Judges
Chapter 19
The Crime of Gibea
At that time, when there was still no king in Israel, a Levite living deep in the mountains of Ephraim took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine.
This woman left him and returned to her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah. She stayed there for about four months.
Her husband set out to visit her and try to persuade her to return to his home. He brought a servant and two donkeys with him. She welcomed him to her father’s house, and he was glad to see him.
Her father-in-law, the woman’s father, urged him to stay, so he stayed with him for three days. They ate, drank, and spent the night there.
On the fourth day, they woke early in the morning, and the Levite prepared to leave. However, the young woman’s father told his son-in-law:
“Eat some bread first so you can regain your strength, then you can go.”
The two sat and began to eat and drink together. Then the father-in-law said:
“Please spend the night here and have a good time.”
When the Levite got up to leave, his father-in-law insisted, so he stayed that night.
On the fifth day, he rose early in the morning to go, but the young maiden’s father told him:
“Have more patience and stay until evening.”
So they ate together.
But when the husband, his concubine, and his servant stood up to leave, the father-in-law said to his son-in-law:
“Look, it’s already getting dark. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. You can leave early tomorrow morning and be on your way home.”
But the Levite refused to spend the night there, so he got up, left, and arrived opposite Jebus, Jerusalem. He brought with him the two saddled asses, his concubine and his servant.
It was very late when they came near Jebus. So the servant said to his master:
“Let us not go any farther but go into the city of the Jebusites and spend the night there.”
His master answered:
“Let us not go to a foreign city where there are no Israelites; we will go to Gibeah.”
And he added to his servant:
“Come and let us go near one of those towns. We will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.”
So they went their way, and at sunset, they arrived opposite Gibeah of Benjamin.
They turned aside and went there to spend the night.
Then, an old man came in from work in the fields. He was a man from the mountains of Ephraim and lived as a visitor in Gibeah, for the people of that place were of the tribe of Benjamin.
Looking to one side, the old man noticed the visitor in the city square and asked:
“Where do you come from, and where are you going?”
He answered:
“We are passing through, for we come from Bethlehem of Judah, and we are going up to the borders of the mountains of Ephraim, where I come from. I went to Bethlehem of Judah, and I am returning home. But here, no one has offered me his house.
We have, however, straw and green fodder for our asses, and bread and wine for me, my wife, and the young man who accompanies us. We don’t lack anything.”
The old man said to him:
“Peace be with you. I shall provide you with all that you need. Just don’t spend the night in the square.”
He brought them to his house and gave fodder to the asses. The travelers washed their feet, then ate and drank.
The Tragedy
As they were relaxing, the wicked men of the city went round the house, pounded on the door, and said to the old man who owned the house:
“Bring out the man you have welcomed into your house so we may amuse ourselves with him.”
The house owner went out to them and said:
“No, my brothers, do not mistreat him. This man has come into my house, so do not do him evil.
Here is my daughter, a virgin, and my companion’s concubine. I can give her to you if you want. Ravish her and do with her what seems good to you, but not with this man.”
But those men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and brought her outside. They violated and maltreated her the whole night until morning. At dawn, they left her.
When he arrived home, he took a knife and, taking hold of his concubine, he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces and sent them throughout the territory of Israel.
Early in the morning, the woman came and fell at the entrance of the man’s house where her husband was. She lay there until it was day.
When her husband rose in the morning, opened the house door, and went on his way, he saw the woman, his concubine, lying at the house’s entrance, her hands on the threshold.
He told her:
“Get up, and let us go.”
But there was no response. So the man put her on his ass and went home.
He gave his messengers this order:
“Say this to the Israelites:
Until today, have you seen anything like this since the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt? Think about it. Seek counsel and decide.”
Commentaries
The Crime of Gibeah.
Through the story of the Levite and his concubine, we enter a world of terror. The outrage of Gibeah is shrouded in mystery and ambiguity. God remains silent throughout the narrative. In nomadic societies, hospitality to strangers was a sacred duty. The story of Lot and the old man of Gibeah demonstrates the importance of protecting guests. Lot chose to offer his virgin daughters to the Sodomites (Gen 19:8), and the old man of Gibeah did the same to preserve his guest’s honor. The story of the Levite closely mirrors the story of Lot (Gn 19:1-9), with a few differences. Many have tried to find in both the story of Sodom and this account a condemnation of “homosexuality.” We must avoid anachronism when interpreting the Bible, as the word homosexual only appeared in the 19th century. In these two stories, the real crime lies in inhospitality, violence, and aggression toward foreigners. In both stories, the phallus functions as a weapon of attack, establishing a pattern of domination and submission, practices often used in war.
The Tragedy.
The unfortunate wife of the Levite is raped all night until dawn (25). Throughout the story, she remains voiceless. People talk about her, negotiate with her body, and we don’t know if she wanted to return to her husband; her father and the Levite decide for her, and evil townspeople subjugate her. The tragic story ends when the woman falls into the hands of the Levite at the doorway of the house (27). At this point, the reader might wonder which is worse: the wicked men who rape the concubine all night or the “forgetful” Levite who acts as if nothing has happened to her? The Levite’s attitude is unforgivable; he sacrifices her once and then again by choosing to forget the events of the previous night when he leaves his host’s house in the morning. Is the woman dead? The LXX version officially states that the woman is dead, but the Hebrew text is more ambiguous on this point. When the Levite enters the house, he takes the knife and cuts the woman into twelve pieces, who appears to be still alive. The anonymous concubine, who has been silenced throughout the story, now “speaks” through her dismembered body to all of Israel. Still, her message remains that of her oppressor, since the Levite manipulates his wife’s death.