Judges 19:1-30

Life Without Law

Judges

Philip Smith

Chapter 19

v1 At that time, *Israel’s people had no king. A man from Levi’s *tribe lived in the hills. These were where Ephraim’s *tribe was. The part where he lived was a long way from the main places. He took a *concubine from Bethlehem. This was in the area where Judah’s *tribe lived. v2 But she was not loyal to him. She left him. And she went back to her father’s house in Bethlehem-Judah. After she had been there for 4 months, v3 her husband went there. He went because he wanted to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two *mules. She took him into her father’s house. When her father saw him, he welcomed him gladly. v4 The girl’s father made him stay. He stayed with the father for three days. He ate and he drank. He also slept there. v5 On the 4th day they got up early and he prepared to leave. The girl’s father spoke to him. ‘Eat something before you go’, he said. v6 So they both sat down to eat and drink together. Afterwards the girl’s father said, ‘Please stay tonight. Enjoy yourself.’ v7 The man got up to go. But then his wife’s father persuaded him to stay for the night. v8 On the 5th morning, he got up to go. But then the girl’s father spoke to him. ‘Eat something first. Wait until the afternoon.’ So they both ate together. v9 Then, together with his *concubine and his servant, the man got up to leave. The girl’s father said, ‘It is almost evening. Spend the night here. The day is almost over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and you can go home.’ v10 But the man left and he went towards *Jebus (Jerusalem). He went with his two *mules and his *concubine. He did not want to stay for another night.

This event happened before the events in Chapter s 17 and 18. In verse 28, the writer mentions Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson. He also says that the *tribes acted together. He does not say anything about the *Philistines. These would have made it impossible for the people to act together.

The man from Levi’s *tribe lived where Ephraim’s *tribe was. He lived in an area that was a long distance away from the main places. The man’s *concubine had left him and she had gone back to Bethlehem. We do not know why she left. Perhaps she wanted to be with someone else. Or perhaps she was very angry. It is more likely that she was angry. The man went to Bethlehem. He tried to persuade her to come home to him. He would not refuse to accept her. Also, her father welcomed him. This seems to show that nothing bad had happened. Her father was glad that the man from Levi’s *tribe had come. Otherwise, the father would have suffered shame because his daughter had left her husband. When people in the east entertained their guests, they made things difficult for them. The man could not leave until the afternoon of the 5th day. Some people in that area had travelled round from place to place. They had lived in tents. But now they had come to live in towns there. They had still kept their language. In verse 9 in the original text, the writer used their language. In our text, we read ‘The day is almost over’. That is what the sentence means to us. But in the original text, the writer actually wrote this. ‘It is time to put up a tent.’ In our text, we have the word ‘home’. But in the original text, it is actually the word for ‘tent’.

v11 The servant spoke to his master when they were near *Jebus. The day was almost over. He said, ‘Come! Let us stop at this city where *Jebusites live. And let us spend the night there.’ v12 His master replied, ‘No. We will not go into a foreign city whose people are not *Israelites. We will continue to Gibeah.’ v13 He added, ‘Come! Let us try to reach Gibeah or Ramah. We will spend the night in one place or the other place.’ v14 So they continued. And the sun set as they arrived at Gibeah. This was in the area where Benjamin’s *tribe lived. v15 There they stopped to spend the night. They went to the city’s square and they sat there. Nobody took them into his home for the night.

They left Bethlehem and they came to *Jebus (Jerusalem). They did not stay there, because it still belonged to the *Jebusites. The servant wanted to stay there. But his master said ‘No’. He said that because it would not be very safe to stay among foreigners. It would be safer to stay among *Israelites. So they continued their journey as far as Gibeah. This was in the area where Benjamin’s *tribe lived. (Later it became the political capital of King Saul’s *kingdom.) *Jebus was 6 miles from Bethlehem. And then Gibeah was another 4 miles north from *Jebus. They sat in the square. And they waited there for someone to invite them to his house. The fact that nobody invited them was unusual. It meant that something bad would probably happen. The man had thought that he could trust the people in Gibeah. They were *Israelites. That is why he thought that. So, if they did something bad, it would really be very bad.

v16 It was evening. There was an old man from the hills where Ephraim’s *tribe lived. He came from his work in the fields. He was living in Gibeah. (The men in the town were from Benjamin’s *tribe.) v17 He saw the travellers in the city’s square. Then the old man asked, ‘Where are you going? Where have you come from?’ v18 The man from Levi’s *tribe answered, ‘We are travelling from Bethlehem. That is in the area where Judah’s *tribe lives. We are going to an area that is far away. It is in the hills where Ephraim’s *tribe lives. That is where I live. I have visited Bethlehem in the area where Judah’s *tribe is. Now I am going to the house of the *Lord. No one has taken me into his house. v19 We have both straw and food for our *mules. We have bread and wine for ourselves, your servants. That includes myself, my *concubine and the young man with us. We do not need anything.’ v20 ‘You are welcome at my house’, the old man said. ‘Let me supply whatever you need. I only ask that you do not spend the night in the square.’ v21 So he took him into his house and also he fed his *mules. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.

