Chapter 19
A Levite and His Concubine
19:1 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
We are reminded again that there was no king in Israel, setting the stage for an unsettling story. We are once again introduced to a Levite, due to the locale mentioned many like to connect this Levite to the Levite referenced in chapters 17 and 18, but considered unlikely. While this Levite was traveling through the hill county of Ephraim, he had acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
19:2 And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. 3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.
According to the text, the Levite’s concubine “played the harlot against him” (NASB) being unfaithful to him. However, it is interesting to see that the Septuagint reads, “his concubine became angry with him” (Judges 19:2a, NETS). The difference being a moral issue one that is punishable by death and other is not. Regardless, the result here is the same, she left the Levite to live with her father in Bethlehem. After four months the Levite went to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He took with him a servant and a couple of donkeys. When they arrived the father was happy to meet him.
19:4 And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. 5 And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” 6 So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl’s father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” 7 And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. 8 And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl’s father said, “Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. 9 And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”
The Levite’s father-in-law demonstrated extreme hospitality, it is interesting to note that it appears that the father and the Levite ate together (seeing wording like, “the two of them,” and “both of them”) with little reference to the girl. But after five days, the Levite was done with the delays and decided to leave.
19:10 But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. 11 When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” 12 And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.”
When they left the father’s house in Bethlehem it was late in the day and by the time they were near Jebus (approximately four miles from Bethlehem) the servant recommended that they stay there. But the Levite did not want to stay in a city of foreigners (Jebusites) and decided to go to Gibeah. Seeing that the author parenthetically noted that Jebus was known as Jerusalem tells us that this book was written after David’s capture of Jebus.
13 And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.” 14 So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, 15 and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.
The Levite suggests that they stay at either the city of Gibeah being four miles further, or Ramah which was two miles beyond that. So, they continued on, but the sun went down while they approached Gibeah and decided to stay there for the night. We are told that this is a city in Benjamin’s territory, which will be an important fact later in the story. But they end up in the open square of the city, as no one would take them into their homes to spend the night (having to lodge and feed three people and two donkeys).
19:16 And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. The men of the place were Benjaminites. 17 And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” 18 And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of the LORD, but no one has taken me into his house. 19 We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.” 21 So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
That evening an old man came into the city and spotted the Levite along with those traveling with him in the city’s open square. He inquires about where they came from and where they were heading. The Levite explains where they have been and that they are going to the house of YHWH (likely referring to the Tabernacle in Shiloh). The man then begs them not to stay in the square, and perhaps since he was a fellow sojourner himself familiar with the same areas, he offered them a place to stay for the night. So they all went to his house, where the man gave the donkeys feed, washed the feet of his guests, and they ate and drank together.
The Men of Gibeah's Wickedness
19:22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.”
As the evening progressed, making their hearts merry (likely with beverage, see Judges 16:25; 19:6). The men of the city, worthless fellows (Hebrew ḇenê’ beliy·yǎ’·‛ǎ’l, “sons of worthlessness,” or “sons of no profit”), surrounded the man’s house and started beating on the door. They told the man to bring out the Levite so that they “may know him,” referring to their desire to commit homosexual rape. That statement should sound familiar to anyone who has read the book of Genesis as it was the same demand by the Sodomites in the story of the angels visiting Lot (see Genesis 19:1-22).
19:23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.
The man came out to plead with the mob to stop their pursuit of the Levite. It is understood that there was what might be described as a ‘law’ of hospitality in those days, or at least a custom, that if someone lodged at your home it was your responsibility for their well-being and safety, even to the point of risking the safety of your own family.
19:24 Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.”
The man then takes this “law of hospitality” to the extreme by offering his own virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine! How can someone consider the safety of a stranger of greater value than the safety of a family member? He even offered his guest’s concubine, which since she would be legally his concubine this would be an invitation to commit adultery, a minor point compared to being gang raped. But it does point out that not only the moral depravity of the situation, but also the lack of understanding or concern regarding God’s law.
19:25 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.
This is an interesting turn of events, the men would not listen to the man, so the Levite, not the man whose house they are staying, offers his own concubine to be raped! Commentator Arnold Fruchtenbaum notes:
To save himself, the Levite sacrificed his concubine. The very man who went to so much trouble to get her back now threw her out as if she were just a piece of meat for the dogs. The virgin daughter was not thrown out, since the Levite would have no authority to do so. Then came the rape: and they knew her, meaning they had sexual relations with her; and abused her. She was raped.8[1]
They raped her all night and when the first light of day began to break, they let her go, she was likely still alive at that time.
19:26 And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.
The text implies a passing of some time from the end of verse twenty-five. In this verse we see that she managed to make it to the door of the house. Apparently her well-being was never investigated that night or during early dawn.
19:27 And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.
When the Levite got up he opened the doors of the house “and went out to go on his way,” but instead, he discovered his concubine lying at the door with her hands on the threshold. The callousness of the Levite is beyond measure! First, he offers her to save his own life. Second, he doesn’t do anything to save her, and apparently went to bed. Then we read when he was leaving to continue his journey he sees her and talks to her as if nothing happened. He then simply picks her up and places her on his donkey and went home, not to the Tabernacle as planned.
19:29 And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”
The Levite brought the dead concubine into his home and with a knife he divided her (Hebrew yenǎt·teḥě’, a word typically found in regard to dividing sacrifices according to their bones, see Exodus 29:17; Leviticus 1:6; 12; 8:20), limb by limb (Hebrew lǎ ‛ǎṣā·mê’ hā, according to her bones) he cut her up and sent a piece of her to every tribe. As one would hope and expect, this action got the attention of the entire nation of Israel. “Everyone who saw the sight said, “Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed during the entire time since the Israelites left the land of Egypt! Take careful note of it! Discuss it and speak!” (Judges 19:30, NET)
Considerations
Story Parallels the Angels Coming to Sodom
This story parallels much of Genesis 19 which records two angels who were going to stay overnight at the gate of Sodom, but were then persuaded to stay at Lot’s house. When night came a mob surrounded the house saying they wanted “know them,” a euphemism for homosexual rape. Lot refused followed by offering them two of his own daughters that were virgins, but they kept pressing in. The angels ultimately stopped the mob by blinding them (see Genesis 19:1-22). Since there are some remarkable similarities between the two stories some believe that one or both of these stories is fictional. Having two nearly identical wicked actions is not some form of a literary device, each story is true representing and exposing the depravity of the human heart.
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[1] Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (2006). Ariel’s Bible commentary: the books of Judges and Ruth (1st ed., pp. 235–236). Ariel Ministries.