Judges 19:12
And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
Judges 19:12 stands in chapters 17-21, the closing section of Judges, whose main narrative properly ends with chapter 16. The events in those closing chapters occurred early in the period of the judges, before the events of chapters 11-16. In the verse the travelers refuse to turn aside to lodge in a city of strangers who are not Israelites and press on instead to Gibeah, an Israelite town.
The passage belongs to the sad record of Israel's transgressions, backsliding, and constant lapsing into idolatry, marking a time of low moral and spiritual condition near the end of the period of the judges when gross immorality prevailed. It introduces the crime at Gibeah, with whose people the tribe of Benjamin identified. What follows is a record of ruffianism, internecine strife and bloodshed, and of the disgrace and punishment that followed backsliding.
Doing what seemed right to each person did not produce a good society. In this record customary hospitality is treated as more important than a woman's virtue and tribal loyalty as more important than justice. Such customs and loyalties do not excuse sin, and backsliding cannot be done with impunity.