It is hard to imagine the degree of spiritual decline that set in before there was a king over Israel. This last section of Judges helps to explain several things:
Not to be confused with the pagan city of Gibeon nearby, Gibeah can be thought of as the tribal capital of Benjamin's small territory. It was just north of Jerusalem, which was still in Jebusite hands.
Judges 19:1-14 -- This unknown Levite appears to live near the Tabernacle at Shiloh. He traveled to Bethlehem and took a concubine. While not forbidden, such arrangements were discouraged in the Law. After a time, she "played the whore against him." Whether that is meant literally is in dispute, but she surely did so spiritually. She left a man serving Jehovah in the Tabernacle, and went away into pagan living.
The Levite could have had her executed, but was not that kind of man. He went to retrieve her lovingly. She had returned to her home town, and when the Levite found her, she brought him home to her father. Her father was overjoyed by this meeting, and persuaded the Levite to stay awhile. Motives are not mentioned, but he pressured the Levite to stay longer than planned. At midday, the Levite departed with his concubine and two servants, riding donkeys. The dozen miles to the Jebsuite stronghold brought them near sunset. The servants were eager to seek lodging there, but the Levite would have none of it. To lodge among a pagan enemy was forbidden him.
19:15-26 -- The pressed farther north and reached Gibeah. With adequate supplies, the Levite proposed to spend the night in the open town square. Just being inside the city gates was safety from wild beasts, and that was good enough. As the skies darkened, an older fellow hurried in from the fields and saw them there. Apparently they were acquainted with each other, as the old man was originally from the Levite's hometown. He insisted the party lodge with him. While he may have been observing old-fashioned courtesy, it's more likely he know all too well the current moral climate of that city, and did not approve.
Most city dwellers of any means had a home with a courtyard. Visit any European nation's countryside, and you'll see many of the better farm houses built that way. While doors themselves weren't that secure, an enclosed courtyard would have been built with rather heavy gates. It would have required some heavy work to break in, but it appears that was a part of the threat. The scene that follows echoes that of the angels' experience in Sodom some 1000 years before. The chief city of Benjamin had sunk that low. The phrase "Sons of Belial" is more than just a figure of speech. These men had entered a pagan cult that called for this behavior, probably one of the Baals. Raping a servant of Jehovah would be a combined religious and political act.
The offer of women was rejected, but the Levite sent out the concubine anyway. Nothing can justify this act; it shows just how deeply the moral decline had gone. Such treatment of women as animals is definitely not consistent with the Law. The result was the concubine was gang-raped to the extent she died. She had managed to crawl back to the gate of the courtyard.
19:27-30 -- At dawn, the Levite tried to arouse her, but she was dead. He loaded her body on the beast she had been riding and went home. There, he carved up her remains as the symbol behind a message to the leadership of each of the Twelve Tribes. Their reaction was strong. They agreed that nothing this evil had happened since the Exodus.
20:1-11 -- So that nation gathered at Mizpah, a town on the nothern edge of Benjamin's tribal territory. Whether for war or for politics, or even sacred assembly, it would have been the same crowd for any purpose. This was the leadership of the nation. They were numbered at 400,000. The leaders of Benjamin could not have been unaware of such a gathering. The Levite was asked to relate his story, and it was just too much for them. They determined that no one would go home without first taking some sort of action. They settled on a drawing of lots to determine who should represent the nation. It would mean sending roughly one-tenth of the force to fight, while the rest would gather supplies in support of what might be an extended effort. This atrocity had brought the nation together as never before, and they wisely began calling on Jehovah.
20:12-17 -- The first act was to send messengers througout Benjamin's territory. They first of all publicly declared the rape night a crime, then demanded that the guilty should be turned over for judgement. The issue was framed in terms of holiness: sin had to be purged. The Benjamites resented this intrusion on what they considered a local matter, and mustered their own forces in preparation for the confrontation. It is worth noting this is not some empty gesture, as the Benjamites are easily some of the best warriors of Israel. Not only were many of them lefties, but quite skillful at long-range weapons -- slingshots and archery. There was a surprisingly large number of professional soldiers.
