April 1st
Judges 19
The Levite and his concubine
1:
And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel,
that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount
Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah. 2:
And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from
him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four
whole months. 3:
And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto
her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a
couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and
when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4:
And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he
abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged
there. 5:
And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the
morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto
his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and
afterward go your way. 6:
And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for
the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee,
and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. 7:
And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him:
therefore he lodged there again. 8:
And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the
damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they
tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9:
And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his
servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him,
Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all
night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine
heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that
thou mayest go home. 10:
But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed,
and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with
him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. 11:
And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant
said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this
city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12:
And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the
city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will
pass over to Gibeah. 13:
And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of
these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14:
And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon
them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 15:
And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and
when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there
was no man that took them into his house to lodging. 16:
And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at
even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah:
but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17:
And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the
street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and
whence comest thou? 18:
And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the
side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to
Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and
there is no man that receiveth me to house. 19:
Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is
bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young
man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. 20:
And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants
lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 21:
So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses:
and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. 22:
Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the
city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat
at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man,
saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may
know him. 23:
And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, Nay, my
brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man
is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24:
Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will
bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good
unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. 25:
But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine,
and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her
all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring,
they let her go. 26:
Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the
door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. 27:
And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the
house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his
concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands
were upon the threshold. 28:
And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered.
Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat
him unto his place. 29:
And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold
on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into
twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30:
And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done
nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the
land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak
your minds.
Judges
20 Israel punishes Benjamin for sin
1:
Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was
gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the
land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. 2:
And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel,
presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four
hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. 3:
(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were
gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how
was this wickedness? 4:
And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and
said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my
concubine, to lodge. 5:
And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round
about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my
concubine have they forced, that she is dead. 6:
And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her
throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they
have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. 7:
Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and
counsel. 8:
And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go
to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house. 9:
But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will
go up by lot against it; 10:
And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of
Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten
thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when
they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they
have wrought in Israel. 11:
So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit
together as one man. 12:
And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin,
saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? 13:
Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are
in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from
Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice
of their brethren the children of Israel: 14:
But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the
cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of
Israel. 15:
And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the
cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the
inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16:
Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded;
every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. 17:
And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred
thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. 18:
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God,
and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to
the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah
shall go up first. 19:
And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped
against Gibeah. 20:
And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the
men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at
Gibeah. 21:
And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed
down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand
men. 22:
And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their
battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array
the first day. 23:
(And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until
even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to
battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD
said, Go up against him.) 24:
And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin
the second day. 25:
And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day,
and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again
eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. 26:
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and
came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD,
and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings before the LORD. 27:
And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the
covenant of God was there in those days, 28:
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it
in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against
the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD
said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand. 29:
And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 30:
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin
on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at
other times. 31:
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were
drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and
kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to
the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty
men of Israel. 32:
And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us,
as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and
draw them from the city unto the highways. 33:
And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put
themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel
came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.
34:
And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all
Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near
them. 35:
And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel
destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an
hundred men: all these drew the sword. 36:
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men
of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the
liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. 37:
And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers
in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge
of the sword. 38:
Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the
liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up
out of the city. 39:
And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to
smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they
said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.
40:
But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of
smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of
the city ascended up to heaven. 41:
And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were
amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 42:
Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the
way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which
came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them. 43:
Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and
trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
44:
And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men
of valour. 45:
And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of
Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men;
and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of
them. 46:
So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five
thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour. 47:
But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock
Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 48:
And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and
smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city,
as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all
the cities that they came to.
Judges
21 Wives for the Tribe of Benjamin
1:
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not
any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. 2:
And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even
before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3:
And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel,
that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? 4:
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and
built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings. 5:
And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of
Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they
had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to
Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 6:
And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother,
and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7:
How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn
by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8:
And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came
not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the
camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9:
For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the
inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. 10:
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the
valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants
of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the
children. 11:
And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy
every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. 12:
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred
young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they
brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13:
And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of
Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto
them. 14:
And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which
they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they
sufficed them not. 15:
And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had
made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16:
Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives
for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
17:
And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped
of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 18:
Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children
of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to
Benjamin. 19:
Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly
in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of
the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of
Lebonah. 20:
Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie
in wait in the vineyards; 21:
And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in
dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man
his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22:
And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to
complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our
sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for
ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. 23:
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according
to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went
and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and
dwelt in them. 24:
And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to
his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man
to his inheritance. 25:
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which
was right in his own eyes.
