Ruth 1, Widows and Famine

After the book of Judges, we have a story of survival, survival for two women during that time.

Ruth 1:1-5, Disaster in Moab
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

With quick brevity we hear of a tragedy: of famine, then a retreat across the Jordan to Moab, followed by death.  Although the people of Moab and Ammon, according to Deuteronomy 23:3-6, were to be viewed as enemies, no judgment is given here regarding going to Moab or marrying Moabite women. And we are given no explanations for the deaths or causes of death.  We simply have concise statements of a great tragedy. For women in the ancient Near East, these tragedies, involving loss of a husband-provider, were especially difficult, threatening one's very survival.

Elimelech means "God is King" and Bethlehem means "House of Bread." Naomi means "pleasant." Each name carries irony.

Ruth 1:6-14, Return to Judah
When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. 

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." 

Then she kissed them and they wept aloud and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."

But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me -- even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons -- would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"

At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.

It is about 50 miles from the fields of Moab to Bethlehem. This is a significant walk with considerable danger.

Many tribes had tribal gods; these were assumed to have power only in that land or tribe. So a traveler might sacrifice to the Philistine gods as he enters Philistine, then make a sacrifice to the Moabite gods as he enters Moab.

We see here a unique characteristic of the book: the book will tell the story by dialogue.

The word rest in verse 9 means security, stability. It was often a euphemism for the Promised Land and is the same concept that appears in Hebrews 4 (eg 4:9-11) where the Hebrew Christians are challenged to make sure they enter God's Rest.

The Hebrew word for kindness in verse 8 is hesed. At least one commentator suggests this is the theme of Ruth and the Hebrew word appears throughout the book. The word might be best translated "loyal devotion".

The use of the word "womb" (me im) in verse 11 ("Do I have sons in my womb?") is unusual, as there is a more precise Hebrew word for womb. The word used here also appears in Song of Songs 5:4 where it represents desire and in Isaiah 16:11 and Jeremiah 31:20 where it represents pity. It carries emotion, it is not just the womb but the heart.

Ruth 1:15-18, "Where you go, I will go"
"Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Again Naomi urges Ruth to go back, pointing at Orpah in the distance. Is Orpah in the wrong here?

Ruth gives a beautiful and elegant statement of commitment! Notice what she promises. What does Ruth mean by her statement? Does she know who Naomi's God is? How much does she know? (Ruth's promise includes a classic oath, generally made in the name of one's god. Here Ruth says, "May YHWH deal with me...." Even her oath includes allegiance to Naomi's God!)

Why would Ruth promise to even die where Naomi dies?

Comment: This is the second place in the Old Testament where a foreigner lays claim to YHWH. (See Joshua 2: 8-11.)

Ruth 1:19-21, "Can this be Naomi?"
So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"

"Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."

Naomi means “pleasant”; Mara means “bitter”. Notice that the whole town came out. Surely in the crowd were old friends and in the buildings were old memories, memories of Elimelech and two small boys.

Verses 20 and 21 are the only places where YHWH is not used for God in this book. In these two verses, the name "Almighty" is the Hebrew Shaddai.

Ruth 1:22, Return
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

The title "the Moabitess" is given to Ruth here. The  book will continue to identify Ruth as "the Moabitess", emphasizing her alien status.

Hubbard argues that a more precise translation is "Naomi came home along with her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabitess, the one who returned from the fields of Moab." A problem for Old Testament scholars is that the phrase "one who returned (hassaba)" is apparently assigned to Ruth! How does Ruth "return" from Moab?

Notice the symmetry of the chapter. Naomi left with children in famine (verse 1) and returns with Ruth at barley harvest. Indeed, not only is our story-teller ending the chapter with an elegant summary, but raising expectations for the remainder of the story.

The author of the book clearly mentions YHWH and His work in places. But at other times he allows a hint of chance. That hint appears in this verse; you will see such hints more clearly later. These hints challenge the listener to decide if he or she believes in chance.

This book is intended to be told as a story.  In this case the medieval chapter divisions are accurate -- each chapter ends with a pregnant pause, with the audience getting a hint of things to come. The barley harvest was an important time in this agricultural society.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is lechem, bread, masculine noun.

לֶחֶם

Bethlehem was so named because it was "the house (beth) of bread."

