Judges 19 "Dismembered and Re-membered" (Part 2: Unmasking Monsters)

Into Night Country: Judges 19-21

Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash

“So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.”

In part one we set the theological context for walking through “Night Country.” In this post, I want to show us two Gospel graces given by the Holy Spirit in Judges 19: 1) unmasking wolves, and 2) Litmus test for discerning unsafe communities. I believe this is one way that Jesus’ sheep will know His voice and not follow after robbers and imposters (John 10:1-21). These essays are of most use if you read the Scripture text beforehand. There are four particular examples of evil in this Litmus test. Today I will look at the first two evils, the third I will mention, but leave for a fuller treatment later along with the fourth. The trigger warning for this essay is that it contains spousal abuse, clergy abuse, sexual abuse and rape, along with outrageous callousness throughout.

“Gospel Grace #1: Monsters Unmasked”

Judges 19 is for the church. It is about the church. And it is a message that must continue to be preached through the church. In this story full of monsters God’s people have nowhere to look but the mirror for the guilty parties—God does not leave this a mystery, no pagan is in sight, the Levite goes out of his way not to be amongst Canaanites. The visible people of God will always claim the doctrine of Christ as their Savior, but is that possible while rejecting Jesus as the ruler governing their pursuits and behavior? What would such a disfigured group look like? The answer is: Monsters.[1] The Spirit of God gives us Judges 19-21 as a luminary device. The Spirit unmasks them so you can identify them. You will know them, not by outward appearance (1 Sam 16:7) but by their fruit says Jesus (Matt 7:16). God knows the heart, and the heart reveals itself in its speech and actions. This constitutes a Gospel grace of spiritual discernment (1 John 4:1).

“Gospel Grace #2: A Spiritual Litmus Test”

Put another way, God provides a spiritual litmus test to discern whether any visible manifestation the visible church is honoring Christ as her king is that it will exercise self-control (Gal 5:23) and be ever be in conflict with evil rather than coordinating with or covering it up. Judges 19 gives us four examples:

1) Devaluing the weak, and endangering the vulnerable.

2) Division among the people of God (Tribalism).

3) Disgrace and Deceit in the Ministry (“The Levite”)

4) Discarding others after they’ve been used for our purposes.

Let’s consider each of these in turn

1. Evil #1: Devaluing the Weak, and Endangering the Vulnerable:

The terrifying situation for women is on full display here. I say women, plural, not just one woman. We are not simply given the story of a concubine, but also the virgin daughter of the old man who offers her up to the rapacious mob saying “Take her along with the concubine rather than the man I’ve taken into my house” (v23).

You might be thinking, “What is this term concubine (Heb: פילגשׁ)?” That is a good question. It is a tricky term for us to understand. Alexiana Fry calls a concubine a “secondary wife.” [2] That is helpful as a general idea. Isabelle Hamley offers more specification,

“פילגשׁ in the Hebrew Bible, are shadowy women whose presence weaves in and out of narratives of violence and conflict. Most of them are unnamed and appear simply in genealogies and harem lists. Their exact legal status is unknown; they stand between primary wives and slave-wives, seemingly legitimate yet treated with little regard or protection.”[3]

A concubine had some provisions from her husband, but was not a “full wife.” In other words concubines were invariably more vulnerable to mistreatment or abandonment. These women were often treated with little regard or protection—certainly this one was (as also, the old man’s daughter though she was spared being forced outside).

A) Example 1: “Husband or Master?”

