Judges 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the

Book of Judges The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom ...

in the Old Testament or the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Samuel,Gilad, Elon
Who Really Wrote the Biblical Books of Kings and the Prophets?
''Haaretz'', June 25, 2015. Summary: The paean to King Josiah and exalted descriptions of the ancient Israelite empires beg the thought that he and his scribes lie behind the Deuteronomistic History. but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans in the books of Deuteronomy to

2 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the book ...

, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE. This chapter records the activities of a

Levite Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew de ...

from Ephraim and his concubine, belonging to a section comprising

Judges 17 Judges 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel,Gilad, ElonWho Really Wrote the Biblical Books of Kings and the Pr ...

to 21.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. It is divided into 30 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

including 4Q50 (4QJudg; 30 BCE–68 CE) with extant verses 5–7.Dead sea scrolls - Judges
/ref> Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

(originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century) and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Analysis

Double Introduction and Double Conclusion

Chapters 17 to 21 contain the "Double Conclusion" of the Book of Judges and form a type of inclusio together with their counterpart, the "Double Introduction", in chapters 1 to 3:6 as in the following structure of the whole book: :A. Foreign wars of subjugation with the ''ḥērem'' being applied (1:1–2:5) ::B. Difficulties with foreign religious idols (2:6–3:6) ::: Main part: the "cycles" section(3:7–16:31) ::B'. Difficulties with domestic religious idols (17:1–18:31) :A'. Domestic wars with the ''ḥērem'' being applied (19:1–21:25) There are similar parallels between the double introduction and the double conclusion as the following: The entire double conclusion is connected by the four-time repetition of a unique statement: twice in full at the beginning and the end of the double conclusion and twice in the center of the section as follows: : A. In those days there was no king… ::Every man did what right in his own eyes (17:6) :::B. In those days there was no king… (18:1) :::B'. In those days there was no king… (19:1) : A'. In those days there was no king… ::Every man did what right in his own eyes (21:25) It also contains internal links: :Conclusion 1 (17:1–18:31): A Levite in Judah moving to the hill country of Ephraim and then on to Dan. :Conclusion 2 (19:1–21:25): A Levite in Ephraim looking for his concubine in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

in Judah. Both sections end with a reference to Shiloh.

The Bethlehem Trilogy

Three sections of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) —

– 18, Judges 19– 21,

Ruth 1 Ruth 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, part of the Ketuvim ("Writings"). This chapter contains the story of how Elimelech, Ruth's father-in-law, driven by famine, moved in ...

– 4 — form a trilogy with a link to the city Bethlehem of Judah and characterized by the repetitive unique statement: :"''In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes''" :(Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25; cf. Ruth 1:1) as in the following chart:

Chapters 19 to 21

The section comprising Judges 19:1-21:25 has a chiastic structure of five episodes as follows: :A. The Rape of the Concubine (19:1–30) ::B. ''ḥērem'' ("holy war") of Benjamin (20:1–48) :::C. Problem: The Oaths-Benjamin Threatened with Extinction (21:1–5) ::B'. ''ḥērem'' ("holy war") of

Jabesh Gilead Jabesh-Gilead ( ''Yāḇēš Gīlʿāḏ''), sometimes shortened to Jabesh, was an ancient Israelite town in Gilead, in northwest Jordan. Jabesh is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible primarily in connection with King Saul battles against t ...

(21:6–14) :A'. The Rape of the Daughters of Shiloh (21:15–25) The rape of the daughters of Shiloh is the ironic counterpoint to the rape of the

Levite's concubine The episode of the Levite's concubine, also known as the Benjamite War, is a biblical narrative in Judges 19–21 (chapters 19, 20 and 21 of the Book of Judges). It concerns a Levite from Ephraim and his concubine, who travel through the Benj ...

, with the "daughter" motif linking the two stories ( and Judges 21:21), and the women becoming 'doorways leading into and out of war, sources of contention and reconciliation'.

The Levite's concubine (19:1–10)

The setting of the story, like in chapters 17–18, the travels of Levites who often relied on the 'local support and hospitality, having no patrilineal holdings of their own'. A particular Levite who resided in the mountains of Ephraim married a "concubine" (a lower status than "wife") from

in Judah. The woman left him after 'she played the harlot towards him' (according to the Hebrew text; that is 'being disloyal but not necessarily adulterous') or NRSV renders: 'she became angry with him' (according to other manuscript traditions), going back to her father's house in Bethlehem. After four months the Levite traveled, accompanied by one servant and two donkeys, to visit and hope to win her back (verse 3; cf. Genesis 34:3). The woman brought into her house and his father-in-law received the Levite with full hospitality, even to persuade the guest to stay for four nights, a generosity that is emphasized by repetition in verses 4, 6, 8 and 5, 7, 8, 9. Finally, on the fifth morning the Levite left with his concubine and his servant, heading back north to the mountains of Ephraim (verse 10).

Verse 1

:''And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.'' *"A certain Levite": in Hebrew literally, "a man, a Levite".

Gibeah's crime (19:11–30)

As the first day of travel reaching the sunset, the Levite refused his servant's advice to stop in Jebus (later:

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

), a non-Israelite town, but instead suggesting they stay at a town 'of the people Israel',

Gibeah Gibeah (; he, גִּבְעָה ''Gīḇəʿā''; he, גִּבְעַת, link=no ''Gīḇəʿaṯ'') is the name of three places mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in the tribes of Benjamin, Judah, and Ephraim respectively. Gibeah of Benjamin is th ...

of Benjamin, ironically where the outrage would take place (verses 11–15). In Gibeah, the group did not receive the expected hospitality, ignored for a long time in the open square, until an elderly man finally invited them to his house (verses 16–21). Recalling a similar story about Lot in Sodom (Genesis 19), some "sons of Belial" ('base fellows', 'miscreants') came surrounding the house and demanded that the strangers be sent out to them so they might 'know them', a biblical euphemism for sexual intercourse (verses 22–26). As what Lot did, the host attempted to appease the wild men outside by offering them his "virgin daughters" l(cf. Genesis 19:8) and the Levite's concubine, but the people outside decline the offer. The Levite then acted, throwing his concubine outside to the vicious mob and locked the door (verse 25–28; cf. Judges 20:6; in contrast to a divine intervention in Genesis 19:11). At the break of day, the victimized woman was let go, collapsing at the doorway. Later in the morning, the Levite opened the doors, ready to travel, finding the woman lying down in front of the door and giving crass and brusque orders to her to get up (verse 28). When the woman did not respond, the Levites simply placed her unconscious body on a donkey and continued the journey together. Upon returning home, the Levite cut the woman's body into twelve parts and sent each part to the twelve tribes of Israel, while asking for justice (verses 29–30, cf. 1 Samuel 11:5–8).

Verse 30

:''And so it was that all who saw it said, "No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!"'' *"Until this day": in the Greek Septuagint text of Codex Alexandrinus, this phrase is replaced by the following additional words: ::''And he instructed the men whom he sent out, ‘Thus you will say to every male Israelite: "There has never been anything like this from the day the Israelites left Egypt till the present day."' ''Note on Judges 19:30 in NET Bible

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Shoftim - Judges - Chapter 19 (Judaica Press)
Hebrew text and English translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org *_ ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org *_Christianity">Christian_translations: *
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Judges chapter 19. Bible Gateway
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