First published July 18, 2023, last updated July 17, 2025

Judges 21, Benjamin Rebuilds

After the rape and murder of a concubine, the tribe of Benjamin was attacked by the other tribes in a horrific civil war. Benjamin is on the edge of extinction with only six hundred fighters left.

Judges 21:1-5, Two angry oaths

The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: "Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite."

The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. "O LORD, the God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?" 

Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Israelites asked, "Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD?" For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah should certainly be put to death.

A flashback describes two foolish oaths taken in anger at the beginning of this civil war. There is an oath to not allow the Benjamite men to have wives and an oath to kill anyone who does not show up for the sacrifice at Mizpah. The second oath has led to extensive genocide putting the tribe of Benjamin on the edge of extinction. The first oath essentially guarantees that the remnant from Benjamin will not have descendants.

Judges 21:6-15, Jabesh Gilead

Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel," they said. "How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?" 

Then they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?" They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there. So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children.

"This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin"

They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan. Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them. 

The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.

The result of the past bloodshed is a decision to kill more Israelites. In this attack, young women are captured from Jabesh Gilead to be given to the Benjamite men. In the perverse logic of the Israelite oaths, this is permissible since the passive people of Jabesh Gilead, having not shown up for war, had also not made the oaths to prevent Benjamites from marrying their women.

Judges 21:16-19, Another festival

And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. We can't give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: `Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.' But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah."

There are six hundred Benjamites hiding at the rock at Rimmon. The attack on Jabesh Gilead has captured four hundred women to marry these men and so help bring a new generation of Benjamites. But four hundred women is not enough and so the Israelites arrange a second chance for the Benjamites to have wives. This will be done at a festival in Shiloh.

Judges 21:20-22, Dancing girls

So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, `Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'"

In the ancient Hebrew culture, women often celebrated by dancing. (See Miriam's dance in Exodus 15:20, women dancing at David's victory in I Samuel 18:6 and a promise that "virgin Israel" will someday dance in Jeremiah 31:4.) Dancing women would thus be expected at this upcoming festival. The single Benjamite men are instructed to hide in the vineyards at this festival and, when the young women come out dancing, the men are to run out and capture a woman to marry. In this way the people of Israel do not violate their vow since they did not give women to the Benjamites! (They merely set up a mechanism by which the women are to be violently abducted!')

Judges 21:23-24, Benjamin rebuilds

So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them. At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

We have seen rape, murder, then mass murder and genocide. Now young women are abducted as they dance. The Israelites have creatively solved the problems caused by their foolish oaths. Our narrator makes no comment about the morality of these actions but merely describes this history. 

Judges 21:25, No king

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

This final verse is the summary of this violent (and depressing) book. But it will be followed by a very beautiful and short Old Testament romance, the book of Ruth.

First published July 17, 2023; updated July 16, 2026

Judges 20, A Tribe Destroyed

Wicked men of Benjamin gang-rape and abuse the concubine of a man. She eventually dies. The man seeks justice and vengeance. He cuts up the body of the woman and send twelve pieces to twelve tribes, demanding justice.

Judges 20:1-3, Israelites gather

Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords. (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, "Tell us how this awful thing happened."

The people of Israel respond to the call for revenge of this gruesome rape and murder. They meet at a town in Benjamin called Mizpah and everyone, including the Benjamites, hear of this meeting. (There are several places named Mizpah in the Old Testament, as the word is Hebrew for "watch-tower." This Mizpah in Benjamin, a place for all the Israelites to gather, will also be the place where Saul is anointed king in 1 Samuel 10.)

The size of the army, 400,000 soldiers, if translated correctly, makes this army larger than many modern armies. It is likely that this army involves 400 military clans or units, still a large force.

Judges 20:4-11, Rape and murder retold

So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, "I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel's inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

The Levite, "master" of the dead concubine, tells his story. Barry Webb, in his commentary, points out that the man's story does not quite agree with the story given us by the narrator in the previous chapter. In the previous chapter we are led to see this Levite as, at best calloused, and possibly quite cruel. Here the people of Israel are told only his side; no mention is made of his surrender of the woman to the rapists and his disregard for her after that.

Judges 20:7-11, "What they deserve"

Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict." 

All the people rose as one man, saying, "None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it as the lot directs. We'll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel." So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.