In verse 3 the Levite is referred to as her husband/man (אִישָׁ֜הּ), yet later in the chapter, v27, when he is coming to retrieve her the morning after she’s been raped, he is called her lord/master (אֲדֹנֶ֜יהָ). The relation of a master to supposed “inferior” is on display throughout—first that the Levite uses her to save himself. Remember in v22 the men desire to rape him. Do not miss this: The husband forces her out as his substitute to be violated. He uses his superior strength to force the weaker vessel to bear an unspeakable agony that was meant for him. In the morning, he gets up (suggesting, he was actually able to sleep!) and is preparing to travel on when he stumbles upon his concubine (v27). The “Behold” indicates some surprise to even see her. Callously, the Levite tells a woman who has just been gang-raped all night, “Get up, let’s be going.” In other words, I am going—your wounds are no reason for me to alter my own plans and goals. There is no answer from the body at his feet, so he throws her in the car (on his donkey) and goes. At home he cuts her to pieces and sends each tribe of Israel calling for judgment. The Hebrew is eerily vague, never telling us whether or not the concubine was actually dead before the Levite does this. In Judges 19 The devaluing of the weak is at work—as they are used for the self-protection by those more powerful and allowed to be violated and suffer in order that the men in the house might be spared the shame of violation (v24).

You see why the prophet writing judges changes the terms? Transitioning the relational description from “husband” to “master” recalls the Christian’s memory to God’s pronouncement upon Eve after our first parents sinned, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Gen 3:15 NKJV). The Hebrew here is more revealing: “וְאֶל־אִישֵׁךְ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ וְה֖וּא יִמְשָׁל־בָּֽךְ”. The woman’s desire (תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ) will be for/toward her husband (אֶל־אִישֵׁךְ֙). Thus, in a world subjected to sin, the Husband/man will be the orientation of her desire, nevertheless “he shall rule/dominate, a verb, (יִמְשָׁלִ) over you (the object of domination). Such an awful burden in response to sin is healed only by the grace of God in Christ, where the bride sings, “I am my beloved’s and his desire (תְּשׁוּקָתֽוֹ) is for me!”[4] Thus, if Christ is being followed as the King in a people’s life, the desire of husbands will be toward the wives, not to dominate, but to love, cherish, and uplift the weaker vessel to her fullest flourishing! In other words, Christlike husbands cease exercising “Power Over” and instead use their God-given power to lift up and support. Chris Moles uses the illustration of a male cheerleader using his linebacker-like strength to lift and throw the female cheerleaders high into the air that their full ability and gifts might be displayed.[5]

B) Example 2: “Strangers, Neighbors, or Family?”

Not only are women devalued and endangered here, but strangers/foreigners. The traveling man is a Levite—and we’ll get to him in a moment—but he’s also a foreigner to Benjamin. Nobody knows anything about Him. And yet, the Levite is part of the holy family of Israel, the priestly people of God (Exod 19:6). Whether or not the people know his tribal affiliation is really beside the point. This Levite is left out in the middle of a city that the people know is full of worthless men—a dangerous place. For God as King requires His people to have a special eye toward the foreigner, because God has a special eye toward the foreigner. Listen to the Spirit speak in Leviticus 19:34-35,

When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

So if the YHWH is being served, His people’s lives will be oriented accordingly! And notice, God only gives two qualifiers for such treatment: The person is a stranger, and that they are in your midst. Strangers who come to God’s people are not only to be given pity, but love remembering God’s grace shown to you, and the very nature of who God is. This is a gospel worth celebrating, that in such work we experience close communion with Christ Himself (Matt 25:40-46). A people that shuns strangers, and refuses to love them as themselves are a people who are strangers to Christ, and have refused His love.

2. Evil #2: Division among the People of God (Tribalism)—“Birds of a feather!”

Another thing that you see is division among the people of God. Stop and mark this—not only were “strangers” not cared for as God commands (see above) but when Christ is not followed God’s people actually make strangers of their own family! We’ve seen this before in Judges. We can call this tribalism. Birds of a feather … flock together. It’s not in our Bible’s proverbs, but we know it, okay. It’s a kind of tribalism where it’s very interesting that this Levite when he’s going through into Gibeah first, he’s expecting – he says, “I don’t want to go amongst those who are not Christians, because, goodness, that’s going to be dangerous.” And then he goes to where he thinks he’s going to find family among the Benjaminites, but nobody takes him in. Nobody takes him in, even though they need no further provision than a roof and bed (18-19). Perhaps the reason is that while he is an Israelite, he is from the tribe of Ephraim rather than Benjamin. In fact, of the few details given about the man who takes him in is that he is actually an Ephraimite living in Gibeah (v16)! Maybe he heard the Levite speaking and said “Hey, I recognize that accent.”[6] Maybe he says, “I recognize the way you talk” just like in the previous chapters, the Danites recognize how the Levites spoke (Judg. 18:3). I don’t know. But you certainly do not see a family bond between the Benjaminites and this sojourner, this Levite in their midst. The old Ephraimite welcomes the Levite and his party in and provides for them with the warning, “Only, do not spend the night in the square!” Such an expression could just be effusive hospitality, but the prohibition is suggestive of the presence of something more sinister that prowls outside in the night (16, 20). Whatever happens in the town square after this will not likely not be the first occurrence of its kind. It rarely is.

