Judges 19:26

Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) Then came the woman. . . .—It would be scarcely possible to enhance the depth of pathos and of horror which the sacred writer throws into these simple words. If to the wretched woman punishment had come in the guise of her sin (Wisdom Of Solomon 11:16, “that they might know that wherewithal a man sinneth, by the same also shall he be punished”) which had been the prime cause of the whole catastrophe, the Levite was punished both for his condonation of an offence which could not be condoned, and for the unmanly cowardice or heartless self-absorption which could alone have rendered it possible for him to accept personal safety at such a price.

Benson Commentary

Jdg 19:26. Then came the woman, and fell down, &c. — Namely, dead; killed partly with grief of heart, and partly with excessive abuse. Thus the sin she formerly chose, (Jdg 19:2,) is now her destruction; and though her husband pardoned her, God would punish her, at least as to this life.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:7-13 Micah thought it was a sign of God's favour to him and his images, that a Levite should come to his door. Thus those who please themselves with their own delusions, if Providence unexpectedly bring any thing to their hands that further them in their evil way, are apt from thence to think that God is pleased with them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This man is come into mine house - He appeals to the sacred rights of hospitality, just as Lot did Genesis 19:8. Both cases betray painfully the low place in the social scale occupied by woman in the old world, from which it is one of the glories of Christianity to have raised her.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jud 19:22-28. The Gibeahites Abuse His Concubine to Death.

22-24. certain sons of Belial beset the house—The narrative of the horrid outrage that was committed; of the proposal of the old man; the unfeeling, careless, and in many respects, inexplicable conduct of the Levite towards his wife, disclose a state of morality that would have appeared incredible, did it not rest on the testimony of the sacred historian. Both men ought to have protected the women in the house, even though at the expense of their lives, or thrown themselves on God's providence. It should be noted, however, that the guilt of such a foul outrage is not fastened on the general population of Gibeah.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Fell down, to wit, dead, as the following words show, and as that word is oft used, as Exodus 19:21 Psalm 82:7 91:7 Hosea 5:5; killed, partly with grief of heart, and partly with excessive abuse of her body, of which there have been divers instances. Thus the sin she formerly chose, Judges 19:2, is now her destruction; and though her husband and pardoned her, God would punish her, at least as to this life.

Her lord; so he is called, either because he was her husband; for which cause Sarah called Abraham lord, 1 Peter 3:6; or because she had been his maid-servant, as concubines oftentimes were; as Genesis 30:3,9.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then came the woman in the dawning of the day,.... When those wicked wretches who had abused her had left her, having had her from place to place, at some distance from the house out of which she was put, and to which she got again, as well as she could:

and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was; her husband, so called, not because she had been his servant, but because she was his wife; and at the door of the old man's house, where he was, which she knew, and had found out by one means or another; she fell down, either purposely for her ease, and to lie and wait there, until the time of opening the door in the morning; or rather through weakness, not being able to stand, nor so much as to knock at the door to get admittance: and there she lay

till it was light; broad daylight.

Geneva Study Bible

Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and {i} fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.

(i) She fell down dead, as in Jud 19:27.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 26. - Till it was light, or, as the words may mean, at daylight. Judges 19:26

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When the morning drew on (i.e., at the first dawn of day), the woman fell down before the door of the house in which אדוניה, "her lord," i.e., her husband, was, and lay there till it was light, i.e., till sunrise.