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 13: 25-29, 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. At dawn she crawls back to the house and collapses on the doorstep. 

Judges 13: 27-30, Gang rape

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 send 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?