Judges 19 . The Levite and His Concubine.
This chapter gives an account of the sad story of a Levite and his concubine, and of the evil consequences following it. It describes how she played the whore, and went away from him to her father's house, to which he followed her. There he was hospitably entertained by her father for several days, and then set out on his journey back to his own country. And passing by Jebus or Jerusalem, he came to Gibeah, and could get no lodging, but at length was taken in by an old man, an Ephraimite.
But the house where he was enjoying hospitality was beset by some evil men in Gibeah, with the same intent with which the men of Sodom beset the house of Lot (Genesis 19:1-11). And after some argument between the old man and them, the concubine was brought out to them and abused by them until she died. On this the Levite her husband cut her into twelve pieces, and sent the pieces into all the borders of Israel, as a shocking message to Israel of what had been done in their midst.
Why should such a story have been included in the sacred record? The first reason was because it demonstrated how far the people of Israel had fallen from what they once were. How they had been contaminated by the inhabitants of the land, with their sexually perverted ways, in which they had come to dwell. They no longer obeyed the commandments in the covenant, especially ‘you shall not commit adultery' and ‘you shall not kill'. Secondly it demonstrated that the leadership of Israel were failing, and that their attitudes of heart were wrong. Every man did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25). The tribes were not as tightly bound in the covenant as they should have been, although this incident greatly contributed to the cementing of that unity. Thirdly it demonstrated that when the right occasion came along they could act together as Yahweh had intended. And fourthly it stressed the sanctity of Levites. We note that the man's name is never mentioned. That is because in a sense he represented all Levites. They were holy and not to be treated lightly.
‘And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel.'
The idea is that there was no central authority to ensure the administration of justice, and the Kingship of Yahweh was being ignored. Thus there is reference to the fact that they no longer saw God as their king, and by failing to do so had reached this parlous position. It would appear that no strong central figures had replaced Joshua. So they looked to no one, and expected judgment from no one.
The system arranged by God had failed because of the slackness of the people of Israel and their failure to fully augment it. People were free to behave as they wished, in general only observing their local customs, and only accountable for their behaviour locally. This meant that someone from outside often had relatively little protection. So sins such as adultery, sodomy, murder, and so on were committed with impunity against them.
There was a central sanctuary which acted as a unifying force for the tribes, and there were those at the central sanctuary who could theoretically be appealed to, but they clearly had little influence in practise. They were dependent on the support of the tribes. And the tribal unity was spasmodic, and often casual, as the book of Judges has demonstrated. This was not the central living force that God had intended.
‘That there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim.'
He lived in a city that was on the side of those mountains of Ephraim furthest from Bethlehem-judah. As all Levites were, he was a ‘sojourner', one who lived there but was not looked on as of permanent residence, because his portion was in Yahweh. Thus he should be treated differently under the law (Deuteronomy 12:19; Deuteronomy 14:27). There were also special laws protecting sojourners, and they applied to Levites as well, but they were often set aside in local situations when there was no central authority to exact them. Perhaps he chose to reside there as being near to the tabernacle of Shiloh, which was in that tribal area.
The Levites were spread throughout the tribes of Israel. Originally their responsibility had been the maintenance and protection of the Tabernacle, a responsibility they no doubt still fulfilled, and they were entitled to be maintained by tithes from the people (Numbers 18:21). The gathering and policing of tithes was itself a huge operation and the Levites no doubt worked with the priests in this, and had their part in ensuring that religious and sacrificial requirements generally were fulfilled. Certain cities had been set apart for them to live in (Numbers 35; Joshua 21), but they were not necessarily required to live there, and if tithes were not forthcoming they would need to find methods of survival. They enjoyed special protection under the law (Deuteronomy 12:19; Deuteronomy 14:27-29). So this man should have enjoyed double protection both as a Levite and a sojourner.
The Levites were also special in another way. As a result of the deliverance of the firstborn in Egypt the firstborn were seen as Yahweh's. But the Levites took on this responsibility instead of the firstborn so that the firstborn were no longer bound. Thus they were owed a debt of gratitude by all Israelites for they stood in the place of their firstborn sons (Numbers 8:10; Numbers 8:16-19), and they were holy to Yahweh.
“A concubine.” A secondary wife, usually a slave, taken without the payment of a dowry. She did not enjoy the full privileges of a full wife, but was clearly seen here as a genuine wife under the law. The man is called her husband and her father is called his ‘father-in-law'. She may well have been his only wife. But she was of a different class. Or it may be that she was a Canaanite. This would explain her ‘whoredom', which to her would simply be the fulfilling of the requirements of her religion.
“Out of Bethlehem-judah.” This was the same area as that from which the wicked Levite came, spoken of in the preceding Chapter s (Judges 17:8), who was the means of spreading ‘idolatry' in Israel, which tended to go along with sexual misbehaviour in prostitution and homosexual activity. It is apparent that the people had come to look to the Levites in religious matters, for, as mentioned above, it was partly for this that they were spread among the tribes. And Levites were therefore often required, and willing, to act beyond their position. The behaviour of that particular Levite, acting as a priest, had led to the lowering of morals in the area and there may be the hint that Bethlehem-judah was tainted with idolatry. Certainly this woman was eventually to be the cause of a great shedding of blood in Israel, and almost of the destruction of the tribe of Benjamin.
These two instances may be seen as reflecting dishonour and disgrace on Bethlehem-judah. Yet from here would come such men as Boaz, Jesse, David, and eventually the Messiah Himself. The woman the Levite took is called in the Hebrew "a woman, a concubine".