Judges 19:1

*“Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.”* (Judges 19:1). This verse, taking place around 1370–1050 BC, sets the scene during a turbulent period when Israel had no centralized leadership. Because there was no king, the people were often left to their own devices, resulting in spiritual confusion and moral compromise, as illustrated by the events recorded in the book of Judges. The mention of a Levite is significant because the Levites were consecrated to assist the priests in religious duties under the Mosaic covenant. By highlighting this Levite’s actions, the text implies that even those who were supposed to guide Israel in holiness and worship sometimes strayed from their calling (Judges 2:11 forces the point that Israel commonly turned from God to idolatry citeturn0file8).

This Levite was staying “in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim.” Ephraim was a tribal territory situated in the central region of ancient Israel, an area characterized by rolling hills (Joshua 16:5-10). The verse also names Bethlehem in Judah, which is located about five miles south of Jerusalem. Bethlehem, historically, became known as the birthplace of King David (1 Samuel 16:4,13) and, later, of Jesus Christ (Matthew 2:1). But during the time of the Judges, Bethlehem was still a modest town in the tribal territory of Judah. This emphasis on places—Bethlehem and Ephraim—underscores how the lack of oversight and cohesive governance in Israel allowed all sorts of disturbing incidents, as further recounted in Judges 19, to occur (Judges 2:16-23 outlines the cyclical disobedience typical of the era citeturn0file8).

*“Now it came about in those days…”* also alludes to a moral climate where people did what was right in their own eyes since there was “no king in Israel” (Judges 17:6). This environment foreshadows the brutal and regrettable account later in the same chapter, warning that the absence of central authority or recognized leadership often leads to divisions, injustices, and acts of violence among the tribes (Judges 19:22-30; Hos. 9:7-9 references the corruption in Gibeah as typifying widespread depravity citeturn0file0).

Judges 19:1 highlights the social and moral chaos that emerged in Israel without a unifying leader.