Judges 19:22 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, the great wickedness of the men of Gibeah. It seems hard to imagine that such evil could rise in the hearts of people with human reason, or even Israelites, who had God’s law and light. David’s words fit well here, “Lord, what is man?” What a weak creature he is. We may also say, “Lord, what is man,” when we see how vile he becomes if he is left to his own sinful desires.

The sinners are called sons of Belial, that is, lawless men, men who would not bear any restraint. Belial is another name for the devil, so they are like children of the devil, rebelling against God and his rule. These were sons of Benjamin, the tribe Moses had spoken of with blessing, saying, “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him” (Deuteronomy 33:12). Yet they had become so corrupt that an honest man could not be safe among them. The sufferers were a Levite, a man set apart for religious service, his wife, and the kind host who received them. We are strangers on earth, and we must expect strange treatment.

It is said they were making their hearts merry when this trouble came upon them (Judges 19:22). If their joy was innocent, it reminds us how uncertain all earthly comforts are. When we are enjoying our friends, we do not know how close our enemies may be. If things go well this hour, we cannot be sure they will in the next. But if their joy was sinful and careless, it warns us to guard ourselves closely, so we do not grow careless even in lawful pleasures. God can quickly turn laughter into mourning and joy into sorrow.

Look at the wickedness of these men of Benjamin. First, they made a rough and proud attack in the night on the house of an honest man. He not only lived peaceably among them, but also kept an open and generous house, and was a credit to their city. They surrounded the house and beat hard at the door, frightening everyone inside (Judges 19:22). A man’s house should be his castle, a place of safety and peace, and the law should protect it. But there was no king in Israel to keep order and protect honest people from violent men.

Second, they showed special hatred toward the strangers inside the house, men who only wanted lodging for the night. This broke the law of hospitality, which all civilized people have usually treated as sacred. The master of the house pleaded with them on this ground, saying, “Seeing that this man has come into my house” (Judges 19:23). It is a low and shameful spirit that tramples on the helpless and treats a man worse because he is a stranger.

Third, they planned the most filthy and wicked abuse against the Levite, who may have been young and handsome. They said, “Bring him out to us so that we may know him.” Their meaning was not to ask who he was, but to commit the unnatural sin forbidden in Moses’ law and called an abomination (Leviticus 18:22). In the New Testament, those guilty of it are counted among the worst sinners (1 Timothy 1:10), and such people will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9).

This was the sin of Sodom, and it is from there that the sin gets its name. The Dead Sea, which stood as a warning sign of God’s judgment on Sodom for its filth, was one of Canaan’s borders and lay not far from Gibeah. The men of Gibeah may often have seen it, yet they refused to learn from it. They did worse than Sodom (Ezekiel 16:48), and sinned in the same way. How shocking, as Bishop Hall says, that such deep abomination should come from the family of Jacob. Even the worst pagans looked better than these men. What good was it to have the ark of God at Shiloh, if they had Sodom in their streets, God’s law on their clothing, but the devil in their hearts? Nothing but hell can produce a worse creature than a corrupted Israelite.

This also was the punishment of their idolatry, the sin they loved most. Since they did not want to keep God in their knowledge, he gave them over to vile passions, and so they dishonored themselves, just as they had dishonored him by their idolatry and turned his glory into shame (Romans 1:24, Romans 1:28). We should admire God’s patience here. Why were these sons of Belial not struck blind, as the men of Sodom were? Why did fire and sulfur not fall from heaven on their city? It was because God would leave their punishment to Israel’s sword, and reserve his final judgment for the future life, where those who pursue such sins will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 1:7).

Fourth, they would not listen to the gentle warnings of the good man of the house. He likely knew the story of Lot and the men of Sodom, and he tried to act like Lot did (Judges 19:23, Judges 19:24). Compare Genesis 19:6-8. He went out to them, spoke kindly, called them brothers, begged them to stop, and reminded them that his guests were under his protection. He plainly called their plan very wicked. He also called it folly and a vile thing. But in one respect he followed Lot too far, as we often do when we copy good people, even in their mistakes, by offering his daughter to them. He had no right to do that, and he should not have done evil so that good might come. Yet his strange proposal may be partly excused by the fear and shock he was under, his concern for his guests, and the fact that he had Lot’s example in mind. Perhaps he also hoped that, since he offered them a more natural outlet for their lust, they would go back to their usual prostitutes. But they would not listen (Judges 19:25). Stubborn lust is like the deaf adder that shuts its ear. It hardens the conscience and makes it numb.

