Women of the Bible-L

Judges 19:1-29

One of the most disturbing accounts of the Bible occurs in Judges 19. Often we hear that the Bible never condemns patriarchy or poor treatment of women; however, Judges provides just such a condemnation. Never expressly stated, the condemnation echoes in the images the author produces, and the questions the author raises. (Some scholars believe the preoccupation with women in Judges reflects feminine authorship.)

Judges 19:1-2:

In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite, residing in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine became angry with him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.

This passage introduces a question on the types of marriage practiced in ancient Israel. God had decreed that a man would leave his family and go to his wife, but as we know that generally didn't happen. However, the word translated concubine here may reflect just that kind of marriage. Certainly the woman felt comfortable going back home to her father when she became angry with her husband.

Judges 19:3-9:

Then her husband set out after her, to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. When he reached her father's house, the girl's father saw him and came with joy to meet him. His father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days; so they ate and drank, and he stayed there. On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to go; but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, 'Fortify yourself with a bit of food, and after that you may go.' So the two men sat and ate and drank together; and the girl's father said to the man, 'Why not spend the night and enjoy yourself?' When the man got up to go, his father-in-law kept urging him until he spent the night there again. On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave; and the girl's father said, 'Fortify yourself.' So they lingered until the day declined, and the two of them ate and drank. When the man with his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, 'Look, the day has worn on until it is almost evening. Spend the night. See, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early in the morning for your journey, and go home.'

The Bible doesn't explain why the girls father wished to detain his daughter's husband. The reasons could vary between loneliness to a darker ulterior motive--or even that the man sensed impending danger. In any case, the Levite decides not to say longer.

Judges 19:10-22:

But the man would not spend the night; he got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, 'Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it.' But his master said to him, 'We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel; but we will continue on to Gibeah.' Then he said to his servant, 'Come, let us try to reach one of these places, and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.' So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night.
"Then at evening there was an old man coming from his work in the field. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah. (The people of the place were Benjaminites.) When the old man looked up and saw the wayfarer in the open square of the city, he said, 'Where are you going and where do you come from?' He answered him, 'We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home. Nobody has offered to take me in. We your servants have straw and fodder for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and the woman and the young man along with us. We need nothing more.' The old man said, 'Peace be to you. I will care for all your wants; only do not spend the night in the square.' So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys; they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
"While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the city, a perverse lot, surrounded the house, and started pounding on the door. They said to the old man, the master of the house, 'Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may have intercourse with him.'

When I first read this part of the story I immediately thought of Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan. The Levite refused to stay in Jerusalem because the people weren't Israelites. Instead he insisted one traveling on to Bethlehem where his people lived. Once he and his wife arrive they are confronted by men demanding sex.

Judges 19:22:

And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, 'No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Since this man is my guest, do not do this vile thing. Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Ravish them and do whatever you want to them; but against this man do not do such a vile thing.'

Many authors have defended this man's approach, saying that the rights of hospitality demanded he protect his visitor. This rationale has three major flaws. First, no evidence exists for such rigid rules of hospitality in Israelite society, certainly the Bible does not specify such. Second, even if such rules existed, one of the guests due that hospitality was the Levite's wife--she, as much as her husband, was a guest under this man's roof. Third, the Law of Moses specifically forbade a man offering his daughter into prostitution. Put simply, nothing in God's plan made this man's offer acceptable. Just because someone in the Bible does something does not make it right or Godly. This man's actions violated God's laws and God's plan. Instead of protecting the weak as God calls us to, this man offered the least of these up to the wolves.

Judges 19:25:

But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them. They wantonly raped her, and abused her all through the night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.

Again, many commentators have justified the Levite's actions, reasoning that a priest must remain pure before God. This simply justification simply does not withstand testing. First, nothing in this passage indicates this man was a priest of the Lord. Being a male of the house of Levi does not epso facto make one a priest. Second, even if this man were a priest, God implemented rituals to clean priests after contact with the unclean. Nothing in the law suggests that a priest must sacrifice the life of another child of God to protect his own ritual purity. Finally, the resulting behavior of the Levite confirm he was not acting according to God's direction.

No matter the Levite's actions, this woman was thrust out the door to be gang raped. Her screams of pain and fear must have echoed through the night, while her husband who day before had "spoken tenderly" to her sat safe inside.

