When the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young lady's father, said to him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go home.
The writer’s mention of the hospitality of the Levite’s father-in-law (Judges 19:4-9) points out the contrast with the Gibeahites’ lack of hospitality later in the story (Judges 19:15; Judges 19:22-26). Hospitality was a sacred duty in the ancient Near East when there were few public facilities for travelers (cf. Judges 4:17-23; Genesis 18:5; Genesis 24:55). Perhaps it is significant that this man who practiced hospitality (lit. love of strangers) lived in Bethlehem, David’s hometown. Saul came from Gibeah where the residents hated strangers, as the story will show. The fact that Israel’s first king came from this city has led some scholars to conclude that by including this incident the writer may have intended to discredit Saul. [Note: See Jeremiah Unterman, "The Literary Influence of ’The Binding of Isaac’ (Genesis 22) on ’The Outrage at Gibeah’ (Judges 19)," Hebrew Annual Review 4 (1980):161-66.] 