Israelite
Anarchy in Judges: A Transitional Period to Monarchy
Summary of Judges 19:1 – 21:25
A Levite man from the Ephraim highlands
had a secondary wife (concubine) from Bethlehem in Judah (19:1). After his
concubine had gone back to her father’s home (19:2), he went there to get her
back to his home (19:3). He was sojourned there for five days with his
father-in-law; on the sixth day he determinedly left the place and set off a
journey back home (19:4-10). Because of a long way, he could not reach home
before sunset, he had to stayed in the city square of Benjaminite Gibeah
(19:15). He was invited by an
old man to his home for an overnight stay (19:16). A group of perverted men of Benjamite tribe came and
tried to attack him sexually but then they raped his concubine to death instead
(19:22-28a). The Levite man took his wife’s body home the next day and cut it
into twelve pieces to send to all Israelite places (19:28b-29). Not counting
the tribe of Benjamin, all the rest of Israel responded as one in outrages and
decided to punish the evil Benjamites (20:8-11). Israel waged war against
Benjamites their relatives, killing all except 600 men left in hiding at the
rock of Rimmon (20:46-48). It was a bloody civil war in their newly conquered
land, with high death toll on both sides. Finally, the Israelites sent out a
truce to these men and gave them a chance to live and replenish the tribe of
Benjamin. They gave them young virgin women to take as their wives (21:12-13,
21).
Responses
to the questions
Apparently, the book of Judges is
part of the Deuteronomistic History (DH). In this particular pericope (19:1 –
21:25), the narrative story of a Levite man, an immigrant in the tribe of
Benjamin, serves as a good ground for a great plot of seeking a monarchy to
come that is seen artfully orchestrated in the book of Samuel. (Stanley, p. 264).
As we know the ancient heroic tales in Judges had been
edited by the Deuteronomic redactors for their own purpose of promoting a good
DH plan for the nation of Israel, in order for them to become a unique people
of the region at least or of the world later at most. The story might have
served as a Deuteronomic message to the original hearers in ancient Israel. It
indicates the need for a faithful king who could bring the people back to
Yahweh their God was justified by the Deuteronomistic historian. The book of
Samuel seems to fit in with this purpose at an appropriate time for the rise of
kingship. Therefore, this passage in the book of Judges is transitional between
the era of Israelite tribal judges and the formation of a first monarchy in the
nation. (Bandstra, p. 237).
The central message of the story is
that the people of Israel without a king were generally living their own
anarchic way of life. Judges 19:1 &
21:25 “…there was no king in Israel…” seem to be the key verses in the book of
Judges. They served as a preliminary ground for Israel to request a king or to
start a monarchy, and it was reasonable and logic. In the last three chapters
of this book, we do not see any conflict and oppression that come from outside
of Israel or mentioning of any judges in Israel. Perhaps, this passage serves as
a transition to a new area of Israelite history that would happen in the life
of Samuel known as the last judge over Israel before it turned into a kingdom.
Israelite people in these days lived without nationally recognized leadership.
Everyone could do whatever they felt good and thought right in their own way.
It might be out of control. The civil war wiped out almost the entire tribe of
Benjamin owing to the sin they committed against their relatives, but without
any remorse. We could see a destructive power here: with no leadership, it
first caused individuals to ignore God’s law, and it then drove the whole
nation into a moral breakdown.
The first and the last verse of the
passage point out that the people of Israel without leadership acted so wildly,
chaotically and anarchically that the modern reader sees them as very horrific
and uncivilized. In addition, historically speaking, each of the other peoples
surrounding Israel had a king. So it was time for Israel to have a king to rule
over them as they settled in the promised land that they had conquered.
This is a very ugly story but a very
good lesson for Israelites which occurred while they conquered Canaan between
the time of Joshua, son of Nun and the first monarchy in Samuel’s days. For the
people who preserved this story and made it part of the Hebrew Bible, the
purpose was to explain why a human king was needed in Israel to lead the people
back to the Lord their God.
There are several plot elements in
this story that would seem strange or offensive to the modern reader in our
social context. The homosexual rape was unthinkable to the old Ephraimite man
and the Levite man while the rape of two women instead was acceptable to them.
The massacre of all of the innocent women and children of the tribe of Benjamin
was approved and carried out by Israelites. The Levite man chopped the body of
his concubine limb by limb into twelve pieces and sent them to all the
Israelite tribes. The entire tribe of Benjamin decisively defended the sexual
perversion of their kinsmen without remorse.
However, in an ancient audience’s perception, these plot
elements might have functioned well and relevantly for the original hearers and
their society because they gave them a good moral concept and right instruction
of the Lord their God even if it was a bloody civil war and a good number of
people were massacred, which is an eye-for-an-eye vengeance. This happened for
a better purpose of their future becoming a kingdom. There seems to be a
cyclical pattern repeating itself throughout the book of Judges, that is, sin
(Israel turns from God) --> punishment (an enemy is sent to oppress Israel)
--> repentance (Israel cries to God for help) --> deliverance (God sends
a judge to deliver Israel), and it revolved around this cycle. (Bandstra, p.
228)
Bibliography
Bandstra, Barry. Reading the Old
Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Publishing, 2008.
Stanley,
Christopher. The Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Approach. Minneapolis, MN:
Fortress Press, 2009.
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog and one thing I saw very clearly in your post was how “everyone could do whatever they felt and thought in their own way". The response of the Levite does not match his response to her. Then for him to cut her up I truly do not understand this part. What do you think was the reason for him cutting her up. I can see how he might go to war about this but I do not believe he had to cut her up. Well as you can see I am stuck here.
Dava
Daniel, thank you for your post. I thought it was good that you brought up the sexual perversion going on in this passage, it is pretty gruesome! When I read it though, and then reflect on Myers' idea of the biblical narrative being written, not as historically accurate, necessarily, but to function as a way of getting a message across, maybe that is the reason for the gruesome scenes. I remember seeing on Facebook when the children's bodies were being washed ashore in Syria, how outraged everyone was that people could do such gruesome things, however the outrage was not present until gruesome acts occur. Maybe the author used the gruesome scenes to convey a point and get people's attention. Granted, the society then is not what society is today, and what is acceptable and valued is different from the what the ancient reader/hearer would understand. Thanks again for the post!
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