Judges 19:25-30

Judges 19:25

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.

 

The evil men did not want the old man so instead their wickedness knew no bounds and took the concubine of the Levite and gave her into the hands of this wicked mob.  No doubt they gang raped her and no telling how many partook of this heinous act.  In addition to the sex with her, they abused her all night which means they “maltreated, harmed, or injured” her.  It was amazing that they did not abuse her to the point that she died at that time.  She must have been severely injured by morning with the way that mob treated her.

 

Judges 19:26

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.

 

Then the woman came back to the house at dawn.  They must have taken her somewhere to abuse her and she found her way back since she was not familiar with this city.  She must have laid at the door for a few hours till the sun came up higher after dawn.  She must have been very weak since she could not even muster the strength to open the door.

 

Judges 19:27

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.

 

It seems like the Levite thought that he had lost his concubine to death owing to the ferocity of the wicked crowd the night before.  It appears that he was packed and going to leave Gibeah and head for home with just his servant.  He opened the door of the house and as he was about to leave, he saw that his concubine was fallen down at the front door.  The threshold was the bottom part of the door frame under the door.  She was probably stretched out holding the threshold as a silent appeal to her master for help.

 

Judges 19:28

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.

 

This shows what a heartless man this Levite was.  His concubine was probably still suffering from what she endured the night before and was almost without strength when she arrived back at the house.  He then commands her to get up so they can continue on their journey home.  The problem now was that when he commanded her, she did not have any response because she had finally died from her wounds.  He then took her and placed her on the ass and then journeyed home until he finally arrived.

 

Judges 19:29

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.

 

Then when he arrived home he did something very gruesome.  He took her into his house and then placed her on a table and took a regular knife and cut her into twelve pieces including her bones which meant he did some serious carving.  It is believed that he sent one piece of her body to each of the tribes except Benjamin where her murder and rape was committed.  He did this to gain empathy for what happened to her and was probably hoping there would be a military campaign against the city of Gibeah and the wicked sodomites.  As God destroyed Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, he was probably thinking that maybe Israel would band together and destroy Gibeah.

 

Judges 19:30

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.

 

Then when the people of Israel saw the sections of the dismembered body they all had agreed that a great crime had taken place against this woman.  One which was not seen or heard of since the day that Israel left Egypt.  In fact, even when Lot offered his two daughters, they were not given because the angels stepped in and blinded the sodomites but in Gibeah their sin was brought to fruition on the woman.  Then the people who received the body were asked to discuss and give advice on the situation that occurred in Gibeah.  The question was would they be willing to take any action since they were all well aware of the situation that happened in Sodom when God took action.  The Levite wanted the heads of the tribes of Israel to meet and discuss Gibeah.

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