Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 36:1 (Winter 2022)
Article: Rape, Dismemberment, And Chaos In Judges 19–21
Author: Kimberly Dickson

PP 36:1 (Winter 2022) p. 4

Rape, Dismemberment, And Chaos In Judges 19–21

Kimberly Dickson

Kimberly Dickson holds a Masters in International Public Health and is pursuing an MDiv at Fuller Theological Seminary.. She has studied and worked in the Middle East, East Africa, India, and California and has seen how the status of women practically affects the health and wellbeing of families, communities, and nations. Further, she has seen the welfare of entire communities transform when those who are traditionally marginalized are brought into the center of community decision making. Her work against sex trafficking has informed her creative piece, “The Levite’s Concubine” at https://knowyourmothers.com/the-levites-concubine/. She co-hosts. CBE International’s Mutuality Matters podcast segment, “Global Impact: Egalitarian Activism and Human Flourishing,” with Dr. Mimi Haddad. Kimberly lives in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills with her husband and two teenage daughters.

The unifying theme of Judges 19–21 is the dismal failure of Israel to care for their most vulnerable, ultimately contributing to the demise of the nation. This theme is the culmination of two different agendas within the story. The first and more obvious is the backstory of a devastating civil war due to the collapse of hospitality, a value central to Israel’s national identity. The second is an illustration of Israel’s moral degeneracy that could only be reversed (or so they thought) through a new form of government, a monarchy. Like concern for the “least of these” shrouded in Israel’s hospitality rules, Israel’s moral collapse is symbolized in its degenerate treatment of women, both through an individual and the broader group she represents.1

Structure And Placement

Structure And Themes

The overarching structure divides this tale into three parts. Chapter 19 provides the backstory with what could be termed a “human interest story” that culminates in a Levite calling the tribes together to incite civil war. Chapter 20 describes the tribes’ rationale for civil war and the battles that lead to its military outcome. Chapter 21 wrestles with the future of the tribe of Benjamin, as Israel seeks to provide wives for the tribe’s remaining warriors. Embedded within this structure are recurring ideas that drive the theme of the story. These four ideas are: “the heart”; hospitality manipulated, denied, and abused; sexual abuse and outrage; and the destruction of women.

Judges 19�...