Verse 25:[1] But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they (Gen. 4:1) knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.
[He brought forth to them, etc., וַיַּחֲזֵק] He took hold of, or, apprehended (Pagnine, Munster, Junius and Tremellius, Drusius). He brought her forth, having taken hold of her, being unwilling, to save himself (Drusius, similarly Malvenda). For חָזַק signifies a strong apprehending, a hand placed upon one resisting, as it were (Malvenda). But why did not the old man deliver up his own daughter? Perhaps because his fellow citizens were not captivated by her form, to whom the wife of the Levite appeared exceedingly beautiful (Martyr).
The man took his concubine; being willing to expose her rather than the daughter of his host, who had expressed such a singular care and affection for him.
[Although they abused, וַיִּתְעַלְּלוּ־בָהּ] They acted repeatedly against her (Piscator, Drusius); they made sport of her (Tigurinus), or, upon her (Montanus, similarly Jonathan); they vexed her (Syriac); they abused her (Pagnine) ceaselessly (Junius and Tremellius); they exercises their lusts upon her (Arabic). The Hithpael conjugation indicates the frequency of the act, and their savage lust (Malvenda). Here, עָלַל signifies to do תּוֹעֲבָה הַמְשֻׁגָּל, abominable intercourse, and indicates a horrendous crime (Munster). They exercised their disorderly lust on her. Thus Tacitus writes in his Annals 13, that Nero made sport of the boyhood of Britannicus[2] (Malvenda).
[In the morning, בַּעֲל֥וֹת הַשָּֽׁחַר׃] Thus it is written, but it is read כַּעֲלוֹת, while the dawn was rising. As the Dawn is here said to ascend, so the day is said to descend in the evening time, verse 11.[3] Moreover, the ascent of the dawn is manifestly distinguished from the morning time, verse 27. Consider carefully (Drusius).
[1] Hebrew: וְלֹֽא־אָב֤וּ הָאֲנָשִׁים֙ לִשְׁמֹ֣עַֽ ל֔וֹ וַיַּחֲזֵ֤ק הָאִישׁ֙ בְּפִ֣ילַגְשׁ֔וֹ וַיֹּצֵ֥א אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם הַח֑וּץ וַיֵּדְע֣וּ א֠וֹתָהּ וַיִּֽתְעַלְּלוּ־בָ֤הּ כָּל־הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ עַד־הַבֹּ֔קֶר וַֽיְשַׁלְּח֖וּהָ בַּעֲל֥וֹת הַשָּֽׁחַר׃
[2] Britannicus, as the son of Claudius, was the heir to the empire. However, Nero, Britannicus’ step-brother, supplanted him, and later poisoned him, as a potential rival.
[3] Judges 19:11a: “And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent (וְהַיּ֖וֹם רַ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד, the day went down exceedingly)…”
Matthew Henry: 'They got the Levite's wife among them, and abused her to death, Judges 19:25. They slighted the old man's offer of his daughter to their lust, either because she was not handsome or because they knew her to be one of great gravity and modesty: but, when the Levite brought them his concubine, they took her with them by force to the place appointed for their filthiness. Josephus, in his narrative of this story, makes her to be the person they had a design upon when they beset the house, and says nothing of their villainous design upon the Levite himself. They saw her (he says) in the street, when they came into the town, and were smitte…
Hebrew Highlights: This text is so horrifying and sad that I cannot bring myself to add any Hebrew notes. "Be astonished, O ye heavens..."