The community of Israel, upon hearing the horrible account, unite against the city. They set aside ten percent of their troops to focus on provisions so that there can be a significant longterm attack against Gibeah. (Presumably this ten percent is determined by lots but there is no mention of YHWH here.)

The decadence occurring at Gibeah will be long remembered by Israel. The prophet Hosea, many centuries later, will accuse Israel of acting "like Gibeah" (in Hosea 9:9 and Hosea 10:9.)

Judges 20:12-16, "Surrender the men of Gibeah!"

The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you? Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel." 

But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah.  Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

The men of Benjamin refuse the demands of the rest of Israel. The account claims 26,000 swordsmen for small Benjamin. Among the 26,000 are 700 lefthanded fighters and 700 fighters from Gibeah. The fundamental weapon here seemed to be a slingshot, and 700 men, left-handed, are described as being very accurate with their slingshots.

In Judges 12, civil war broke out against the tribe of Ephraim. Another civil war is about to begin, this time against the tribe of Benjamin.

Judges 20:17-21, First battle

Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men.  The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?" 

The LORD replied, "Judah shall go first."

The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. 

For the first time we hear of the Israelites consulting YHWH. The reported response is cryptic: send Judah. But the first battle leads to devastation for Judah.

Judges 20:22-25, First battle

But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day.

The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, "Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?" 

The LORD answered, "Go up against them."

Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

On the second day, after consulting YHWH again, the Israelites are again defeated. (This time the Israelites seem to identify the Benjamites as "brothers". It is possible that the Israelites are having some doubts about their actions.)

Judges 20:26-28, Inquiry of YHWH

Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, "Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?" 

The LORD responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."

After the second defeat, the Israelites again ask YHWH for guidance.  This time they are described as fasting and offering sacrifices to YHWH at the ark of the covenant, before the high priest. This time, after weeping and fasting, they are told that they will now be victorious. 

Judges 20:29-32, Third day

Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads--the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before," the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads."

The Israelites plan an ambush. Previously casualties are (translated as) 22,000 and 18,000. Here we are given a more reasonable number of casualties: thirty. As the fight wages, the Israelites appear to retreat. (This chapter, like others in Joshua and Judges, raises the Old Testament problem of "large numbers." I discussed this in a Sunday essay, The Problem of Large Numbers in the Old Testament.)

Judges 20:33-35, Ambush

All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west of Gibeah. Then ten thousand of Israel's finest men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.

This time the Israelites succeed in the frontal attack on Gibeah.

Judges 20:36-39, Into Gibeah

Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten. Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. The men of Israel had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, and then the men of Israel would turn in the battle. The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the men of Israel (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle."

The Israelites enter the city of Gibeah, behind the Benjamite soldiers, and burn it.  The Benjamites are unaware of the rout behind them. 

This battle is similar to that at Ai in Judges 8, involving an ambush, a sack of the city, and burning it behind the enemy soldiers.

Judges 20:40-44, Into the desert

But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky. Then the men of Israel turned on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come upon them. So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but they could not escape the battle. And the men of Israel who came out of the towns cut them down there. They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.

The Benjamites flee into the desert where they are cut down.

Judges 20:45-48, Genocide

As they turned and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more. On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters.

But six hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 

The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.

The Israelites press the fight, slaughtering Benjamites until six hundred hide at the "rock of Rimmon." After that, the Israelites return to the towns of Benjamin and destroy them. The tribe of Benjamin has  essentially been wiped out.

First published July 15, 2023; updated July 15, 2026

Judges 19, Gang Rape

We continue the sad story of disarray among the tribes of Israel, during the centuries after Joshua. In the previous story, we had an account of the tribe of Dan moving to the far northern end of Canaan and setting up their own idol. Now the book of Judges provides one more story of the deep depravity of that time.

Judges 19:1-4, Concubine returns to her father

In those days Israel had no king. 

Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her father's house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. His father-in-law, the girl's father, prevailed upon him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.

In the first verse we repeat the mantra of Judges: they have no king. This thematic statement is, as before, a prelude to an ugly story.

A concubine leaves her husband and returns south to her father's house.  (The woman is said to be "unfaithful" but that may merely mean that she left her husband and went back home.)  Her unnamed husband waits four months and then decides he would like her back and pursues her, traveling from the hill country of Ephraim south to Bethlehem. The woman's father seems pleased with the arrival of his daughter's master-husband and invites the man to stay.  

