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coram_deo 22-Nov-21, 15:22	The Wicked Heart of Man “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) When it comes to shocking accounts (stories?) in the Holy Bible, it’s hard to top this one. In fact, I can think of only one other that rivals it (also in the book of Judges.) I’m currently handwriting the book of Judges and I handwrote chapter 19 earlier today, from which this account is taken. If you like to read the ending of a story before the earlier parts, this account won’t have the same impact on you. I can think of only one non-Biblical story that surprised me the way this one did. A short story called “The Interlopers” by Saki that I read in school. Judges Chapter 19: “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. And his concubine played the w**** against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months. 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. 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. 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. 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. And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 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. 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. 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? 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. 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. And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. 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. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.“ <<I haven’t read any commentaries on this chapter, but I’m interested to see what they say. It’s hard to imagine evil that surpasses the evil done to that woman. I’ll post some commentaries on this chapter later on and then post the other account in Judges that’s pretty surprising in its wickedness.>>
coram_deo 22-Nov-21, 20:16	So, here’s an interesting commentary on Judges 19, which revealed an important point I had missed. I thought the concubine was alive when the Levite (her husband) cut her into 12 pieces, which is obviously much more wicked and gruesome than if she were deceased. But apparently she was deceased and that does fit with the account in Judges 19, which said she gave no response to her husband and had to be lifted onto an ass for transport; I had thought she was unconscious or fatigued (or abused) to the point of immobility. (The KJV translation is not clear in saying she was deceased.) Also, the story continues in the last two chapters of Judges, which I hope to handwrite before Thanksgiving, so this commentary, which references chapters 20 and 21, has spoilers. From gotquestions.org: What can we learn from the story of the Levite and his concubine? The concluding chapters of Judges highlight the fact that everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6; 21:25). One of the stories that demonstrate the chaos and lawlessness of the time is the account of the Levite and his concubine, which begins in Judges 19. The Levite had a concubine who had run away and been unfaithful to him. From the very start, there is the problem of a Levite (of the priestly tribe) having a concubine, and then there is the problem of the woman being involved in a sexual relationship with someone not her husband. The Levite found his concubine back at her parents’ home. As the Levite was bringing the concubine back to his own home, he stopped for the night in Gibeah, a town of the Benjamites. An older man insisted, for safety, that the Levite and his concubine stay at his home instead of in the town square. That night, “some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, ‘Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him’” (Judges 19:22). The host tried to reason with them, but they would not listen. To spare himself, the Levite sent his concubine outside. The degenerate mob abused her all that night (verse 25). When the man opened the door in the morning, the mob had departed, and the concubine’s dead body lay “in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold” (verse 27). The Levite picked up the concubine’s body and placed it on his donkey and traveled home. He then cut up her body into twelve pieces—one for each tribe of Israel—and sent the pieces throughout the land. The macabre packages provoked the intended response; everyone who learned of the crime began talking: “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!” (Judges 19:30). The tribes of Israel (minus Benjamin) came together and decided to have the men who raped and murdered the Levite’s concubine put to death. But when they confronted the people of Benjamin, the Benjamites chose to protect the guilty parties and refused to turn them over for justice (Judges 20:12–14). A civil war erupted, and the tribe of Benjamin was eventually defeated. All but 600 men of Benjamin were killed (Judges 20:47–48). Judges 21 records the aftermath of the war over the Levite and his concubine. After a period of mourning, the leaders of the other eleven tribes sought to find a way to keep the tribe of Benjamin alive. Their solution was to punish the city of Jabesh Gilead, who did not respond to the call to gather against the Benjamites. The punishment was that the 600 Benjamite men were allowed to steal young women from Jabesh Gilead to take as their wives. This grotesque and alarming series of events concludes with the fitting words of Judges 21:25: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Readers reeling from the immoral activities of these closing chapters of Judges can take some comfort in the fact that Scripture clearly condemns these activities. Crimes such as befell the Levite’s concubine are what happens when the law is spurned and everyone does as he sees fit. This dark period of Israel’s history would soon lead to the demand for an Israelite king, an act that would help to some degree yet would also reveal the need for a perfect King and Messiah—Jesus Christ. www.gotquestions.org
coram_deo 24-Nov-21, 01:27	Interesting commentary on Judges 19. “Why is the Horror Story of Judges 19 in the Bible?” youtu.be This video is 5:05 long

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