Judges 19-21, Psalm 76
Disaster. There is no other way to look at it. This last story in the book of Judges is pretty much the worst part of the Biblical story. God’s chosen people are reduced to the level of Sodom. The outrageous mistreatment of women at several points of the story, genocidal action taken against one of the twelve tribes, and the final collapse of the judge cycle present the last argument of the author of Judges for a change in how Israel will be structured.
This story, along with the previous narrative about the wandering Levite and the tribe of Dan, are not chronologically arranged. Both take place only a couple of generations following the book of Joshua, whereas there were numerous judges in the land over something like 200 years before the story picks up in the books of Samuel. As I have been saying all along, I believe the author of Judges is making a point by the arrangement of his stories that goes far beyond the recounting of narratives. We have seen the utter failure of the office of Joshua that the military leader/deliverer judges occupied. The story of the wandering Levite speaks of the collapse of the line of Moses into apostasy and the failure of the tribe of Levi to carry out their charge to educate Israel in the covenant laws in the books of Moses. Now we are going to get a story about the consequences of this terrible situation.
If this story seems vaguely familiar, it is because it is. Look at the story of Sodom in Genesis 19. But there is more going on here than just a retelling of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Instead of angels bringing judgment, we begin with a Levite and his unfaithful concubine, who the Levite goes to get from her father’s house. After a typical story about hospitality at her father’s house, they set out for home, deliberately avoiding the cities of foreign nations to arrive at Gibeah, a city of Benjamites. In contrast to the father’s house, and in a repetition of Genesis 19, they receive no hospitality. Finally an old man takes them in. Here the story reflects the story of Sodom almost exactly, as the town turns out to sexually assault the visiting man. The old man makes the same offer that Lot makes to send his daughter out instead (what a hero.) Eventually the Levite shoves his concubine outside, and she is raped to death. There is no angelic intervention here, no deliverance by God for the family of Abraham, because the family of Abraham has become the men of Sodom.
The next day the Levite takes his dead concubine home, chops her up and sends the pieces around Israel. The people of Israel are deeply offended and gather to take retribution on the city of Gibeah. In the one bright spot of the story, they consult God on the coming battle with the tribe of Benjamin, who have refused to give Gibeah up for justice. The battle follows a pattern of defeat and repentance, and finally they have victory over the Benjamites. Note that this is the end of their interactions with God. Once the battle is won, they keep their own counsel. After carrying out justice on the town of Gibeah, the army of Israel engages in tribal genocide. They not only defeat the Benjamite army, killing all but 600 of the men, they turn and destroy the towns and cities of Benjamin, apparently totally eradicating the tribe except for the 600 escaped men.
Once this is done, the assembled Israelites decide they’ve gone a little far, but that since they swore not to let any of their daughters marry Benjamites, they have a problem. How will the tribe of Benjamin repopulate? Well, lets find a town that didn’t come to the battle, slaughter them and take all the virgins and give them to the surviving Benjamites. Note that we are given no reason that Jabesh-Gilead did not come to the battle, and though the people wail before God and offer sacrifices, this is not under God’s direction. They simply make the decision themselves. Unfortunately, their plan is insufficient, as the only find 400 virgins after killing everyone else. So they come up with a plan for the remaining 200 Benjamites to kidnap women from the town of Shiloh. Because apparently they think that is how the people of God should solve their problems.
If this story bugs you, it should. Slaughter, rape, forced marriage. This is not a pleasant story. But that is the point the author of Judges is trying to get across. In all the other stories in the book, it is a foreign power oppressing Israel, and God raises up someone to deliver them. Here, there is no deliverer, because there is no foreign power. Israel has degenerated to the point they are killing each other and behaving after the manner of the worst inhabitants of the land before them, the people of Sodom. Remember, Sodom and Gomorrah were so evil that God destroyed them in the days of Abraham, while the rest of the people of Canaan were allowed to continue in the land for hundreds of years before God said they had gone too far and must be eradicated.
This is the final argument the author of Judges makes. The life of Israel with no personal moral and political authority to guide them have been a complete disaster. Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes, which is the definition of the fall of humanity and the human problem. The author of Judges sees the truth, that the people of Israel, chosen though they may be, are not who they think they are. Joshua and Moses have been proven right in their respective farewell addresses: they are not able to serve the God of Israel. The author of Judges looks to a king to make things right. The people of Israel cannot carry out their mandate to bless all the families of the Earth on their own. Perhaps with a king to teach and lead them, things will go better.