At last, an old man invited them into his house. He came from the same place as the man from Levi’s *tribe did. But he was living in Gibeah town at this time. The man from Levi’s *tribe told him what he intended to do. He intended to go to the house of the *Lord. Maybe he wanted to offer thanks that his relationship with his wife was better. Perhaps people would help him if he was travelling for a *religious reason. (However, another text of the story has the words ‘I am going to my house.’) He also said that he had got plenty of food with him. But the old man offered to him all that the group needed. The old man refused to accept what the other man already had. So, the old man seemed to be kind and generous. This increases even more the shock that we will feel because of the next event.

v22 They were enjoying themselves. Then some wicked men in the city surrounded the house. They beat on the door and they shouted to the old man. ‘Bring out the man that came to your house. We want to have sex with him.’ v23 The man that owned the house went outside. And he spoke to them. ‘No, my friends. Do not do this evil thing. This man is my guest. v24 Here is my daughter, who has never had sex. And here is this man’s *concubine. I will bring them out to you now. You can do whatever you like to them. Do not do this wicked thing to this man.’ v25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man from Levi’s *tribe sent his *concubine out to them. They forced her to have sex. They were cruel to her all night. At dawn, they let her go. v26 She went back to the house where her husband was staying. She fell down at the door and she lay there until daylight.

v27 Her husband got up in the morning. He opened the door of the house to continue his journey. His *concubine lay in the doorway of the house. She lay with her hands on the doorstep. v28 He said to her, ‘Get up. Let us go.’ But she did not answer. Then the man put her on his *mule. And he left that place to go home.

Some wicked men in the city tried to break the door down. They demanded that the old man should bring out his guest for *homosexual practices. The old man refused. He offered his own daughter and his guest’s *concubine instead. For him, it was important to entertain guests. This was more important than to take care of women. The man from Levi’s *tribe cared only about himself. He threw his *concubine out to the crowd. They were cruel to her all night. In the morning, he opened the door to go. He showed little care or no care about what had happened to her. He urged her to get up. Finally, he realised that she was dead. There were bad standards about what was right and wrong in those days. We can see this from what the man from Levi’s *tribe did. And we can see it from what the men in Gibeah did. The world in the 21st century is not much better! Today, many people do what they like. They do not do what God wants.

v29 When he reached home, he took a knife. He cut up his *concubine limb by limb into 12 pieces. He sent the pieces into all the areas where *Israel’s people lived. v30 Everyone that saw it said this: ‘No such thing has happened since the day when the *Israelites left Egypt. Think about it! Look at it with care! Tell us what to do about it.’

He cut up the body into 12 pieces. There was one piece for each *tribe. (King Saul did the same thing later with his male cows. In this way he called all the *tribes to obey an agreement. They had all made that agreement with him.) Now people with messages took the pieces round to the *Israelites. Those people probably said the words in verse 30. The time when the *Israelites had left Egypt was called the Exodus. That was the beginning of the nation called *Israel. People remembered it for a long time afterwards. (We know this because Hosea mentions it in his book. And he lived much later.) Now a very bad thing had happened to this woman. This was the worst thing that had happened since that Exodus. When the man sent the pieces of her body, this tested the *Israelites’ morals. In this way, he could discover what they thought about the crime. However, the man from Levi’s *tribe did not care very much about the *concubine herself. It is strange that such a test should come from such a man.

Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.

descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
tribe ~ a large group of people that are all relatives of each other.
concubine ~ a woman that lives with a man, but she has a lower position than his wife.
mule ~ a horse with short legs that carries loads.
Jebus ~ the town that later was called Jerusalem.
Philistines ~ a group of people that came from Egypt. They came to live on the coast between Egypt and Gaza. They lived in the plain that was there.
Jebusites ~ the people that first lived in the town called Jebus (Jerusalem).
Israelites ~ the people that belonged to the nation called Israel. God had chosen them as his own special people.

Israel ~ the nation that consisted of Jacob’s descendants; the country where they lived; another name for Jacob.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
kingdom ~ country or state that a king rules.
Lord ~ a name for God. It means that he is the master, the ruler over all. Also, people often use this word to translate Yahweh, a very special Hebrew name for God.

Yahweh ~ the name of God. It means ‘I am what I am’. Or it can mean ‘the same always’.
Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham’s descendants; and they spoke a language called Hebrew.
descendants ~ members of your family that are born and live after you.
religious ~ when someone or something has a connection with religion.

religion ~ belief that God exists; and belief that we should obey his rules.
homosexual ~ when a person has sex with someone who is the same sex.