The worthless fellows demand that the old man bring out the Levite so that they may know him.
Knowing
is a frequent biblical term for having intercourse with someone. The Gibeonite men here want to welcome the Levite by raping and abusing him. They thereby show their homosexual tendencies, something Leviticus 18:22 labels as detestable.
We can be sure that this Levite regretted his decision to travel on to Gibeah. He was afraid to lodge in Jerusalem for the night because it was full of foreigners. Instead, he entrusted himself to Israelites, and now finds himself in a virtual Sodom! But this was not Sodom. This was an Israelite city. These were God’s chosen people.
22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.”