| Dividing the Concubine |
Added: Aug-1-04 |
Question: In Judges 19:22-30, why did the Levite cut up his concubine? Answer:Judges 19 gives the story of a certain Levite who was traveling in search of his concubine who was playing the harlot. In the beginning, concubinage referred to a woman who lived with a man without legal marriage. Her role was very nearly that of the legal wife. The Levite's concubine had been gone for four months. Finally he goes to her father's house and finds her there. His father-in-law bid him stay for several days, possibly to help mend the situation. After this the Levite heads home with his concubine and a company of travelers. While passing through Gibeah and finding no place to stay the night, an old man offerred him refuge in his home. This story is much like that of the angels' who stayed with Lot in Sodom and Gomorah. The homosexuals of the city came and wanted to "know" the Levite. The old man offered them his daughter and his own concubine (thinking they would not take them). They refused to take them. In an attempt to further frustrate these "men," --in hopes they would leave-- offered them the Levite's concubine. Instead of refusing they take her and abuse her all night, so severly that she died, but only after they had let her go and she had arrived at the door of the house where the Levite had stayed. It is not stated whether the Levite knew that the old man had sent her out. Apparently he did not.
As the Levite was preparing to leave he finds his concubine lieing at the door of the house. He first thinks she is asleep. In her apparent condition, he may have thought she had been out playing the harlot again. With a hint of disgust he says, "Up, and let us be going," but she does not move. It appeared that she was reaping what she had sowed, although this was a terrible way to die.
He loved her:The Levite loved this woman greatly for he had searched for her and was taking her back. He was willing to suffer the embarrassment of contacting her family. He loved her so much that he wanted justice for her mistreatment.
Cutting in pieces: There was no king in Israel at this time and no apparent steps in calling for immediate justice. However, there was a custom found in classical history which began with Noah's son, Shem, who cut his rebellious great nephew, Nimrod, into pieces and sent his body parts around to different areas of the known world (Osiris vs. Typhon). This was done to strike fear into the hearts of those who had rebelled against God alongside Nimrod and wife Semiramis. Also, in I Samuel 11:7, we find where Saul had cut a yoke of oxen in pieces and sent the body parts throughout all the coasts of Israel. This, again, was to strike fear into the hearts of the people and supply warning of impending judgment. Saul proclaimed:
...Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent."
The Levites gory action may have been out of contempt for whoredom, but more likely it was a cry for justice against the acts committed against his concubine by the homosexuals of Gibeah. His adherence to this age-old custom would reveal to all of Israel that the sins committed required justice.