Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited
19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
There was no king to bring law and order into the land of Israel. Everyone did as they pleased. This chapter is an appendix to the Book of Judges. There are clues in the text which show that this incident took place sometime chronologically before Samson.
An unnamed Levite was not living in one of the 48 assigned Levitical cities. Israel was not supporting their Levitical teachers. He was living temporarily in remote Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah, meaning that the Levite was dwelling in north Ephraim territory, or Benjamite territory.
19:2 However, she got angry at him and went home to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months,
The Masoretic text and the Septuagint differ on the text of this verse. The Masoretic text recorded that “she played the harlot." If this is correct, then she deserved the death penalty, but did not receive it. The Septuagint stated that “she grew angry with him." The Hebrew words “harlot” (zanah) and “angry” (zanach) sound very much the same, so this could be the result of a scribal error.
Only the originals of the written Scriptures, not the copies, are inspired. The copyist texts agree 99% of the time. There are no doctrinal errors in the copyist errors, although skeptics will often claim the opposite in order to confuse others who are not grounded in this type of scholarship. Satan does have his biblical linguists out there to speak as his intellectual mouthpieces.
19:3 her husband came after her, hoping he could convince her to return. He brought with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly.
The husband spoke to the concubine’s heart and won her back.
19:4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay with him for three days, and they ate and drank together, and spent the night there.
The Hebrew word for “persuaded” is חָזַק (hazak), meaning that his father-in-law strongly persuaded him to stay in his house for three days.
19:5 On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, then you can go.”
The father again asked the couple to stay longer. Bethlehem was known for her hospitality to strangers. Hospitality was expected in Jewish cities following the Mosaic Law, but it was rare in many ancient Gentile cities.
19:6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!”
The father-in-law invited them to stay another night.
19:7 When the man got ready to leave, his father-in-law convinced him to stay another night.
The Levite decided to stay another night.
19:8 He woke up early in the morning on the fifth day so he could leave, but the girl’s father said, “Get some energy. Wait until later in the day to leave!” So they ate a meal together.
The Levite was delayed again, but offered more Jewish hospitality.
19:9 When the man got ready to leave with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over! Stay another night! Since the day is over, stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.”
More Jewish hospitality was offered. The point of this discourse was to show that Bethlehem in Judah was a hospitable city, even to the extreme. They were doing what the Mosaic Law required of them.
19:10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left and traveled as far as Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.
The Levite and his concubine traveled about six miles to Jebus. Jebus was the same city as Jerusalem, but Jebus was a Canaanite city at this time.
19:11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late and the servant said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”
The servant wanted to spend the night in a Canaanite city.
19:12 But his master said to him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. We will travel on to Gibeah.”
The Levite did not want his concubine spending the night in a Canaanite city. He wanted to spend the night in a Jewish city, thinking that it would be safer for his concubine.
19:13 He said to his servant, “Come on, we will go into one of the other towns and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
Gibeah was another four miles north of Jerusalem; Ramah was an additional two miles north of Gibeah.
19:14 So they traveled on, and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.
Gibeah was a Benjamite city.
19:15 They stopped there and decided to spend the night in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night.
Normally, in the Jewish custom of that day, one of the Jewish citizens would offer them lodging.
19:16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.)
Notice that the old man was not a Benjaminite. He was a traveler himself from Ephraim. living temporarily in Gibeah.
19:17 When he looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?”
The old man wanted to know the couple’s origin and destination.
19:18 The Levite said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. But no one has invited me into their home.
It was getting late and the couple had received no offers of hospitality.
19:19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, and the young man who is with your servants. We lack nothing.”
All the couple needed was a bed and a roof for the night.
19:20 The old man said, “Everything is just fine! I will take care of all your needs. But don’t spend the night in the town square.”
The old man agreed to provide the couple hospitality for the night. He warned them not to spend the night in the city streets, because it was too dangerous. This was the same advice that Lot gave to the angels at Sodom and Gomorrah.
19:21 So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and had a meal.
The old man took care of all of their needs. He allowed them to preserve their own substances.
19:22 They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.”
The Benjaminites wanted to perform homosexual gang rape on the Levite. Israel had refused to commit genocide on the Canaanites, so now they had become even worse than the Canaanites. The Benjaminites were committing the same sin as that in Sodom and Gomorrah. The Canaanization of Israel was complete.
19:23 The man who owned the house went outside and said to them, “No, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Don’t do such a disgraceful thing!
The Hebrew word for “disgraceful thing” is נְבָלָה (nevelah), meaning “foolish things." This act would be foolish, because it would violate the Mosaic Law standards against homosexuality. Homosexuality was a capital offense. It would also bring God’s judgment against the Benjaminites. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this same offense.
19:24 Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like. But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!”
The old man offered his virgin daughter to the Benjaminite homosexual rape gang. He went beyond the laws of Jewish hospitality. Offering the man's daughter for gang rape was a violation of the Mosaic Law. It was also adultery in the case of the Levite, because he was married to the concubine.
19:25 The men refused to listen to him, so the Levite grabbed his concubine and made her go outside. They raped her and abused her all night long until morning. They let her go at dawn.
The Levite threw his wife to the rape gang in order to save himself from being homosexually gang-raped.
19:26 The woman arrived back at daybreak and was sprawled out on the doorstep of the house where her master was staying until it became light.
Although the noise of the crowd was gone, the Levite never checked on his concubine. He could have treated her wounds and saved her.
19:27 When her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went outside to start on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, sprawled out on the doorstep of the house with her hands on the threshold.
The Levite took his time getting prepared for his journey. The concubine’s hand was at the threshold of the door, meaning that she had been knocking on the door in desperation.
19:28 He said to her, “Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home.
When she gave no answer, he knew she was dead. He placed her dead body on the donkey and headed home.
19:29 When he got home, he took a knife, grabbed his concubine, and carved her up into twelve pieces. Then he sent the pieces throughout Israel.
The Hebrew word for “carved” is נָתַח (natach), meaning to carve the bones for sacrifice. Since the Levites performed so many animal sacrifices, the Levites were the butchers of Israel. However, this time the Levite had to carve the bones of his own concubine. Notice that he carved twelve pieces, one for the twelve tribes of Israel. He also sent a body part to the other Benjaminites, hoping that they would come against their own city of Gibeah.
19:30 Everyone who saw the sight said, “Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed during the entire time since the Israelites left the land of Egypt! Take careful note of it! Discuss it and speak!”
The author of Judges paralleled the sin of the Benjaminites to the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. His intent was to demonstrate the full Canaanization of Israel. How would Israel respond to a Levite cutting up the body of his concubine and sending it to the twelve tribes of Israel because of the sin of homosexual gang rape? How would Benjamin respond against their own city of Gibeah?