Barry Webb, in his commentary on Judges, suggests that we might read into this story some questions about the character of the husband. Why did the woman run? Why did the man wait so long to seek her out? Look for further hints that the husband is calloused and uncaring.

Judges 19:5-8, Delay

On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go." So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. 

Afterward the girl's father said, "Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself." And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night.

On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the girl's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!" So the two of them ate together.

Apparently there has been some type of reconciliation.  But the woman's father tries to prevent the man from leaving with his daughter.  (Webb asks, "Is the father still worried about the man taking his daughter away?")

Judges 19:9-13, Late leaving

Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Now look, it's almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home." But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.

When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, "Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night."

His master replied, "No. We won't go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah." He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places."

The father continues to stall the departure.  Eventually the man, woman and a servant leave, but it is late. In the evening they hunt for a place to stay. The servant suggests the village of the Jebusites (Jerusalem) but that village, at the time, is inhabited by people who are not Hebrews. So the master suggests reaching a Hebrew community, Gibeah or Ramah, a little further north.

Judges 19:14-21, Gibeah

So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night. That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"

He answered, "We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his house. We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants--me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We don't need anything."

"You are welcome at my house," the old man said. "Let me supply whatever you need. Only don't spend the night in the square." So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.

Darkness forces a halt to all travel. In this case, the small party turns in to the town of Gibeah, in Benjamin, just north of Jerusalem.  They sit in the city square with no place to stay but eventually a citizen of Gibeah invites them into his home.

Gibeah will later be the home of the first king of Israel, Saul, a Benjamite. (See I Samuel 10:26.)

Judges 13:22-24, Wicked men

While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."

The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."

A gang of ruffians are aware of the newcomers and surround the home, demanding to take the men and rape them. This story has echoes of Sodom. Like Sodom, the host tries to deter the gang by offering his daughter!

Judges 19:25-26, Gang rape

But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.

The gang of ruffians refuses the offer of the citizen's daughter so eventually the Levite gives his concubine to them. They rape her and abuse her. At dawn she crawls back to the house and collapses on the doorstep. 

Judges 19:27-30, Cutting up her body

When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home. When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.

Everyone who saw it said, "Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!"

The man (described as the woman's "master") gets up in the morning to continue his journey. But his concubine is in the way, sprawled at the doorstep. He tells her to get up.  She does not respond. He puts her on his donkey and carries her home.  One might suspect the woman is dead, but this is not clear.  Once the man is home, he cuts her into pieces and sends her body to parts of Israel, stirring up the tribes.

The covenant law of Moses says that anyone who touches a dead body is unclean for seven days (eg. Numbers 19:11-13.) Instead of concern about the uncleanness, the Levite makes sure quite a number of other people touch this body.

Barry Webb says that at every step this "master" has acted with complete callousness towards the concubine, treating her as property. This is brutally clear at the end where she is literally pieces of meat he sends out to anger the tribes. Later King Saul, from the same Gibeah, will call out an army by cutting up oxen and sending pieces out to the twelve tribes; the Levite has treated the concubine like Saul treated the oxen.

Have I mentioned that I don't like this book? 

First published July 14, 2023; updated July 14, 2026

Judges 18, Danites Steal a Priest

We continue the story of a wealthy Ephraimite, Micah, and his hired Levite priest. The Levite provides personal worship for Micah, apparently at a silver idol set up in the home.

Judges 18:1-6, Danites looking for a home.

In those days Israel had no king. 

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, "Go, explore the land." 

The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. When they were near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?"

He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, "He has hired me and I am his priest."

Then they said to him, "Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful."

The priest answered them, "Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD's approval."

The theme of Judges is in the first verse, "In those days Israel had no king." 

The tribe of Dan has been residing southwest of Judah, near the Philistines.  The conflicts with the Philistines, described in the story of Samson, has made it difficult for the tribe of Dan to conquer their assigned land. So they decide to abandon their assigned region and make plans to move north to better land and fewer enemies.  

The scouts "recognize the voice" of the Levite.  Do they know him? Had he earlier been in Dan, before moving on to Judah? Or do they recognize a southern, Danite accent?

Scouts from the tribe of Dan, seeking a permanent home, enter the area of Ephraim and meet Micah and his priest. The priest blesses their search.

Judges 18:7-10, Vulnerable Laish

So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.''