3. Evil #3: Disgrace and Deceit in Ministry (“The Levite”)

Speaking of Levites, you also see disgrace and deceit in the ministry in the Levite/husband’s behavior. Many people have commented on the fact that this concubine may be presented as the most helpless and voiceless figure in the Hebrew Bible. She doesn’t get a word in. She’s not eating and drinking, even with her father and the Levite. But in a little while I want to argue that her silent suffering speaks the loudest word in the passage. For now, we are given a little bit of information about her husband--but not his name. In other words, the Holy Spirit wants you to know him by his office. He’s a Levite. He’s a priest. He’s a priest who is taking up a secondary kind of wife. He’s a priest who has gone after his wife.

We will unpack this third point in the next post. So hold on tight!

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[1] Here I recall to mind the words of Frederick Douglas. “While this nation is guilty of the enslavement of three millions of innocent men and women, it is as idle to think of having a sound and lasting peace, as it is to think there is no God to take cognizance of the affairs of men. There can be no peace to the wicked while slavery continues in the land. It will be condemned; and while it is condemned there will be agitation. Nature must cease to be nature; men must become monsters; humanity must be transformed; Christianity must be exterminated; all ideas of justice and the laws of eternal goodness must be utterly blotted out from the human soul—ere a system so foul and infernal can escape condemnation, or this guilty republic can have a sound, enduring peace.” "Inhumanity of Slavery." Extract from A Lecture on Slavery at Rochester, December 8, 1850 | My Bondage and My Freedom | Frederick Douglass | Lit2Go ETC

[2] Alexaiana Fry “Whom Shall I Fear? The Irony of Affective Politics in Judges 19. (1-15). Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies. Vol 5.1 (Summer 2023). 4-5.

[3] Isabelle Hamley. “‘Dis(re)membered and Unaccounted For’: פילגשׁ in the Hebrew Bible” (415-434). Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Vol 42. 4. 2018. 415.

[4] The reading of Susan Foh, and many others that the desire for the husband is to be understood as essentially malignant, like that of sin’s desire in Genesis 4:7 is doubtful though it has been widely accepted in certain circles (Foh’s insistence on a singular interpretation of a rare word in every instance is linguistically a very suspect argument, and leads her to a doubtful interpretation of Song of Songs 7:10 (תְּשׁוּקָ only appears in Scripture three times: Gen 3:16; 4:7, and Songs 7:10). Foh’s reading infers all women or wives are to be distrusted because they have an innate “desire” to overthrow their husbands and therefore must be kept in check by authoritarian rule is more a reaction against feminism than it is substantiated by Scripture. To test such a reading one need only use biblical theology and look at female behavior in marriage throughout the rest of Genesis and the Old Testament to see that the number of wives seeking to undo there husbands is very rare, especially in contrast to how many are endangered and misused by their husbands. This says nothing of Abigail’s salvific disobedience to her husband Nabal’s foolishness (1 Sam 25)! See Susan T. Foh “What Is the Woman’s Desire.” The Westminster Theological Journal, vol. 37, no. 3, Spr 1975, pp. 376–83. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0000751295&site=ehost-live).

[5] Chris Moles. The Heart of Domestic Abuse: Gospel Solutions for Men who use Control and Violence in the Home. Focus Publishing. Bemidji, MN. 2015. 72-73)

[6] Remember the Shibboleth, that Ephraimites have a noteworthy accent (Judg 12:6)—think of how we would recognize accents from New York, or Maine, or Louisiana.