Worse Than Strangers

Chapter 19 begins, In those days, when there was no king in Israel. A Levite traveled to Bethlehem Judah to bring back his concubine, who had left him. Her father welcomed him warmly and kept urging him to stay. On the fifth evening, the Levite insisted on leaving with his concubine, his servant, and two donkeys.

Near Jebus, the servant suggested stopping, but the Levite refused to lodge among foreigners and pressed on to Gibeah, an Israelite town of Benjamin. There no one took them in. Only an old man, himself from Ephraim, offered hospitality, saying, Peace be to you! Just let me supply all your needs, but don't sleep in the street.

That night, wicked men of the city surrounded the house. The Levite forced his concubine outside to save himself, and the men abused her all night. At dawn she fell at the door with her hands on the threshold. When the Levite told her to get up, no one answered. He cut her body into twelve pieces and sent them through Israel. All who saw it said nothing like it had happened since the Exodus. The town of Israelites had acted worse than the foreigners the Levite feared.