The end of the book of Judges is simply horrific. After Samson's death there are no more judges. The story picks up with Micah getting the same amount of money from his mother as Delilah got for betraying Samson, leading to the logical conclusion that Micah is her son. He hires a Levite to be his personal priest, creating his own god. This Mercenary Levite has a concubine who leaves him and goes home to her father. The Levite goes there and talks to the father to try to entice her to come back. Aside from the blatant patriarchy of the scene, it seems obvious to me that reading between the lines that the reason for her leaving was to get out of an abusive relationship.
The Levite certainly gives reason for us to loathe him. He chooses to travel too late in the day and finds himself and his traveling party stranded in the town square. When they are taken in, the men of the town come to the door seeking to rape them. They are given the homeowner's daughter and the Levite's concubine. In a most pathetic scene, the Levite opens the door in the morning to find his concubine on the doorstep, seeking, but not quite finding refuge. He tells her to get up, which she is unable to do. It is unclear if she is even alive, but that becomes a moot point as the Levite takes her home only to butcher her and sends a body part to each of the tribes of Israel in an effort to get them to gather in war against one of their own tribes.
The warring is very effective and the annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin is almost complete. In the end, the surviving men seek wives from the other tribes, but they are refused because of a vow the other tribes had made. But then in legal maneuver worthy of the worst of politicians, the other tribes point out that they promised not to give their daughters to the Benjaminites, but they never said that they couldn't take them! So the final scene of the book is the abduction of virgins by the Benjaminites.
The closing words on the whole saga of the period of the judges is that everyone did what was right in his or her own eyes because there was no king.
The Levite certainly gives reason for us to loathe him. He chooses to travel too late in the day and finds himself and his traveling party stranded in the town square. When they are taken in, the men of the town come to the door seeking to rape them. They are given the homeowner's daughter and the Levite's concubine. In a most pathetic scene, the Levite opens the door in the morning to find his concubine on the doorstep, seeking, but not quite finding refuge. He tells her to get up, which she is unable to do. It is unclear if she is even alive, but that becomes a moot point as the Levite takes her home only to butcher her and sends a body part to each of the tribes of Israel in an effort to get them to gather in war against one of their own tribes.
The warring is very effective and the annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin is almost complete. In the end, the surviving men seek wives from the other tribes, but they are refused because of a vow the other tribes had made. But then in legal maneuver worthy of the worst of politicians, the other tribes point out that they promised not to give their daughters to the Benjaminites, but they never said that they couldn't take them! So the final scene of the book is the abduction of virgins by the Benjaminites.
The closing words on the whole saga of the period of the judges is that everyone did what was right in his or her own eyes because there was no king.
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