In Judges 19:2 there is an important textual variant. The Septuagint (the Greek text) uses a word which means the concubine became angry with the Levite. The Hebrew text uses a word which indicates the concubine was sexually unfaithful to the Levite.
The Hebrew text says she committed some sort of sexual impropriety against him, and then it uses a very unusual preposition ‘against him’ (or something). So, because we never see that verb and that preposition together, we’re not sure what that means. But if the Hebrew text is to be followed, she committed some sort of sexual impropriety. However, the Greek text says that she was angry with him, which of course puts an entirely different complexion on things.
— Rev Dr Helen Paynter, Tyndale House podcast, S2E Violence and Horror: How do we read Judges 19?1
I think the narrative makes more sense if we accept the Septuagint at verse 2.
If the Levite had been seriously mistreating the concubine, she would have felt angry with him, and would have had good reason to escape from him and seek safety by returning to her father’s house. Her escaping from domestic abuse would tally with the Levite’s later conduct — where he re-groomed her to “win her back”, then re-abused her, and finally cut up her body and sent it out as ‘message sticks’ to the tribes of Israel, lied to the tribes when they came together in outrage, and thus engineered even more destruction in a civil war that engulfed the whole nation, which in turn led to more women being abused in the aftermath of the war.
Yes; that was a long sentence! And it’s rather like the long story the victim wants to tell others about what her abuser has done — if only anyone would listen with patience, non-judgement and compassion!
Watch my video The Levite’s Concubine where I explain in far more detail the Levite’s evil conduct, and the bystanders’ evil complicity.
I think it’s likely that the Septuagint translators got it right.
I wonder whether they were translating from a Hebrew text which said the concubine became angry with the Levite. I wonder what happened to the Hebrew text between 285-246 BC (when the Septuagint was compiled) and 800 AD when the Masoretic Text was compiled.
I do not put it past scribes in the Israelite community to have tampered with the Hebrew text because it made them feel ashamed when it pointed to their sinful treatment of their own wives. Repentance-resistant men do not like having their sins exposed!
When called to account, abusers often resort to “re-writing history”. Who’s to say that the men who were copying the Hebrew text did not resort to mis-copying the text of Judges 19:2 because they didn’t like how it highlighted their own sins of abuse?
I know this is speculation and I cannot prove it. But my speculation is supported by a lot of things we know about the tactics and character traits of abusers.
Post updated August, 2025.
1 If the link to the Tyndale House podcast, S2E Violence and Horror: How do we read Judges 19? gets broken, click here for an Internet archive link. Editors.
[August 18, 2025: Editors’ notes:
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—For some comments made prior to August 18, 2025 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be found in the post.
If you would like to compare the text in the comments made prior to August 18, 2025 that quoted from the post to the post as it is now (August 18, 2025), click here [Internet Archive link] for the most recent Internet Archive copy of the post.]
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Barb,
My apologies for my delayed comment….I had some unplanned things come up 😊 , and some parts of my life continue to be “weird”. 😊
In your post, you wrote:
That.
In your post, you wrote:
(The italics were in Barb’s post.)
That.
And no insult or offence to you intended 😊, Barb….pardon me indulging my sense of humour. 😊
I was originally going to omit the “long sentence” part of your paragraph when I thought about the fact that victims face long sentences, whether from their (ex)spouse, the “church”, the church, society, etc. And sometimes themselves. Very big sigh. (Omitting the many details on victims “sentencing” themselves….there are many posts, books, etc., already written on the topic, too many to list in my comment.)
In your post, you wrote:
That.
Or were they even capable of feeling ashamed? Most abusers only fake shame.
In your post, your wrote:
(The italics were in Barb’s post.)
That.
In your post, you wrote:
(The italics were in Barb’s post.)
That.
And if it was the Masoretic Text, the word mis-copying would have to be written “mis-copying”, as the miscopying would have to have been intentional.
In your post, you wrote:
That.
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