Judges 19:29 Komentář

The three remaining chapters of this book contain a most tragical story of the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, patronised by the tribe of Benjamin, for which that tribe was severely chastised and almost entirely cut off by the rest of the tribes. This seems to have been done not long after the death of Joshua, for it was when there was no king, no judge, in Israel (Jdg 19:1, and Jdg 21:25), and Phinehas was then high priest, Jdg 20:28. These particular iniquities, the Danites' idolatry, and the Benjamites' immorality, let in that general apostasy, Jdg 3:7. The abuse of the Levite's concubine is here very particularly related. I. Her adulterous elopement from him (Jdg 3:1, Jdg 3:2). II. His reconciliation to her, and the journey he took to fetch her home (Jdg 3:3). III. Her father's kind entertainment of him (Jdg 3:4-9). IV. The abuse he met with at Gibeah, where, being benighted, he was forced to stop. 1. He was neglected by the men of Gibeah (Jdg 3:10-15) and entertained by an Ephraimite that sojourned among them (Jdg 3:16-21). 2. They set upon him in his quarters, as the Sodomites did on Lot's quests (Jdg 3:22-24). 3. They villainously forced his concubine to death (Jdg 3:25-28). V. The course he took to send notice of this to all the tribes of Israel (Jdg 3:29, Jdg 3:30).

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 19 This chapter gives an account of a sad affair of a Levite and his concubine, and of the bad consequence of it, how that she played the whore, and went away from him to her father's house, whither he followed her, and where he was kindly entertained by her father several days, Jdg 19:1 and then set out on his journey to his own country; and passing by Jebus or Jerusalem, he came to Gibeah, and could get no lodging, Jdg 19:10, but at length was taken in by an old man, an Ephraimite, Jdg 19:16 when the house where he was beset by some wicked men in Gibeah, with the same intent as the men of Sodom beset the house of Lot, Jdg 19:22 and after some expostulation of the old man with them, the concubine was brought out to them and abused by them even unto death, Jdg 19:25 upon which the Levite her husband cut her into twelve pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, which was shocking and surprising, Jdg 19:29 the consequence of which is related in the next chapter.

And when he was come into his house,.... Having taken the dead body of his wife from off the ass, and brought it in thither, and laid it in a proper place and order: he took a knife; a carving knife, such as food is cut with, as the word signifies; the Targum is, a sword: and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces; cut off her limbs at the joints of her bones, and made twelve pieces of them, according to the number of the tribes of Israel: and sent her into all the coasts of Israel; that is, to every tribe, as Josephus says (y): there was now no supreme magistrate to apply unto for justice, nor the court of seventy elders, and therefore he took this strange and unheard of method to acquaint each of the tribes with the fact committed; this he did not out of disrespect to his wife, but to express the vehement passion he was in on account of her death, in the way it was, and to raise their indignation at the perpetrators of it. Ben Gersom thinks he did not send to the tribe of Benjamin, where the evil was done; but Abarbinel is of another mind, and as Levi was not a tribe that lay together in one part of the land, but was scattered in it, pieces might be sent to the two half tribes of Manasseh, as the one lay on the one side Jordan, and the other on the other, and so there were twelve for the twelve pieces to be sent unto. So Ptolemy king of Egypt killed his eldest son, and divided his members, and put them in a box, and sent them to his mother on his birthday (z). Chytraeus (a) writes, that about A. C. 140, a citizen of Vicentia, his daughter being ravished by the governor Carrarius, and cut to pieces, who had refused to send her to him, being sent back again, he put up the carcass in a vessel, and sent it to the senate of Venice, and invited them to punish the governor, and seize upon the city. (y) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8.) (z) Justia. e Trogo, l. 38. c. 8. (a) Apud Quistorp. in loc.

