Judges 20:6

Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Levite addresses the assembled Israelite leaders immediately after recounting how Gibeah’s men abused his concubine to death. He presents the dismembered body as evidence before demanding a collective verdict.

The words — The Hebrew verbs אֲנַתַּחְהָ ('anaṯṭaḥhā, "I cut her in pieces") and אֲשַׁלְּחֶהָ ('ashaḇḇehā, "I sent her off") describe the physical dismemberment and the subsequent distribution of the remains. These actions frame the concubine’s body as a courier of indictment across the tribes.

The thread — This public distribution mirrors the Levite’s earlier act in Judges 19:29 and echoes the corporate judgment motif in Joshua 7:15. The pattern treats a localized crime as a national defilement requiring unified response.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that a single tribe’s violence threatens the covenant community’s integrity. It asks the reader to see how unaddressed corruption escalates into collective crisis.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וָֽאֹחֵ֤זva./'o.Chezand/ I took hold בְּפִֽילַגְשִׁי֙be./fi.lag.Sh/ion/ concubine/ my וָֽאֲנַתְּחֶ֔הָva./'a.na.te.Che./haand/ I cut in pieces/ her וָֽאֲשַׁלְּחֶ֔הָva./'a.sha.le.Che./haand/ I sent off/ her בְּכָל־be./kholin/ all שְׂדֵ֖הse.Deh[the] land of נַחֲלַ֣תna.cha.Lat[the] inheritance of יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'ElIsrael כִּ֥יkifor עָשׂ֛וּ'a.Suthey have done זִמָּ֥הzi.Mahwickedness וּנְבָלָ֖הu./ne.va.Lahand/ disgraceful folly בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃be./Yis.ra.'Elin/ Israel

King James Version

And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.

Cross-references

Judges 19:29 When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.
Joshua 7:15 The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage in Israel.’”
Judges 19:23 The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.
Genesis 34:7 When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
Judges 20:10 We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.”
2 Samuel 13:12 “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not violate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!