The 200 men still lacking women are subtly allowed to abduct the maidens dancing at Shiloh.īiblical account The outrage at Gibeah Ī Levite from the mountains of Ephraim had a concubine, who left him and returned to the house of her father in Bethlehem in Judah. They circumvent the oath by pillaging and massacring the city of Jabesh-Gilead, none of whose residents partook in the war or in the vow, and capturing its 400 maidens for the Benjaminites. However, the punitive expedition is overcome by remorse, fearing that it will cause the extinction of an entire tribe. Outraged by the incident, the tribes swear that none shall give his daughter to the Benjamites (or Benjaminites) for marriage, and launch a war which nearly wipes out the clan, leaving only 600 surviving men. The Levite dismembers her and presents the remains to the other tribes of Israel.
He turns his concubine over to the crowd, and they rape her until she collapses. It concerns a Levite from Ephraim and his concubine, who travel through the Benjamite city of Gibeah and are assailed by a mob, who wish to gang-rape the Levite. The episode of the Levite's concubine, also known as the Benjamite War, is a biblical narrative in Judges 19–21 (chapters 19, 20 and 21 of the Book of Judges). Illustration from the Morgan Bible of the Levite and his concubine.