The Virgin Daughter of the Elderly Man of Gibeah
The town of Gibeah was at one point a Benjamite enclave. The men there were a wicked lot. one day a stranger passed through their town, a Levite from Ephraim traveling with his concubine and two donkeys on his way back to Ephraim. The two of them passed through the town of Gibeah at dusk. The only person they saw was an old man who was walking in from his field. The man invited the couple to remain in town for the night, offering them his home and a hot meal. After some time, the men of Gibeah knocked at the old man's door and demanded that he send out the Levite — they all wanted to have sex with the visitor. The old man begged them not to rape the Levite.
Then the elderly man offered his virgin daughter, and told the villagers that they could do with her whatever they pleased. However, the men would not listen. This placed the guest and the host in a difficult position. The Levite didn't want to go outside and appease the desire of the Benjamites, and the old man didn't want to send his young daughter out to be attacked. When the Levite realized that the men of Gilbeah were going to continue clamoring for him, he escorted his concubine into the group of men and left her. She was sacrificed to them, and the virgin and the Levite were spared.
Abraham had two concubines, or secondary wives; Gideon had one; David had ten; Nahor had one; Solomon had upwards of three hundred; and Rehoboam had roughly sixty, just to name a few men of the Old Testament who kept multiple women.
The story illustrates the depravity and wickedness common to biblical times. The final verse of the story states, “And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds” (Judges 19:30).
