Judges 19

          Verses 1-10: Once again, the central character of this episode is a Levite, also from Ephraim, though there is no description or confirmation from the author of Judges to connect this Levite to the one who was involved with Micah. Nor is there any chronology or timeline given for this account, so we can only presume that this episode takes place sometime after the account given in the previous two chapters.
            As I stated earlier, the reason for both of these episodes is to show the reader just how bad things had gotten in Israel. It wasn’t just rampant immorality and idolatry, but basic law and order had also degraded to the point that it was every man for himself. The Levites, who were the spiritual leaders of Israel, were utterly neglected, and because they had no land allotments like the other tribes, they were forced to fend for themselves as best they could. The tribes were each supposed to designate portions of their land for the Levites, but they had either failed to do so, or the people simply weren’t tithing of their first fruits like they were supposed to. But even the priests were completely ignoring the law of Moses, as indicated here by the Levite taking for himself a concubine. (v.1) (Leviticus 21:7) This shows just how morally bankrupt the spiritual leadership in Israel had become.
            When the concubine leaves the Levite to return to her father’s house, the Levite pursues her. (v.2-3) Her father, following the custom of the ANE, welcomes the priest into his home, showing him generous hospitality. (v.4) The father implores the Levite to stay longer than he wishes to, and the priest relents. (v.5-8) But on the evening of the fifth day, the Levite refuses the pleading of his concubine’s father, and he, his servant, and his mistress depart for home. (v.10)
 
            Verses 11-21: As nightfall draws closer, the servant suggests to his master that they lodge in Jerusalem (v.11), but the Levite demurs, citing the fact that the city is inhabited by non-Israelites. (v.12) He offers up an alternative: either Gibeah or Ramah, both of which are cities of the tribe of Benjamin. (v.14) (Joshua 18:21, 25) It’s ironic that the true danger to the Levite and his concubine ends up being from their fellow Israelites instead of the Jebusites which occupy Jerusalem. (Joshua 15:63, Judges 1:21)
            Upon arriving in Gibeah, the Levite and his party settle down in the city square, which is the custom of the ANE at this time. (v.15) Travelers who had no other place to lodge for the night could sleep in the “…street of the city…”, a large, open square, usually just inside the city gate, that was often used as a place of commerce, public hearings on matters of law or dispute, etc. This is where the prominent men of the city and the rulers would sit and conduct their business, and it was considered a place of safety precisely because of its location. This is why it’s not unusual that the Levite opts for camping out here for the night. (Genesis 19:1-2)
            By chance, another man from mount Ephraim, a non-Benjamite who lives in Gibeah, is arriving home from working in the fields. (v.16) When he sees the Levite and his party preparing to bed down in the city square for the night, he introduces himself and asks about them. (v.17-19) He invites them to lodge with him for the night instead of sleeping in the open square, and the Levite accepts. (v.20-21) The author purposely presents this scene as nothing more than a kind stranger being hospitable to a group of weary travelers. There is nothing here to prepare the reader for the shocking turn of events in the next few verses.
 
          Verses 22-30: However, both the encounter with the kind stranger and the events that follow later that night are intentionally presented by the author as a close parallel to Genesis 19. Just as Lot implored the angels to not spend the night “…in the street…”, so did this man of Gibeah implore the Levite and his party to lodge with him this night instead of the city square. And, just as the men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house, demanding that he surrender the two strangers to them for the purpose of raping them, so do “…the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about…” (v.22), demanding that the man of Ephraim surrender the Levite to them for the purpose of satisfying their perverted lusts.
           This is the only direct mention in scripture of Israelites who are homosexuals, as indicated by that phrase “sons of Belial”. In the OT, this description is reserved only for men who commit various acts of wickedness and sexual perversion. (Deuteronomy 13:13, 1 Samuel 1:16, 2:12, 10:27, 25:25, 2 Samuel 16:7, 1 Kings 21:10, Proverbs 6:12, 19:28) In the NT, the apostle Paul uses this same word as a proper name for Satan. (2 Corinthians 6:15) To be a son of Belial is to be a "worthless man", one who habitually practices particularly vile and perverted sin. The use of this term here is to show the reader how far from God the men of Israel had strayed.
            As with Lot, the master of the house tries to bargain with these wicked men by offering up his virgin daughter as well as the Levite’s concubine for them to rape! (v.23-24) Even more shocking, the Levite goes along with this! He surrenders his concubine to the sodomites, and she dies as a result of their sexual abuse! (v.25-27) When he discovers her body on the doorstep the next morning, he loads it onto his donkey and returns home to mount Ephraim. (v.28)
         As if all that wasn’t bad enough, what the Levite does next is both horrifying and unexpected to modern readers. Yet this, too, was a custom in the ANE, albeit a rarely practiced one. The Levite dismembers the body of his concubine and sends each part to all twelve tribes, summoning their men of war. (v.29-30)
 
            The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had become so wicked in the eyes of God that He poured out his wrath upon them, and the author of Judges is demonstrating here that the men of Benjamin had become just as depraved and sinful as those sodomites. Because everyone did whatever was right in their own eyes, following the perverted lust of their flesh just like the other heathen nations of Canaan, God had judged and condemned the Benjamites. The civil war that results from the death of the Levite’s concubine nearly wipes out that entire tribe, as we’ll see in the final two chapters of this book.