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The Levite's Concubine (Judg 19:2) and the Tradition of Sexual Slander

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The Levite's Concubine (Judg 19:2) and the Tradition of Sexual Slander Vetus Testamentum 68 (2018) 519-539 Vetus Testamentum brill.com/vt The Levite’s Concubine (Judg 19:2) and the Tradition of Sexual Slander in the Hebrew Bible: How the Nature of Her Departure Illustrates a Tradition’s Tendency Jason Bembry Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan College [email protected] Abstract In explaining a text-critical problem in Judges 19:2 this paper demonstrates that MT attempts to ameliorate the horrific rape and murder of an innocent person by sexual slander, a feature also seen in Balaam and Jezebel. Although Balaam and Jezebel are condemned in the biblical traditions, it is clear that negative portrayals of each have been augmented by later tradents. Although initially good, Balaam is blamed by late biblical tradents (Num 31:16) for the sin at Baal Peor (Numbers 25), where “the people begin to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.” Jezebel is condemned for sorcery and harlotry in 2 Kgs 9:22, although no other text depicts her harlotry. The concubine, like Balaam and Jezebel, dies at the hands of Israelites, demonstrating a clear pattern among the late tradents of the Hebrew Bible who seek to justify the deaths of these characters at the hands of fellow Israelites. Keywords judges – text – criticism – sexual slander – Septuagint – Josephus The brutal rape and murder of the Levite’s concubine in Judges 19 is among the most horrible stories recorded in the Hebrew Bible. The biblical account, early translations of the story, and the early interpretive tradition raise a number of questions about some details of this tragic tale. In this article I examine a © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/15685330-12341336Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 04:14:41PM via free access 520 Bembry particular question about the very beginning of the story.1 What precipitated the concubine’s departure from her husband?2 When we examine the Hebrew text of Judg 19:2 along with the Greek traditions, a number of answers surface, and they are quite distinct from each other. In this article I will examine these options, arrange them side by side for a clear comparison, and determine the one most likely to reflect the earliest tradition.3 The answer to the question leads to a discussion of other episodes in the Hebrew Bible involving sexual slander. I argue that the representation of the Levite’s concubine belongs to a pattern of demonization of people who are killed by Israelites by later tradents who attribute sexual misconduct to the slain. The charges of sexual wrongdo- ing are designed to bolster the justification for their deaths. The first two sections of this paper compare the Masoretic Text (hereafter MT) of Judg 19:2 with the two Greek versions of this verse preserved in LXX B (Vaticanus) and LXX A (Alexandrinus), and consider as well the exegetical tra- ditions reflected in Josephus’s Antiquities, Targum Jonathan, and Pseudo-Philo. The third section of the paper compares the presentation of the Levite’s wife with descriptions of the death of Balaam (Num 31:8; Josh 13:22) and Jezebel (2 Kgs 9:33) and is followed by a brief conclusion. 1 I want to thank my colleagues Gene McGarry and Jeff Miller and my graduate assistants Patrick Harvey, Renata Vicente, Kelli Allen, and Kolby Pinkston for reading this manuscript and providing helpful feedback. 2 Exactly what is meant by “concubine” in this story is not easily determined. Often assumed י ִּפֶל ֶג ׁשto have some connection to the Greek word παλλακή or παλλακίς, the Hebrew word applies to a secondary wife, acquired either to be a surrogate mother on behalf of a barren primary wife or, as is more likely in the present context, perhaps given this label if her family was not able to offer an adequate dowry. See Jack Sasson, Judges 1-12 AB6d (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 376. 3 Precisely how the story of the Levite and the concubine connects to the broader narrative of Judges 19-21 is beyond the scope of this article. Later I will note at least one connection this account has with the latter portion of the larger story of the civil war and its aftermath. To that extent it appears to me that Judges 19-21 has cohesion. I concur with Cynthia Edenburg who says, “Independent material might lie behind the different sections [the story of the con- cubine, the war with Benjamin and the restoration of Benjamin], but any attempt to sever a section from its place in the present narrative results in disrupting the chain of circum- stances that advance the plot.” See Cynthia Edenburg, Dismembering the Whole: Composition and Purpose of Judges 19-21 (Atlanta: SBL, 2016), 13. For those who assume that Judg 19:1-30a was an independent story originally, see Hans-Winfried Jüngling, Plädoyer für das Königtum: eine stilistische Analyse der Tendenzerzählung Ri. 19, 1-30a; 21:25 (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1981). More recently see Hermann-Josef Stipp, “Beobachtungen zur ehemaligan literarischen Selbständigkeit von Ri 19” in “Ruft nicht die Weisheit …?” (Spr 8,1): Alttestamentlische und epig- raphische Textinterpetationen, ed. Kristinn Olason. ATSAT 91 (St. Ottilien: Eos, 2011), 228. Vetus TestamentumDownloaded from 68 Brill.com09/30/2021 (2018) 519-539 04:14:41PM via free access The Levite’s Concubine and the Tradition of Sexual Slander 521 I Judg 19:2 in the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint MT LXX A LXX B καὶ ἐγένετο ἐνται̑ς ἡμέραις καὶ ἐγένετο ἐνται̑ς ַוְיִהי ַבָּּיִמים ָהֵהם ּוֶמֶל ֵאין 19:1 ἐκείναις καὶ βασιλεὺς οὐκ ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ οὐκ ְבִּיְׂשָרֵאל ַוְיִהי ִאיׁש ֵלִוי ָּגר .ἦν ἐν Ισραηλ. καὶ ἐγένετο ἦν βασιλεὺς ἐν Ισραηλ ְבַּיְרְּכֵתי ַהר־ֶאְפַרִים ַוִּיַּקח־לֹו ἀνὴρ Λευίτης παροικω̑ν καὶ ἐγένετο ἀνὴρ Λευίτης ִאָּׁשה ִפיֶלֶגׁש ִמֵבּית ֶלֶחם ἐν μηροι̑ς ὄρους Εφράιμ, παροικω̑ν ἐν μηροι̑ς ὄρους ְיהּוָדה καὶ ἔλαβεν ὁ ἀνὴρ ἑαυτῷ Εφράιμ, καὶ ἔλαβεν αὐτῷ γυναι̑κα παλλακὴν ἐκ γυναι̑κα παλλακὴν ἀπὸ βηθλέεμ Ιούδα. Βηθλέεμ Ιούδα. καὶ ὠργίσθη αὐτῷ ἡ καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἀπ ̓ αὐτου̑ ַוִּתְזֶנה ָעָליו ִּפיַלְגׁשֹו ַוֵּתֶל 19:2 παλλακὴ αὐτου̑ καὶ ἡ παλλακὴ αὐτου̑, καὶ ֵמִאּתֹו ֶאל־ֵבּית ָאִביָה ֶאל־ֵבּית ἀπη̑λθεν ἀπ ̓αὐτου̑ εἰς τὸν ἀπη̑λθεν παῤαὐτου̑ εἰς ֶלֶחם ְיהּוָדה ַוְּתִהי־ָׁשם ָיִמים οἴκον του̑ πατρὸς αὐτη̑ς, εἰς οἴκον πατρὸς αὐτη̑ς, εἰς ַאְרָבָּעה ְָחָדִׁשים Βηθλέεμ Ιούδα καὶ ἐγένετο Βηθλέεμ Ιούδα καὶ ἦν ἐκει̑ ἡμέρας τετράμηνον. ἐκει̑ ἡμέρας δ ̓μηνω̑ν. I begin with the text of Judg 19:2a in the MT, which asserts that the woman was unfaithful to her husband.4 The Hebrew reads: ַוִּתְזֶנה ָעָליו ִּפיַלְגׁשֹו ַוֵּתֶל ֵמ ִא ּת ֹו His concubine played the harlot against him and she went away from him.5 to play the“) זנה The first important observation concerns the use of the verb is used 60 times זנה upon, against”). The verb“) ַע ל harlot”) and the preposition in the MT, and on the five occasions when the text indicates the partner 4 The female protagonist is referred to both as “concubine” and “wife.” Susan Ackerman argues that this woman is a secondary wife and thus one who has no autonomy or authority to act on her own. See Ackerman’s argument in her book, Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 236-7. 5 All translations in this article are my own unless otherwise noted. Vetus Testamentum 68 (2018) 519-539 Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 04:14:41PM via free access 522 Bembry against whom the person “plays the harlot” the preposition varies. In Ps 73:27 under”) is“) ַּת ַח ת from”). In Ezek 23:5 the preposition“) ִמ ן the preposition is from under”). In Hos 1:2“) ִמ ַּת ַח ת used. Similarly, in Hos 4:12 the preposition is ֵמ ַע ל from behind”), while in Hos 9:1 the phrasing is“) ֵמ ַא ְַ ח ֵ ר י the preposition is to refer to זנה paired with ַע ל from over; against”). Only in our text, Judg 19:2, is“) in Judg 19:2 is ַע ל + זנה the partner of the adulterous spouse.6 So while the use of unique, no firm conclusions can be drawn, given the relatively few attestations with a preposition. In any case, sexual unfaithfulness is the apparent זנה of cause of the woman’s subsequent departure to her father’s house, where she stays for four months.7 The MT then narrates how the husband arose to go after her “to speak to her heart in order to bring her back.”8 The Hebrew phrase “to speak to her heart” is used to indicate a level of genuine intimacy in Hos 2:16 (Eng v.14) where Yahweh speaks to his beloved Israel in the wilderness. These words are also used in Gen 34:3 where Shechem is wooing Dinah, although the relationship there follows what is assumed to be rape. As Trible notes, the phrase is em- ployed in contexts of relational strife where the woman is either the offended or offending party.9 The phrase is also used in Gen 50:21 of Joseph speaking tenderly to his brothers after he reveals himself to them. In Isa 40:2 Yahweh commands someone to bring comfort to Israel and to speak tenderly to her. The phrase also appears in Ruth 2:13 where Ruth seems surprised that Boaz speaks tenderly to her even though she is a stranger and does not work for him. These three texts (Gen 50:21; Isa 40:2, and Ruth 2:13) demonstrate that “speak- ing to the heart” is opposed to speaking/dealing harshly with someone—the very treatment Joseph’s brothers had previously received from him, something Israel received according to Isaiah 40, and something Ruth expected as a for- eigner from a wealthy landowner.
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