

5. men of Gibeah] citizens of G.; cf. Jdg_9:2 n.

me they thought to have slain] See on Jdg_19:22. Their design on the young woman would naturally involve getting rid of her husband (cf. Gen_12:12).

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 the men of Gibeah rose against me,.... Not all of them, but some that dwelt in that city; he forbears giving them the character they justly deserved, sons of Belial. These came in a tumultuous and violent manner:

and beset the house round about upon me by night; that he might not make his escape, resolving if possible to get him into their hands, and do with him according to their will:

and thought to have slain me; their first intention was to commit the unnatural sin on him, and, if he resisted, to slay him; but this he modestly conceals, as being a sin not to be named in an assembly of saints; and besides he might say this, because he himself chose rather to be slain than to submit to their lust, which he knew must be the case upon his refusal and resistance; and even if he had yielded, being overpowered, this would have been the consequence, that he should have been abused even unto death, as his wife was:

and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead; or "afflicted", or "humbled" (d) her; which is a modest expression for carnal knowledge of her, and which they had to such excess that she died through it.

(d) "afflixerunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.

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

Kill me. He expressed an abominable crime by another less horrible. (Salien) --- But he does not say that he brought out his wife. He might conclude, that if he had been exposed to their fury, he would have experienced a similar fate. (Haydock) --- So determined was he to resist to the last extremity. The outrage would have been more hateful to him than death. (Calmet) --- We may reasonably conclude that his wife had the same sentiments, and that she died a martyr to her conjugal fidelity, resisting even unto death, and thus making some atonement for her past misconduct.

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).

Thought to have slain me; except I would either submit to their unnatural lust, which I was resolved to withstand even unto death; or deliver up my concubine to them, which I was forced to do.

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

And thought to have slain me. This was so far true that it is likely he was in fear of his life; but he doubtless shaped his narrative so as to conceal his own cowardice in the transaction. We have a similar example of an unfaithful narration of facts in the letter of Claudius Lysias to Felix. (Act_23:27) The men of Gibeah. The masters, as in Jud_1:9:2, meaning the citizens.

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

Slain me - Except I would either submit to their unnatural lust, which I was resolved to withstand even unto death: or deliver up my concubine to them, which I was forced to do.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

wickedness and outrage

The word "outrage" describes the "wickedness." AT: "outrageous wickedness" (See: Hendiadys)

Now

This word is used to introduce the conclusion of the speech of the Levite.

give your advice and counsel here

The words "advice" and "counsel" refer to the same thing and are repeated for emphasis. They can be combined. AT: "decide what we need to do about this" (See: Doublet)

translationWords

seize

concubine

Israel

inherit

evil

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

They thought they would murder me. They intended to murder me. "Apesment" in old French.

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.