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Genesis 19 Vs Judges 19

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In the realm of ancient western literature, the nature of and relationship among men, women and the divine is often times manifested through the sinfulness of men, the diminishment of women’s value, and the rightfulness of the divine. One such case is Genesis 19 and Judges 19 of the Hebrew Bible, two similar narratives about rape. From a modern biblical point of view, the writers of Judges 19 deliberately situated the characters in similar positions as those in Genesis 19, but included their own telling on women’s destiny to illustrate how women are treated different societies. The two narratives together explain that men are sinful toward women if not for divine intervention. In particular, the narratives’ contrasting endings show that women …show more content…

The townspeople in both stories demand to rape not only the women of the household, but also the foreign guest(s). Such gruesome acts of sexual assault are often recognized as crimes against humanity, and reflect poorly on these men’s character. Beyond the townspeople, even the seemingly innocent bystanders, Lot, Levite, and the host, act immorally in the stories. Lot, the owner of the house, offers his own virgin daughters to the mob in exchange for them not raping his guest. In Levenson’s translation, after knowing the mob’s evil intention, Lot stated, “Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you please.” Although his daughters are saved by the angels, the fact that Lot is willing to embrace rape is morally wrong. Similarly, in Judges 19, the Levite fails to intervene as the mob raped his concubine all night, and show no empathy after discovering her body. When he sees his concubine “…lying at the entrance of the house, with her hands on the threshold”, the man simply said “Get up,” and “let us go.” As opposed to caring for her health and safety. Failure to stand up against violence and neglect one’s own woman makes the Levite sinful as well. Just like that, in both narratives, the hosts offered women as an alternative for the mob’s pleasure, and the supposed legal protectors of the women fail to act. In this manner, the stories tell …show more content…

Although in both narratives the men treated women as properties, the ultimate fate of the women differs significantly. The men’s sin is stopped in Genesis 19 by the angels while the concubine was ruthlessly raped in Judges 19. To examine the endings, I need to first contrast the the nature of the Book of Genesis with that of Judges. According to The Jewish Study Bible by Jon D. Levenson, Genesis is a book about “the beginnings”, and presents its ideas on “the relationship of God to the human race in general”. Stories in Genesis tend to focus on a world where the divine influences, supervises, and punishes human activities. In this way, the weak and vulnerable individuals are oftentimes protected by God. On the other hand, the Book of Judges shifts the central character from God to the “judges”, leaders of Israelite tribes during a period of crisis. This time period has no laws, no accountability, and no righteous authority constantly overseeing the population. The Book of Judges thus has a “recurrent theme of sin, punishment, and rescue”, displaying the “inefficient of judges” and the necessity of divine supervision. The story of Judges 19, in particular, occurs after the death of Samson when Israel was without a judge. This is a state of chaos where protection of the weak ceases to exist. Genesis 19 and Judges 19, in this way, depicts human race under different divine environment.

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