1. Judges 19:24 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

How does “what seems good to you” literally read?

Judges 19:24 (ESV)

24 Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.”

The old man’s do with them what seems good to you literally reads, do with them what is good in your eyes. This is strikingly similar to how the narrator speaks when evaluating Israel’s behaviour during the time of the judges: everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:7; Judges 21:25). The Gibeahites were guilty of doing this, and now the old man is following suit, as he cuts a deal with them. This is a man so morally confused and bankrupt, that to him an acceptable alternative to what is wicked…vile…outrageous is doing what is good in your eyes.