Judges 20:5

When the Levite recounted the evil done to him, he said, *“And the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me; instead, they ravished my concubine so that she died”* (v.5). This event took place in Gibeah, located in the territory of Benjamin, possibly five miles north of Jerusalem, during the period of the Judges (roughly 14th to 11th century BC). At that time in Israel’s history, the tribes had settled throughout the land but had no central, unified government. Such a decentralized setting led “everyone [to do] what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25 NASB-95), culminating in brutal acts like the one described here. The men of Gibeah, ignoring the covenant requirements to care for their brethren, instead became perpetrators of grave violence. Their actions reveal the depth of sinfulness in Gibeah and the moral depravity that permeated Israel during this era. The Levite, outraged and mourning the death of his concubine, used this shocking incident to call other tribes to arms, precipitating a civil war that nearly annihilated the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 20:46-48 NASB-95).

When the Levite states that *“They intended to kill me; instead, they ravished my concubine so that she died”* (v.5), it illustrates both the vile intention of the attackers and echoes the underlying theme of unfaithfulness to the Lord’s covenant. The attackers initially aimed to kill the Levite, violating the fundamental biblical principle to love one’s neighbor (Leviticus 19:18 NASB-95). Their violence against the concubine—treated merely as an expendable object—demonstrates the world’s twisted moral perspective when people depart from God’s design. In ancient Israelite culture, strong protections were supposed to be in place to honor guests by defending them from harm (Genesis 19:8, Judges 19:24). Instead, the men of Gibeah brazenly disregarded such duties. Their crime mirrored Israel’s broader decline in human decency, and God allowed a harsh reckoning among the tribes to prevent further corruption from taking deeper root.

The concubine’s tragic death became a rallying point as her husband cut her body into pieces to signal the gravity of the crime throughout Israel. This gruesome act captured the nation’s attention, igniting collective outrage. Cohesion across the tribes—though marred by subsequent internal destruction—reveals that a sense of corporate responsibility and shared moral outrage was not completely lost. That response demonstrates how God can use even horrific events to awaken righteousness among His people, in line with the consistent scriptural narrative that He desires repentance and restoration (2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB-95).

This verse displays the darkness of sin propelling people to heinous conduct, but it also shows the community’s eventual move to address the outrage. The civil war that follows signals Israel’s attempt to purge the evil from their midst (Deuteronomy 13:5 NASB-95). Sadly, it did so with tremendous loss of life among the tribe of Benjamin, underscoring how rebellion against God’s ways leads to devastating consequences for an entire society.

It shows how far human depravity can extend when “everyone [does] what is right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6 NASB-95), reminding us that there must be a righteous authority guiding the community or chaos ensues. In the broader biblical context, Jesus fulfills that need as the ultimate Righteous King (Revelation 19:16 NASB-95), ending the cycle of sin and violence for those who follow Him.

It describes the barbarity of sin in a leaderless time, resulting in tragedy and national upheaval.

Summary in one sentence: The men of Gibeah viciously assaulted the Levite’s concubine instead of killing him, triggering her death and sparking a swift and violent corporate response across Israel that nearly wiped out the tribe of Benjamin.