· Translation: KJV

Judges 19:14So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

The setting

Central Israel, ~1100 BC. A Levite priest and his concubine approach the Benjamite town of Gibeah as darkness falls. This is modern-day Tel el-Ful, 3 miles north of Jerusalem...

The emotion here: growing dread as he records this tragedy's beginning

The original word

ba'ah (בָּאָה) — to go down, used of sun setting, creating vulnerability and danger

Why it matters

Gibeah was Saul's hometown and would later become the first capital of Israel

Read with care

What most readers miss in Judges 19:14

The sun setting wasn't just time notation — it meant entering the dangerous hours when bandits and wild animals prowled

Common misconceptionPeople think this is just travel logistics, but the author is building tension — this sunset begins one of the Bible's darkest stories

Bible Genome reading

Judges 19:14 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerNarrator
Erajudges
Primary emotionanxious
Literary typenarrative

Emotional genome

Comfort power10%
Quotability30%
Memorability40%
Crisis relevance40%
Standalone30%
Themes:nightfallvulnerability

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Judges 19

Judges 19:14 comes from the book of Judges, written during the judges period. These words are attributed to Narrator. The dominant emotion in this verse is anxious, with a comfort power of 10% and a tone that is conversational. It belongs to the narrative genre of biblical literature. Key themes include nightfall, vulnerability. Notable phrases: sun went down; near to Gibeah.

Your reflection

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