Judges 19:26:

As morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.

After the man had finished with her, she made it to the door of the house. There she collapsed. There she stayed, alone in the dark until dawn.

Judges 19:27:

In the morning her master got up, opened the doors of the house, and when he went out to go on his way, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 'Get up,' he said to her, 'we are going.' But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey; and the man set out for his home.

Where before he offered tender words to allay her anger, in her moment of darkness he offers only curt commands. Instead of attending her wounds or offering comfort, he merely puts her on his donkey and heads home.

Judges 19:29:

When he had entered his house, he took a knife, and grasping his concubine he cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

If you read back through this passage, you will notice a piece of information is missing. When did this lady die? Did she die alone in the dark? Or while slung over the donkey's back? Or worse, when her husband took his knife to her? The Bible doesn't answer that question. Many times we like to take the pretty stories about marriage from the Bible and say, "This is how it is"; but even in the Bible marriage isn't always a picture book fantasy. Cruel selfish people exist-both male and female. A popular book proclaims that if a wife submits to her husband, God will make everything OK. God loves us and wants to protect us; but He gives us free will. Evil people can do evil things. Selfish people do selfish things. Abusive people abuse. This lady did what her husband said, and God didn't step in and miraculously rescue her. We can get angry, but this story is as much a part of the Bible as the parts that we like. The Bible offers more than a pat answers to easy questions. We must heed the darker warnings as well as the picture perfect promises.

As the story progresses, the Levite uses this lady's body as a rallying point against the Benjaminites. He not once admits his own culpability in the events, and not once does anyone ask. Instead they seek a blood debt, while forgetting the very basis of their grievance. The violation of woman becomes the cause for the violation of many women.

Judges 20:3

(Now the Benjaminites heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites said, 'Tell us, how did this criminal act come about?' The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, 'I came to Gibead that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. The lords of Gibead rose up against me, and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she died. Then I took my concubine and cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the whole extent of Israel's territory; for they have committed a vile outrage in Israel.

No mention that he, the Levite threw her out the door to appease the men. He says they raped her until she died, but is that true? Did she die waiting for him to open the door, or as he cut up her body? In either case she, the woman, is lost in the rush serve a cause.

Israel then bands together to punish the Benjaminites for this woman's rape and murder. They are outraged that such evil could possible occur among their own kind. In fact, verse 25 shows the first time God participates in this story. "The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel."

Lydia
Acts 16:13-15
loo DEE ah "travail"

Acts 16:13-15:

On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the woman who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home. And she prevailed upon us.

Here we meet Lydia. I believe Lydia is one of the most misunderstood women of the Bible. As a child in the church, I was taught that Lydia was a rich woman who financially supported the church The basis for this teaching was the designation of "a dealer in purple cloth." This, however, is only one element in the description.

The first piece of information the text provides is the location of the story. Paul encounters this group of women "outside the gate by the river". At the time, there were two types of purple cloth available. One, made from shellfish was a luxury item, legally available only to imperial families. The other was a vegetable based dye which required ready access to fresh water. The malodorous process equated to "knock off" brands of today, and far from making its producers wealthy elites, it forced them outside the city gates. Not incidentally, the area most known for this designer knock off industry was Thyatira. Put simply Lydia worked in a smelly, hot manufacturing job that relegated her to the outer rim of the town.

In fact, Lydia was probably well aware of the consequences of being on the fringe of society. The name "Lydia" was not even person's name. Lydia was a place. The only people who had place names as personal name were slaves. These were people who did not even merit a name, but were instead simply called by the place from which they had been taken.

Despite her economic condition, Lydia was a "worshiper of God". A "worshiper of God", also called "God fearer", was a Gentile who had determined to follow after the Jewish God, yet due to the requirements of Jewish law, were unable to convert. Lydia was looking for a relationship with God as she gathered with others beside the river.

Finally, we have the detail that Lydia had a household. Was she married, single, or widowed? We don't know, but we do know that she had a household which was baptized. More, she was able to invite Paul and his companion to her home.

Lydia may be the one or one of the ones who was "sharing in the gospel from the first day" in Philippians.

because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.

"The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A, and are used by permission. All rights reserved."