RE: A Levite and his concubine
November 8, 2014 at 1:41 pm
(This post was last modified: November 8, 2014 at 1:42 pm by Astrogod07.)
Apologies, I did not read the 30/30 rule closely enough. The argument that I make in the video is as follows:
I’m particularly interested in this story because it contains several examples in which presumably “moral” characters and even God himself act in ways that most people would consider to be reprehensible. The book begins with a Levite whose concubine was unfaithful to him, and had left him to return and live with her parents. After a few months, her husband sought her out to persuade her to come home with him, which she agreed to do. After staying with her parents a few days, the two of them and a male servant set out to go back to the husband’s home in the country. On the way, they stop in a city called Gibeah, inhabited by Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin. Here, an old man that they meet in the city square invites them to his house so they have a comfortable place to stay for the night. This is where it gets weird.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.
24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight."
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
Verse 24 is probably one of the best examples of extreme sexism in the bible, and even if it isn’t specifically praised as moral, God sure doesn’t seem to condemn it either. While the old man in this story is absolutely dismayed at the prospect of his male guest being raped, he readily offers his own daughter up to the crowd. It somehow would be less offensive for his own, innocent daughter to be abused by these thugs than for another man to suffer the same abuse.
The Levite himself is even worse. Although the old man was the one who made the offer, his guest is the one who took action and sent his concubine out to the men in his place. This is not only extremely sexist, but it is also an act of cowardice. Instead of standing up for what is right, this man is willing to force … now allow … force someone subservient to him to receive abuse in his place.
On a side note, I find it interesting that verse 26, the Levite is referred to as her master whereas before he was referred to as her husband, and described as staying with his father-in-law. This tells us a lot about the nature of the role of a concubine. They are essentially similar to wives in some aspects, but occupy a much lower station and obviously do not hold the same respect that a wife would. They seem to be more akin to sex slaves, which seems evident in this story since the man treats her like mere property, like giving a mugger your wallet.
And to put the bow on this package of callous disregard, we have his treatment of her in the morning. Verse 27 tells us that he “stepped out to continue on his way.” So he had no intention of even waiting to see what became of his property. The wording of this sentence suggests that he was just going to go about his trip home without even looking for the girl. But to his surprise, there she is passed out on the doorstep. So what does he do? Does he ask if she is ok? Does he try to take her to a doctor? No. He simplys commands her … “Get up, let’s go.” There is no indication that he was concerned for her in any way whatsoever. And when she doesn’t respond, he just tosses her on his donkey and heads out. These are not the actions of a moral man, or even a decent man.
The outrage in this story is supposed to stem from the rape and murder of the woman by the wicked men of the town, but I don’t think that’s the greatest moral outrage present in this narrative. The worst aspect of all of this is the blatant disregard for the value of human life by the man who would force his slave, his living property, to be raped, beaten, and ultimately murdered in his stead. And the author of this tale makes nary a note of the moral discrepancy of such an act.
This is just one example of the moral failure of the bible. Passages like this demonstrate that it is almost impossible for the bible to be a useful reference when trying to make moral decisions.
I’m particularly interested in this story because it contains several examples in which presumably “moral” characters and even God himself act in ways that most people would consider to be reprehensible. The book begins with a Levite whose concubine was unfaithful to him, and had left him to return and live with her parents. After a few months, her husband sought her out to persuade her to come home with him, which she agreed to do. After staying with her parents a few days, the two of them and a male servant set out to go back to the husband’s home in the country. On the way, they stop in a city called Gibeah, inhabited by Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin. Here, an old man that they meet in the city square invites them to his house so they have a comfortable place to stay for the night. This is where it gets weird.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.
24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight."
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
Verse 24 is probably one of the best examples of extreme sexism in the bible, and even if it isn’t specifically praised as moral, God sure doesn’t seem to condemn it either. While the old man in this story is absolutely dismayed at the prospect of his male guest being raped, he readily offers his own daughter up to the crowd. It somehow would be less offensive for his own, innocent daughter to be abused by these thugs than for another man to suffer the same abuse.
The Levite himself is even worse. Although the old man was the one who made the offer, his guest is the one who took action and sent his concubine out to the men in his place. This is not only extremely sexist, but it is also an act of cowardice. Instead of standing up for what is right, this man is willing to force … now allow … force someone subservient to him to receive abuse in his place.
On a side note, I find it interesting that verse 26, the Levite is referred to as her master whereas before he was referred to as her husband, and described as staying with his father-in-law. This tells us a lot about the nature of the role of a concubine. They are essentially similar to wives in some aspects, but occupy a much lower station and obviously do not hold the same respect that a wife would. They seem to be more akin to sex slaves, which seems evident in this story since the man treats her like mere property, like giving a mugger your wallet.
And to put the bow on this package of callous disregard, we have his treatment of her in the morning. Verse 27 tells us that he “stepped out to continue on his way.” So he had no intention of even waiting to see what became of his property. The wording of this sentence suggests that he was just going to go about his trip home without even looking for the girl. But to his surprise, there she is passed out on the doorstep. So what does he do? Does he ask if she is ok? Does he try to take her to a doctor? No. He simplys commands her … “Get up, let’s go.” There is no indication that he was concerned for her in any way whatsoever. And when she doesn’t respond, he just tosses her on his donkey and heads out. These are not the actions of a moral man, or even a decent man.
The outrage in this story is supposed to stem from the rape and murder of the woman by the wicked men of the town, but I don’t think that’s the greatest moral outrage present in this narrative. The worst aspect of all of this is the blatant disregard for the value of human life by the man who would force his slave, his living property, to be raped, beaten, and ultimately murdered in his stead. And the author of this tale makes nary a note of the moral discrepancy of such an act.
This is just one example of the moral failure of the bible. Passages like this demonstrate that it is almost impossible for the bible to be a useful reference when trying to make moral decisions.
