1. Judges 19:25 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Who is “the man”?

Judges 19:25 (ESV)

25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.

There is some debate as to whether the man refers to the old man or the Levite. In all likelihood it refers to the Levite. The Gibeahites do not accept the old man’s alternative that he offered them. So what follows is not the old man doing what he offered (bringing out his virgin daughter and the concubine), but the Levite making an attempt to save his own life.1 The text says, The man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. Thus, the man is the antecedent of his that follows. It is the Levite who throws his concubine to the dogs outside.