Our sufferings have been dreadful beyond endurance, and it is impossible to describe them in suitable terms; but in order that the dreadful nature of the events which have taken place may be more readily apprehended, I have thought it good to remind you of a history out of the Scriptures. It happened that a certain Levite was injured in the person of his wife; and, when he considered the exceeding greatness of the pollution (for the woman was a Hebrew, and of the tribe of Judah), being astounded at the outrage which had been committed against him, he divided his wife’s body, as the holy Scripture relates in the book of Judges, and sent a part of it to every tribe in Israel, in order that it might be understood that an injury like this pertained not to himself only, but extended to all alike; and that if the people sympathized with him in his sufferings, they might avenge him; or if they neglected to do so, might bear the disgrace of being considered thenceforth as themselves guilty of the wrong. The messengers whom he sent related what had happened; and they that heard and saw it, declared that such things had never been done from the day that the children of Israel came up out of Egypt. So every tribe of Israel was moved, and all came together against the offenders, as though they had themselves been the sufferers; and at last the perpetrators of this iniquity were destroyed in war and became a curse in the mouths of all: for the assembled people considered not their kindred blood but regarded only the crime they had committed.… For my object in reminding you of this history is this, that you may compare those ancient transactions with what has happened to us now, and perceiving how much these last exceed the other in cruelty, may be filled with greater indignation on account of them, than were the people of old against those offenders. For the treatment we have undergone surpasses the bitterness of any persecution; and the calamity of the Levite was but small when compared with the enormities which have now been committed against the church; or rather such deeds as these were never before heard of in the whole world or the like experienced by any one. For in that case it was but a single woman that was injured and one Levite who suffered wrong; now the whole church is injured, the priesthood insulted, and worst of all, piety is persecuted by impiety. On that occasion the tribes were astounded, each at the sight of part of the body of one woman; but now the members of the whole church are seen divided from one another and are sent abroad some to you, and some to others, bringing word of the insults and injustice which they have suffered. Be therefore also moved, I beseech you, considering that these wrongs are done to you no less than to us; and let every one lend his aid, as feeling that he is himself a sufferer, lest shortly ecclesiastical canons and the faith of the church be corrupted. For both are in danger, unless God shall speedily by your hands amend what has been done amiss and the church be avenged on its enemies. For our canons and our forms were not given to the churches at the present day but were wisely and safely transmitted to us from our forebears. Neither had our faith its beginning at this time, but it came down to us from the Lord through his disciples. That therefore the ordinances which have been preserved in the churches from old time until now, may not be lost in our days, and the trust which has been committed to us required at our hands; rouse yourselves, brothers, as being stewards of the mysteries of God, and seeing them now seized upon by others.

A LEVITE GOING TO BETHLEHEM TO FETCH HIS WIFE. (Jdg 19:1-15) it came to pass in those days--The painfully interesting episode that follows, together with the intestine commotion the report of it produced throughout the country, belongs to the same early period of anarchy and prevailing disorder. a certain Levite . . . took to him a concubine--The priests under the Mosaic law enjoyed the privilege of marrying as well as other classes of the people. It was no disreputable connection this Levite had formed; for a nuptial engagement with a concubine wife (though, as wanting in some outward ceremonies, it was reckoned a secondary or inferior relationship) possessed the true essence of marriage; it was not only lawful, but sanctioned by the example of many good men.

divided her . . . into twelve pieces--The want of a regular government warranted an extraordinary step; and certainly no method could have been imagined more certain of rousing universal horror and indignation than this terrible summons of the Levite. Next: Judges Chapter 20

War of the Congregation with the Tribe of Benjamin on Account of the Crime at Gibeah - Judges 19-20 This account belongs to the times immediately following the death of Joshua, as we may see form the fact that Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the contemporary of Joshua, was high priest at that time (Jdg 20:28). In Judg 19 we have an account of the infamous crime committed by the inhabitants of Gibeah, which occasioned the war; in Judg 20 the war itself; and in Judg 21 an account of what was afterwards done by the congregation to preserve the tribe of Benjamin, which was almost annihilated by the war.