Fifth, they seized the Levite’s wife and abused her until she died (Judges 19:25). They ignored the old man’s offer of his daughter, either because she was not beautiful or because they knew her to be modest and serious. But when the Levite brought out his concubine, they took her by force to the place where they meant to carry out their wickedness.

Josephus, in his retelling of this account, says the mob intended to attack the woman, not the Levite himself. He says they saw her in the street when they came into town and were struck by her beauty. It may also be that, although she had made peace with her husband, her behavior had not shown much modesty. Many people bring this kind of trouble on themselves by loose behavior. A small spark can start a great fire.

One would think the Levite should have followed them to see what became of his wife. But it is likely he did not dare, because they might have harmed him too. In this sad end of the woman, we can see the righteous hand of God punishing her for her earlier unfaithfulness, when she had acted like a prostitute against her husband (Judges 19:2). Her father had supported her, and her husband had forgiven her. The matter had been put behind them once the quarrel was settled, yet God still remembered it when he allowed these wicked men to abuse her so cruelly.

The men of Gibeah were still fully guilty, even though God was also righteous in letting this happen. Their treatment of her was horribly evil and barbaric. Her punishment matched her sin, as the old saying puts it, lust was both her sin and her punishment. By the law of Moses, she should have been put to death for adultery. She escaped that penalty from human hands, but judgment still followed her. Even when there was no king in Israel, there was still a God in Israel, and he judges the earth. We must not think it is enough to make peace with people we have wronged by our sins. We also need to make peace with God through repentance and faith, because he sees more clearly than people do and does not treat sin lightly.

The abused woman made her way back toward her husband’s lodging as soon as daylight made the sons of Belial, that is, worthless, wicked men, let her go (for evil deeds hate the light) (Judges 19:25). She fell down at the door with her hands on the threshold, as if asking forgiveness for her former sin, and died in the posture of a penitent, with her mouth in the dust. When the Levite found her (Judges 19:26, Judges 19:27), he first thought she might be asleep, or overwhelmed by shame and grief, but soon saw that she was dead (Judges 19:28). He then took up her body, which we may suppose was marked all over by the blows and abuse she had suffered.

At this terrible moment he gave up his plan of going to Shiloh and went straight home. He had gone out hoping to return in joy, but came back mournful and broken. He sat down and asked himself whether this wrong could simply be ignored. He could not call fire down from heaven to destroy the men of Gibeah, as the angels later did to the men of Sodom when they were insulted in a similar way.

There was no king in Israel, and there seems to have been no sanhedrin, or great council, to whom he could appeal for justice. Phinehas, the high priest, was busy with the service of the sanctuary and would not act as judge or mediator, that is, one who stands between two sides to settle a matter. So the Levite had no course left but to appeal to the people. Let the whole community judge the matter.

Though there was no regular national assembly for all the tribes, each tribe probably had its own meeting of leaders. To those tribal meetings, he sent messengers with a full account of the wrong done to him, with all its worst details. He also sent a piece of his wife’s dead body (Judges 19:29) to prove the story and move them to anger. He divided it into twelve parts, according to the joints, so that one piece could go to each tribe, even Benjamin. He hoped some among them would be stirred to punish such a great crime, especially since it had been done by some of their own tribe.

This may seem very cruel, since the body of the dead should have been treated with honor and buried decently. But the Levite meant by this act to show how barbarously his wife had been treated. He thought they had better have cut her body apart than have used her as they did. He also wanted to show how deeply he felt the wrong, so that others would feel it too. And it had the effect he wanted.

All who saw the pieces of the body, and heard what had happened, agreed on two things. First, the men of Gibeah had committed a very terrible sin, the like of which had never before been known in Israel (Judges 19:30). It was a combined and ugly crime, made worse by every possible detail. They were not foolish enough to laugh at this sin or treat the story as a joke.

Second, they agreed that all Israel should gather to decide what should be done to punish this wickedness. They wanted to stop this growing flood of immorality before it spread further, and they did not want God’s anger to fall on the whole nation because of it. This was not an ordinary matter, so they urged one another to meet and think it through: consider it, take advice, and speak your minds. Here we have three important rules for anyone who serves in council during a serious matter. Each man should first think carefully and fairly about the issue before speaking. Then they should talk it over openly and learn one another’s views and reasons. After that, each man should speak his own mind and vote according to his conscience. In a large number of such advisers, there is safety.