Judges · chapter 19 of 21
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Judges 19 tells how a Levite from the hill country of Ephraim goes to Bethlehem to bring back his concubine, who had left him, and returns with her. At night they reach Gibeah of Benjamin, where an old man hosts them and wicked men of the city demand to abuse the Levite. The concubine is given over, abused all night and dies, and the Levite sends her body divided into twelve parts throughout Israel.
Judges 19 is one of the darkest chapters in the Bible and opens the second story of the book's final appendix. Its narrative recalls the sin of Sodom, but now it happens in a city of Israel. The text presents it as proof of what happens when there is no king and everyone does what seems right, not as an example to imitate.
In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite living in the hill country of Ephraim takes a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. She leaves him and goes back to her father's house, where she stays four months. The Levite goes with his servant and two donkeys to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. Her father receives him gladly and keeps him there with hospitality for several days, until on the fifth day the Levite sets out late in the afternoon.
They draw near to Jebus, that is Jerusalem, but the Levite does not want to stay among foreigners and goes on to Gibeah, a city of Benjamin. They sit in the town square and no one takes them in, until an old man from Ephraim, who is living there as a sojourner, welcomes them to his house, saying that they must not spend the night in the square.
While they are eating, some wicked men of the city surround the house and pound on the door, demanding that the Levite be brought out so they can abuse him. The old man goes out and begs them not to do such evil to a guest, and offers his virgin daughter and the concubine. They will not listen, and the Levite sends out his concubine. They abuse her all night and let her go at dawn. She falls at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold.
The Levite goes out in the morning and finds her. He tells her to get up, and she does not answer. He puts her on the donkey and goes home. There he takes a knife, cuts the body into twelve pieces and sends them throughout the territory of Israel. Everyone who sees it says that nothing like this has been done or seen since the people of Israel came up from Egypt, and calls for them to consider it and speak.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The chapter begins by saying there was no king in Israel. That phrase frames the story that follows as not normal, but the result of a people who stopped submitting to God.
They enter Gibeah and sit in the square, and no one takes them into his house. In a city of Israel no brother opens his door to travelers, which shows the loss of hospitality.
Wicked men of the city surround the house and ask for the Levite to be brought out so they can abuse him. The text uses words that recall the story of Sodom in Genesis 19, showing that Israel had become like the nations God judged.
Everyone who sees the body that was sent says that nothing like this has been seen since Israel came out of Egypt, and calls for reflection and speech. It is a call for Israel to recognize the gravity of what happened.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Bethlehem in Judah. — Judges 19:1-2
Answer: Four months. — Judges 19:2
Answer: Because it was a city of foreigners who were not of Israel, and he preferred to reach Gibeah. — Judges 19:11-12
Answer: An old man from the hill country of Ephraim who was living there as a sojourner. — Judges 19:16-21
Answer: They surrounded the house and abused the concubine all night. — Judges 19:22-25
Answer: Twelve parts, which he sent throughout the territory of Israel. — Judges 19:29
Judges 19 is a hard chapter to read, and it must not be used as an example of conduct. Its place in the Bible is to show where a society that ignores God ends up: hospitality, compassion and respect for the most vulnerable are lost. In a class or small group we can speak soberly about violence against women and how the church must protect and listen to victims.
It also shows our need for a just king. The book prepares the way for the kingdom of God fulfilled in Christ, who cares for the weak. Remembering this story encourages us to reject indifference and to open our homes and community to those who need refuge.
Judges 19 ends with a divided body and a question that Israel must answer. In Judges 20, the tribes gather at Mizpah to decide what to do, and the answer will bring a civil war against the tribe of Benjamin.
No. The book presents these events as a sign of a corrupted society, not as an example. The refrain that there was no king and everyone did what seemed right is the narrator's verdict on the whole story.
Because in both accounts the men of the city demand to abuse a guest and the host offers his daughters. The book of Judges means that Gibeah, a city of Israel, had become like the Sodom God destroyed.
She was a woman with the status of a secondary wife, protected by certain rights but with less standing than the main wife. The text calls her father the Levite's father-in-law, showing the bond was a legitimate marriage, though her position was vulnerable.