The book of Judges
comes to an end with three incidents all of which are relted with
marriage. The first being a Levite who takes a concubine to wife, the
second is that the Lord judges Israel for their sin and lastly the
men of the Tribe of Benjamin take wives. But first, we see the
interesting story of a man that is of the tribe of Levi who takes a
wife who is a concubine. Again the writer is at pains to point out
that there is no king in Israel. In other words there was no
authority to regulate the lives of the Israelites. The incident is as
follows a Levite married a young slave woman of Bethlehemjudah and
she was unfaithful to him and then she went home to her father for
four months. She deserted him for 4 months. So he descided to go
after her and he spoke kindly to her trying to bring her home. The
father was pleased to see him and he gave him hospitality for three
days. However every day the Levite got up ready to go home the Father
persuaded him to stay a while and fed him. After five days of delay
the Levite descided to go even though it was getting late in the day.
So he set out and got as far as Jerusalem, then the servant said lets
stay here but the Levites said no lets move on to find a place to say
with the people of God. (Jerusalem was called Jebus in those days and
it was occupied by the Jebusites) Evenbtually they arrived at Gibeah
(of the Benjamiites) but they found no lodgings so they slept in the
street. Then they met an old man in the streets who offered them
provision but no room or bed. Then when they were eating in his house
the men of the city sorounded the house demanding that the man be
given to them so that they might rape him. The old man refused and
offered his daughter and the Levites concubine to them, but he said
do not do this vile thing to him. In the end the Levite brought his
wife to them and they raped her all night and then released her in
the morning. She came a fell down at the door with her hands on the
threshold of the old man until the breaking of the day. In the
morning the Levite found her and said get up we need to leave this
place. They departed but then he took a knife and killed her
separating her body into twelve pieces and he sent the pieces to the
twelve distant parts of Israel. The men of Israel said that they had
never heard of such a thing in all of their history. Then the
children of Israel gathered as one man 400,000 of them. They
questioned the Levite and he stood an explained it all to them. He
said l did all this because they committed lewdness and folly in
Israel. The men of Israel cast lots so that 10% went up to fight
against this city. They came to the city and demanded that the people
give up these wicked men but they refused. The Benjaminites were
26,000 and of Gibeah 700 chosen men – all left handed. (This made
them difficult to fight) Everyone was an expert sling thrower who
could hit a thread with a stone everytime. But the men of Israel were
400,000. They enquired of the Lord who should go to battle first and
the LORD said. Judah. 22,000 fell that day of the children of Israel.
They returned to the Lord and wept before the Lord asking what to do
next. The LORD said, go again to battle. 18,000 died of the children
of Israel. When they went back to the LORD they wept and fasted and
offered sacrifice and they enquired of the Lord again. The LORD said
go and l will give you victory. So they attacked the third day and at
first it seemed as if the Benjaminites were winning again they killed
30 men but the Children of Israel retreated to draw them into open
field. 10,000 men of Gibeah went to battle not knowing that they
would be defeated. Then the battle went against Benjamin and 25,100
died and there were men in the rear entered the city and killed
everyone and burnt the city. The rising of the smoke was a signal
that those retreating should turn and in the battle 18,000 men of
Benjamin fell in battle. The men of Benjamin gathered 5,000 to fight
for them but in the end 25,000 men fell in the battle of Benjamin.
600 men fled to the Rock Rimmon and stayed there four months. The
children of Israel carried on bringing the judgment of God on the
cites of Benjamin. All this because of a slave woman? Not really the
death of the slave woman was just the spark that set the children of
Israel on a path of destroying of the sin of the tribe of Benjamin.
Then we find that the rest of the children of Israel vowed before the
Lord to humble Benjamin by refusing to give wives to them for
marriage. But the tribe of Benjamin appealed to the Lord. However
Israel repented of their vow and found that they had no wives to give
to Benjamin so they sent 12,000 men and fought against the men of
Jabesh-gilead and took 400 virgins for the men of Benjamin. Then they
sent some men to speak peaceably to the men of Benjamin at the Rock
and they offered them wives yet there were not enough virgins. So
they advised them to go to the yearly celebrations at Shiloh and they
were to take virgins from there. And so Benjamin was prevented from
being totally wiped out from Israel. They returned to their cites and
rebuilt them. Again the writer states that there was no cohesive
authority in a king in those days. Men did whatever they wanted
without a unifying plan.
- What is a concubine?
- What is the terrible thing that he did and why did he do it?
- How did the children of Israel punish the tribe of Benjamin and how did they have to remedy their actions?
