By Magdalena Sanchez 
The story of the Levite’s concubine in Judges 19 reflects one of the most brutal expressions of gender-based violence in the Bible. This blog proposes a critical and liberating rereading of the text, making the victim visible and questioning the patriarchal structures that still today perpetuate abuse.
Chapter 19 of the book of Judges, written between 1045 and 1000 BCE, recounts one of the most brutal and painful scenes of gender-based violence found in the biblical canon. Set within a social context where “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25), the text narrates the story of a concubine whose dignity, life, and body were sacrificed in the name of masculine honor and the preservation of patriarchal structures. Far from being a mere narrative, this chapter operates as an X-ray of a society undergoing moral collapse—a mirror that challenges contemporary faith communities to confront the realities of violence that persist today.
From the very beginning, the woman appears as a nameless, voiceless, and rightless figure. The only decision she makes—leaving the Levite—is presented as a moral failing that supposedly justifies her later recovery by her husband, who treats her as an object of possession. When they seek lodging in Gibeah, an elderly man receives them. Yet that very night, the men of the town surround the house and demand that the host bring out the foreigner so they may “know him.” In response, the host offers his virgin daughter and the concubine, and the Levite ultimately hands over the latter. The woman is raped throughout the night and dies at the threshold of the house. Her body is subsequently dismembered and sent to the tribes of Israel—not as a lament for her suffering, but as a denunciation of the offense committed against the man (Judges 19:1–30).
The narrative offers no judgment, empathy, or lament for the woman. As Lucía Riba observes, Scripture often presents accounts in which women are rendered invisible, instrumentalized, and silenced¹. The violence depicted here is not merely a physical assault but a manifestation of structural violence—expressed through the negation of the female voice, the logic of ownership, and the transformation of the victim into a mechanism for tribal conflict².
A feminist re-reading of this passage, such as those proposed by Carmiña Navia and Ute Seibert³, does not attempt to justify the text but rather to expose and challenge the ideological foundations that sustain it. Through this lens, the concubine of Judges 19 becomes a powerful symbol of the historical suffering of women—a martyr whose memory demands to be recovered as an act of justice, restoration, and healing.
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza argues that a genuinely liberating theology must radicalize Christian memory by incorporating those who have been excluded from the canon, the liturgy, and ecclesial history⁴. Her insight invites readers to reinterpret the text not as a distant historical account but as a call to remember those whose stories have been buried beneath patriarchal readings.
The Bible is not a dead text. Its narratives continue to speak with urgency today. In the twenty-first century, gender-based violence, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and domestic violence still claim countless victims worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence in her lifetime⁵. These realities have devastating impacts on women, girls, and boys, and profoundly affect society as a whole—including our faith communities.
Churches, therefore, bear a non-delegable responsibility. They cannot remain silent in the face of suffering nor hide behind literalist interpretations that perpetuate inequality. It is time to “consider, take counsel, and speak.” To consider means to acknowledge the problem; to take counsel entails educating oneself, receiving training, and listening to marginalized voices; and to speak requires raising one’s voice to denounce violence, accompany survivors, and work toward transformation.
This blog seeks to raise awareness—both within congregations and in broader society—about the structural violence endured by women. Through a committed and liberating hermeneutic, we can remember the concubines of yesterday and today. We can reinterpret their stories, restore their faces, return their dignity, and recover their voices. For to speak is to heal, to make visible is to protect, and to act is to transform.
- Riba, Lucía. “Invisibilización de las mujeres en la Biblia: relatos, autorías, recepciones.”
Theologica Xaveriana 70 (2020): 1–29. - Seibert, Ute. Leer la Biblia con ojos de mujer: aportes para una lectura feminista de la Biblia en América Latina. Ediciones ABU, 1999.
- Navia Velasco, Carmiña. La mujer en la Biblia: opresión y liberación. Revista de Interpretación Bíblica Latinoamericana.
- Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. En memoria de ella: Una reconstrucción teológico-feminista de los orígenes del cristianismo. Bilbao: Desclée de Brouwer, 1989.
- Organización Mundial de la Salud, Informe mundial sobre la violencia contra la mujer, 2021