Judges 19:26 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Then came the woman.... — It would be scarcely possible to enhance the depth of pathos and of horror which the sacred writer throws into these simple words. If to the wretched woman punishment had come in the guise of her sin (Wis. 11:16, “that they might know that wherewithal a man sinneth, by the same also shall he be punished”) which had been the prime cause of the whole catastrophe, the Levite was punished both for his condonation of an offence which could not be condoned, and for the unmanly cowardice or heartless self-absorption which could alone have rendered it possible for him to accept personal safety at such a price.