When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, "How did you find things?"

They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever."

The Danites find a prosperous place in far northern Israel that appears to be isolated and settled by unsuspecting Sidonians (Canaanites.) They returned from their search and encourage their tribesmen to join them in taking over that land.  (The town, formerly called Laish, will then be called Dan -- see this Wikipedia article on that ancient city. In 1993 archaeologists digging in the tel there uncovered an ancient stone, the Tel Dan Stele, that describes the house of David.)

Judges 18:11-15, Danites show up at Micah's home

Then six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.  On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day. From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah's house.

Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers, "Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do."

So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah's place and greeted him.

Six hundred Danites, on the warpath to Laish, show up at the home of Micah. The five leaders know about Micah, the Levite priest and his silver idol.  They tell the other men, "You know what to do."  This is an ominous statement.

(Prior to showing up at Micah's house, they camp in Judah; the camp of 600 men is significant enough to give a name to that location.)

Judges 18:16-19, Robbery

The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to the gate. The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to the gate.

When these men went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man's household?"

While an army of 600 men surrounds the compound of Micah, the five scouts enter the house and rob it.  The priest sees this happening and confronts the thieves.  We are reminded that there were 600 armed men outside the compound.  Obviously there is nothing the priest can do to stop this theft but he is invited to move with the Danites to serve as their priest in the new community to be built at Laish.

Judges 18:20-26, Priest joins the robbery

Then the priest was glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image and went along with the people. Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

When they had gone some distance from Micah's house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?"

He replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, `What's the matter with you?'"

The Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some hot-tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives."

So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

The priest joins the Danites. The small army put their small children, livestock and vulnerable possessions at the front of the band and begins to march away. (Apparently the Danites have concerns about being attacked from behind by people from the compound.) Micah and some men chase them and the Danite leaders stop and confront Micah. Their remark that "some hot-tempered men will attack you" is a threat -- Micah is told he can either accept the theft quietly or accept it after a violent confrontation. Micah wisely gives up and returns home.

In this chaotic period, there seems to be a value to be an official Levite priest, regardless of the god that one serves. 

Judges 18:27-31, Butchery

Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. 

The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. They named it Dan after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel--though the city used to be called Laish. There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.

They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

This band of Danites attacks Laish, brutally destroying the people and the town. (This is something they apparently could not do to the Philistines on the southwest borders of Israel.)  The Danites then use the priest and a lineage of descendants of Moses to set up a center of worship for the town of Dan.  

During this time the center of worship for Israel was in Shiloh, so this action, typical of the time of the Judges, describes a competing place of worship (with a silver idol) in Dan. Later, in 2 Kings 10:28-29, we will see that there are golden calves set up at idols in both Bethel and Dan. Our story here may then describe the beginnings of the idolatry in Dan. (Some commentators even suggest that the name "Moses" may in fact be a typo; by adding the Hebrew letter nun to Moses one gets the name Manasseh, the king of Judah who reigned shortly after the northern kingdom of Isreal was conquered by the Assyrian empire.)

First published July 13, 2023; updated July 13, 2026

Return to Bethlehem, An Introduction to Ruth

The book of Ruth is my favorite book in the Old Testament. After the depressing book of Judges, we are treated to a delightful story that has much to say about the ancient Israelite culture, the action of YHWH within that culture, and the joys, cares and devotion of individual Israelites.

The ancient book of Ruth is an elegant piece of story-telling. It should be read slowly, with pleasure.  Look for the poetry in it, for the rhyme of themes (cloak/wings, bitter/pleasant, servant/wife, blessing & fertility). The story is carried by dialogue, dialogue which gives insight into the various characters.  Our narrator, our Storyteller, delivers this story in four parts.  Imagine this being told around a campfire at night, each part ending with a clear pause intended to make the listeners beg, "Don't stop!  Keep going!" 

The story provides the point-of-view of women and it has been suggested that the anonymous Storyteller is a woman herself.  (I think this is a reasonable assumption.) We will see numerous places in the story where the Storyteller provides details of interest to women and in some places (such as the birth of a child) the men are ignored altogether. Imagine a circle of young women listening in as the Storyteller describes YHWH's protection of two frightened widows, one of them in search of a new husband.