20:18-28 -- After seeking Jehovah's guidance at Shiloh, the first attack was led by Judah. The Benjamites were outnumbered, but took advantage of their distance weapons in battle to weaken the opposition before making direct contact. The troops of Judah would be in some disarray from the missiles, and unready to join battle. On the next day, it was much the same story. This time the whole army gathered at the Tabernacle for fasting and prayer. We may be sure God took them seriously before, but here they were making a commitment far greater than before. When God was sure He had their undivided attention, He changed the course of events. The High Priest again came before the Lord and was assured they should try yet again, and were promised success this time.
20:29-48 -- The next day they assembled for battle as before, but set up an ambush. Since Gibeah was Benjamin's safe fortress against defeat, it was necessary to remove this haven to ensure victory, as well as bring the judgement directly where it belonged -- to the city that hosted this pagan debauchery. As the field forces melted under the rain of missiles as before, the Benjamites got too confident, and ran out of the shadow of the city walls. When the fleeing national troops reassembled (the site of Baal-tamar is unidentified), the pursuing Benjamites had left the city undefended, just as had happened under Joshua at Ai. The ambush forces rose up out of the fields west of the city and destroyed it. The smoke of the fires was the signal for the national troops to turn and engage Benjamin. The majority of Benjamin's forces were killed. A mere handful escaped to Rimmon. The carnage did not stop, however, until the rest of the Benjamite people had been killed.
21:1-4 -- The thrill of victory was short-lived. Once complete, the reprisal left everyone with a sense of remorse. Obviously, they had gone too far. In their indignation before the battles, they had universally vowed before Jehovah not to allow any of their daughters to marry a Benjamite. The nature of the vow precluded undoing it. The thought of cutting off the a whole tribe was too much to bear, as the whole of Benjamin was a mere handful of surviving warriors.
21:5-12 -- Taking note of another vow made at the assembly in Mizpeh, they investigated the possibility that any city had failed to sent troops in response to the Levite's grisly message. It turned out Jabesh-gilead, in the Jordan Valley just above where the Brook Cherith flowed into the river, had not sent a single man. The vow had been to destroy any such city, and so the troops turned to yet one more raid of reprisal and carried out their vow. Only virgin women were allowed to live, but that was still not enough to begin the task of rebuilding Benjamin.
21:13-25 -- A group of messengers was sent to declare peace to the Benjamites at Rimmon, and persuade them to come down to Shiloh. The brides were given, but it left them short: 400 virgins of Jabesh-gilead for 600 surviving soldiers of Benjamin. Determined not to fall short of any effort to revive Benjamin, one final measure was proposed. Since giving their daughters was forbidden, the men would have to be allowed to kidnap brides. To avoid violence, the leadership of the nation decided to wait until the next festival that brought crowds down to Shiloh. The Benjamites were advised to hide in the vineyards on the hillsides around Shiloh. When the virgins made their processional dance around the area, the men were to nab what they could from the crowd of eligbles. The leadership promised to intercede with the girls' relatives if trouble arose. Having secured a bride for each man, they returned to their destroyed cities and rebuilt.
Reading between the lines, we can see that this was the turning point in many ways. As a sort of compensation, the Tribe of Benjamin hereafter are accorded much deferrence. Every effort was made to rebuild the tribe; we could say it resembles somewhat the modern policy of Affirmative Action in the US. Also, having such a small number, the Tribe of Benjamin had a very easy time of keeping genealogical records. Upon returning from the Exile in Babylon, they were the one tribe that knew exactly who was related to whom. Further, this wave of sentiment here at the end of the Period of Judges paved the way for Saul's coronation as king, for he was a Benjamite. It is noted in the text one last time that this story took place before there was a king, and no structure to guide the people, nor to enforce the Law on any consistent basis.
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Ed Hurst
14 February 2004
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