What does Judges 19:10 mean?

The Levite man who came to Bethlehem to collect his runaway concubine has reached the end of his patience. He has graciously accepted his father-in-law's hospitality, as expected by the strict rule of ancient middle eastern culture. This meant an initial stay of three days and then another day and night at the father-in-law's insistence. Now he has stayed for most of the fifth day, and his concubine's father is asking them to stay yet another night.

Finally, the Levite stands firm and refuses to remain overnight. He will not stay any longer even though it is nearly evening time already. He may have felt that if he did not leave at once, he'd never find a way to escape. He is urgent to get on the road back to Ephraim, though he knows his company of three people and two donkeys will have to stay the night somewhere.

With that reasoning, the group heads out. The road leads them near Jebus, the city later renamed Jerusalem, in Judah. At the time of these events, non-Israelites controlled the city (Judges 1:21; 19:12). The light is fading, so they are faced with another decision: whether to stay in Jebus for the night or continue after dark to find a Jewish town in which to rest.