In 1940, my grandmother, Mary Endsley, asked her father, "How did you meet Mom?" He wrote her a long letter, explaining how, as a young man in the fields of East Texas in the 1880s, he pursued Molly Lively.  (That story is here.)  The book of Ruth has some of the flavor of that story -- I can see a young man, Obed, asking how his parents how they met. 

Problems and Questions

The book of Ruth is quite old. The writing may date to the time of Samuel or David and the event it describes probably occurred about 1150 BC. According to commentators, there are some occurrences of archaic Hebrew and unusual Hebrew endings. At one time the scroll of Ruth was included among the poetical writings (as part of the Megilloth, within the Ketuvim, the third part of the TaNaKh.) It was traditionally read at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) which marked the end of the grain harvest.

The book makes no direct claims about God.  God is mentioned in dialogue in a few places, named as YHWH, Elohim and Adonai, but our narrator, our Storyteller, speaks of Him only indirectly.  Indeed, I think our Storyteller deliberately challenges her listeners as to the role of YHWH in the lives of the main characters. As we work through this book next week, we will look for these hints of God's actions!

Resources and References

As always, my practice is to read through the text from the New International Version (NIV), copied into the blog and italicized in blue.  At the head of each blue paragraph of text I place a short title; after the text I place my thoughts or comments in black.  I begin this process with my own reactions and thoughts and then supplement these comments with gleanings from a commentary or two. I hope that you, too, read the passages thoughtfully!   Feel free to disagree -- or to react in other ways! (I place hyperlinks in pink, created so that one can click on a link and see the linked site open in another window... and go down a rabbit hole if you wish!)

For the book of Ruth, I have found two commentaries helpful. 

• An excellent commentary,  The Book of Ruth, by Old Testament scholar Robert L. Hubbard, Jr..   
• I have also used a commentary by Donald H. Madvig found in the third volume of the Expositor's Bible Commentary.

The BibleProject summary of Ruth is here. In addition, in the online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, are two commentaries here and here. 

There is a story (possibly apocryphal) that Benjamin Franklin read the story of Ruth to French royalty. One version of that story is in a sermon by Ray Stedman here. Adele Berlin, writing for the Biblical Archaeological Society, has some thoughts on the significance of the book here.

We will begin this wonderful book in a few days, after finishing Judges!  The book of Ruth is a nice way to recover from the brutality of Judges.

First published July 16, 2023, last updated July 14, 2026

Judges 17, The Rich Man and the Levite

After the story of the dysfunctional Samson, the book of Judges tells of two more episodes across five final chapters. It is not clear when these two episodes occur. These events do not involve judges but appear to happen during the chaotic time after Joshua but before there is a united kingdom (Both commentators Barry Webb and Herbert Wolf consider these two episodes as "appendices" to this book.)  Like the stories before, these events display the brokenness of the country during this time.

Judges 17:1-4, Theft and idolatry

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim said to his mother, "The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse--I have that silver with me; I took it." 

Then his mother said, "The LORD bless you, my son!"

When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, "I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you."

So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into the image and the idol. And they were put in Micah's house.

We have a strange story of theft, reconciliation and then an idol. The young man, Micah, a Hebrew in the tribe of Ephraim (in the central hill country) stole a significant amount of money (1100 pieces of silver) from his mother. Then, upon hearing her curse the thief, he confesses his theft and returns the silver. She sets aside 200 pieces to create a silver idol for Micah to use.

Judges 17:5-9, A young Levite

Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest. 

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.

Micah asked him, "Where are you from?" 

"I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah," he said, "and I'm looking for a place to stay."

Micah, although of Ephraim, has absorbed the Canaanite culture of the day. He has an idol and worships there. He installs one of his sons as a "priest" to administer the worship.  But then a young Levite, traveling from Bethlehem, shows up at his door step, looking for a place to stay. Now Micah sees an opportunity to have a real priest.

Judges 17: 10-13, A priest is hired

Then Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and priest, and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food."

So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like one of his sons. Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. And Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest."

Micah hires the young Levite as a priest, giving him room, board and a stipend. Presumably this priest administers worship for the family. Micah seems to name YHWH as his god but if so he has also set up an idol to worship YHWH in his home. (This was probably a common occurrence -- ignoring the requirements to worship YHWH at the Tabernacle in a central location, people set up altars and idols in their own home and worshiped various gods, including YHWH.)

First published July 12, 2023; updated July 11, 2026