The Book of Judges’ disturbing conclusion is the tale of Levite Traveler and his Concubine Wife. In the story, an older man from Gilbeah took the Levite and his wife in for the night as an act of hospitality. The town was Benjamite. Judges 19.
There, “the people of the city, lawless people, surrounded the house, banging on the door, and saying to the old man, the owner of the house, “[s]end the man who came to your house, so that we may know him.” Judges 19:22. Similar to the tale of Lot and the City of Sodom, the old man offered up both his virgin daughter and the visitor’s concubine wife in lieu of the traveler. The traveler, seeing that the Benjamite crowd was not listening, thrust his concubine wife outside the premises. There, the Benjamite crowd performed horrible acts upon her. After a night of sexual assaults, she passed.
After finding his dead spouse, the husband cut her up into twelve pieces and distributed her parts to the borders of Israel. This bizarre act -when viewed in modern times-was a rallying call in antiquity. As a result of this communication, the Children of Israel went out and assembled as a single man.
It was recognized that the Benjamites had done a disgusting and indecent thing. The Israelites demanded that the clan of Benjamin turn over the lawless men and that they be put to death. This was to be done to remove the evil from Israel. Judges 20:13. The Benjamites refused to turn the men over and a civil war ensued.
Eventually, peace was achieved. The conflict’s casualties and resolution posed an existential threat to the Benjamite tribe. The tale ends with “at that time the Children of Israel went off from there, everyone to his tribe and his family, they left there, each man to his own heritage.” Judge 21:24.
The tale illustrates how the absence of national acceptance of the moral standards within the Ten Commandments’ framework had the potential to destroy a confederation. The story’s lack of reference to a body of law for criminal acts raises the issue of a prevailing legal authority. Rather than pointing to the Torah and the commandments, the Israelites merely labled the crimes as disgusting and indecent.
On an aside, this tale alludes from other portions of the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Samuel 11, King Saul carves up oxen and distributes them in a call for unity. In the Book of Genesis, there is the tale of Sodom. The tale of the evil that exists within cities to the extent that it warranted obliteration by the Lord. These allusions suggest that the author was well versed as to the other texts. Thus, the author deliberately excluded the Torah from the text.
Be well!!
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