Judges 19 

Judges 19:1 In those days, and without a king in Israel, a Levite happened to be staying in a remote part of the hill country of Ephraim. He acquired a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine.

Judges 19:2 But she was repulsed at him and left him for her father’s house in Bethlehem, Judah. She was there for four months.

Judges 19:3 Then her husband got up and followed her to persuade her to come back. He had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him to her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.

Judges 19:4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him, and he stayed with him for three days. They ate, drank, and spent the nights there.

Judges 19:5 On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have something to eat to keep up your strength, and then you can go.”

Judges 19:6 So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and enjoy yourself.”

Judges 19:7 The man got up to go, but his father-in-law persuaded him to stay and spend another night there.

Judges 19:8 He got up early in the morning of the fifth day to leave, but the girl’s father said to him, “Please keep up your strength.” So they waited until late afternoon, and the two of them ate.

Judges 19:9 The man got up to go with his concubine and his servant when his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Notice, night is coming. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, enjoy yourself, then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey and go home.”

Judges 19:10 But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up, departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (also known as Jerusalem). The man had his two saddled donkeys and his concubine with him.

Judges 19:11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, why not let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here?”

Judges 19:12 But his master told him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where there are no Israelites. Let’s move on to Gibeah.”

Judges 19:13 “Come on,” he said, “let’s try to reach one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

Judges 19:14 So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.

Judges 19:15 They stopped to spend the night in Gibeah. The Levites went in and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into their home to spend the night.

Judges 19:16 In the evening, notice an older man came in from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was residing in Gibeah where the people were Benjaminites.

Judges 19:17 When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”

Judges 19:18 He answered him, “We’re traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I’m going to the house of Yahveh. No one has taken me into his home,

Judges 19:19 although there’s straw and feed for the donkeys, and I have bread and wine for me, my concubine, and the servant with us. There is nothing we lack.”

Judges 19:20 “Welcome!” said the old man. I’ll take care of everything you need. The only rule is that you don’t spend the night in the square.”

Judges 19:21 So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. Then they washed their feet and ate and drank.

Judges 19:22 While they were enjoying themselves, they noticed that worthless men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man who was the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him!”

Judges 19:23 The house owner went out and said to them, “Please don’t do this evil, my brothers. After all, this man has come into my house. Don’t commit this horrible outrage.

Judges 19:24 Here, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine now. Abuse them and do whatever you want to them. But don’t commit this outrageous thing against this man.”

Judges 19:25 But the men would not listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and took her outside to them. They raped her and abused her all night until morning. At daybreak they let her go.

Judges 19:26 Early that morning, the woman made her way back, and as it was getting light, she collapsed at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was.

Judges 19:27 When her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went out to leave on his journey, he noticed the woman, his concubine, collapsed near the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold.

Judges 19:28 “Get up,” he told her. Let’s go.” But there was no response, so the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

Judges 19:29 When he entered his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and then sent her throughout the territory of Israel.

Judges 19:30 Everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or has been seen since the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until now. Take note of this, discuss it, and speak up!”

Judges 19 quotes:

“As in Genesis 19, the aggressive and violent demands of the mob involve homosexual rape (Judg 19:22). As discussed in connection with Ehud, Samson, and the the death of Sisera in 5:27, the man who defeats his enemy has metaphorically raped his enemy; he is empowered, his enemy a “mere” woman (see Vermeule 1979: 101-2; Niditch 1989; and Yee 1995: 164). By the same token, the man who is actually raped is made into the woman, the quintessential defeated enemy. Issues of shame and honor are at play. The worthless men seek to assert their power over against the outsider, whom they seek to humiliate. Also at play is an abusive sexual ethic in which the rape of women in battle and other contexts (e.g., Gen 34) is applied to the subduing of men. This passage is perhaps less about views of homosexuality, which priestly writers do condemn (Lev 18:22), than about a larger theme in sexual ethics in which one partner subdues, owns, and holds unequal power over the other (see Trible 1978: 105-39). A most troubling feature of the Israelite version of the tale type is the apparent willingness of the men to hand over their women to violent miscreants, Implicit is a worldview in which women are regarded as disposable and replaceable. On the other hand, the narration that follows implies that the author does not condone the men’s behavior. They emerge as cowardly, and their complicity in the rape and murder of the woman is a clear and reprehensible violation of covenant. The tale as told also emphasizes the ways in which women, the mediating gender, provide doorways in and out of war.”

Niditch Susan. Judges: A Commentary. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 193.

Judges 19 links:

a rape and murder
an eye-opener
don’t spend the night in the square

The JUDGES shelf in Jeff’s library