Today we begin Judges Chapter 19
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click HERE.
For the King James Version, click HERE.
“In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levi living on the far side of the Efrayim hills who took a woman from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah to be his concubine. But his concubine was unfaithful to him and left him to go to her father’s house at Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah, where she stayed for some time, four months.”-Judges 19:1-2
Okay, before we dive into this shocking story contained in Judges Chapter 19, let’s get some facts straight.
First, this story takes place BEFORE the events of the last chapter concerning Micah, his silver idol and the false Levite priest he hired.
The purpose of these final chapters is to drive home just how far Israel had fallen into idolatrous depravity.
And to underscore this, the chapter kicks off with the oft-repeated phrase “There was no king in Israel”…
This was just another way of saying there was no central authority and as a result no law and order.
Now although this Levite who appears in chapter 19 sounds a lot like the same one that Micah hired in the previous chapters, IT AIN’T THE SAME PERSON.
Here’s the thing.
During those dark days in Israel, the Levites roamed the landscape seeking gainful employment since they weren’t being supported by the other tribes like they should have been.
So don’t think Micah’s young Levite priest was some rare bird.
He wasn’t.
His story could probably be multiplied many times over throughout the Promised Land during this era.
We’re just reading about a few choice incidents that have been selected to appear in the Scriptures.
However, in terms of shock and depravity, Judges Chapter 19 really takes the cake.
So here’s the situation.
This unnamed Levite living in the northern regions of Ephraim territory has shacked up with a concubine whose hometown was in Beit-Lechem of Judah.
This means she was a member of the tribe of Judah and NOT a Levite.
So it appears there was a scuffle between this Levite and his concubine.
Upset, the concubine decided to leave her Levite husband and return to her father’s home.
Now what exactly was the nature of the conflict that arose between this Levite and his concubine?
Many translations say she was “unfaithful” or “played the whore”.
From a Hebrew perspective, that is accurate.
The original manuscripts say she was a ZONAH which is the Hebrew word for harlot.
Others manuscripts say she acted or her behavior was ZANAH…
Which means she was unfaithful.
However, and this is where things get a bit confusing, other translations simply say the concubine was angry at her Levite husband and that was the reason why she left him.
I can’t say those translations are wrong because they are based on ancient Aramaic texts as well as the Greek Septuagint which say the nature of the conflict was anger and NOT sexual unfaithfulness.
In addition, the ancient Jewish sages also agree to this point.
They insist that the Levite and his concubine had an explosive argument of some kind leading to the breakup rather than anything having to do with sexual infidelity…
Why do the rabbis and some translations take that position?
The answer is because according to BOTH the law of Moses and the customs of that time, a wife or a concubine who was sexually unfaithful was to be executed.
Period.
Yet, there isn’t even a hint that this concubine was in danger of being subjected to the death penalty…
We’ll continue the next time we meet.
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