Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 19:9

"And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel`s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thy heart may be merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home." — Judges 19:9 (ASV)

The day is drawing toward evening. —Literally, is weak, or has slackened to evening. The father had purposely detained the Levite till late, in the hopes of inducing him to spend one more night under his roof. The forms of Eastern politeness would render it difficult for the Levite to resist these importunities.

The day is growing to an end. —Literally, it is the bending or declining of the day, not, as in the margin of our version, “the pitching time of the day.”

Home. —Literally, to your tent, which may be something more than a mere reminiscence of the earlier stage of the national existence. (Compare To your tents, O Israel, 1 Kings 12:16 and following.) The Levite is conscious that if the father has been too pressing he has himself been too self-indulgent, and too fond of good living. “His experience is that of all weak and vacillating people: first, unnecessary delay, and then overstrained hurry.”