· Translation: KJV

Judges 19:22As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with him!"

The setting

Outside the old man's house in Gibeah, Israel, ~1100 BC. Night. Violent men surround the house, demanding the male guest for sexual assault...

The emotion here: horrified at having to record Israel's complete moral collapse

The original word

beliyya'al (בְּלִיַּעַל) — worthless ones, sons of destruction, utterly corrupt

Why it matters

This mirrors Sodom so exactly that it proves Israel had become as corrupt as the Canaanites

Read with care

What most readers miss in Judges 19:22

The text is unfinished mid-sentence, showing the narrator's horror at what they're about to record

Common misconceptionPeople think this is about homosexuality, but it's about violent sexual assault and Israel becoming as evil as the nations God told them to avoid.

Bible Genome reading

Judges 19:22 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerNarrator
Erajudges
Primary emotionanxious
Literary typenarrative

Emotional genome

Comfort power10%
Quotability30%
Memorability80%
Crisis relevance90%
Standalone40%
Themes:evildangerwickedness

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Judges 19

Judges 19:22 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 urgent. It belongs to the narrative genre of biblical literature. Key themes include evil, danger, wickedness. Notable phrases: base fellows; surrounded the house.

Your reflection

What does Judges 19:22 mean to you, today?

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