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| Chapter XXIX.
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Chapter XXIX.
About these times, civil
war, as we have said, had broken out; and the following was the cause
of the tumult. A certain Levite was on a journey along with his
concubine, and, constrained by the approach of night, he took up his
abode in the town of Gabaa, which was inhabited by men of Benjamin. A
certain old man having kindly admitted him to hospitality, the young
men of the town surrounded the guest, with the view of subjecting him
to improper treatment. After being much chidden by the old man, and
with difficulty dissuaded from their purpose, they at length received
for their wanton sport the person of his concubine as a substitute for
his own; and they thus spared the stranger, but abused her through the
whole night, and only restored her on the following day. But she
(whether from the injury their vile conduct had inflicted on her, or
from shame, I do not venture to assert) died on again seeing295
| 295 A clear mistake of
memory in our author. The whole narrative is confused. | her husband. Then the Levite, in testimony
of the horrible deed, divided her members into twelve parts, and
distributed them among the twelve tribes that indignation at such
conduct might the more readily be excited in them all. And when this
became known to all of them, the other eleven tribes entered into a
warlike confederacy against Benjamin. In this war, Judah, as we have
said, was the general. But they had bad success in the first two
battles. At length, however, in the third, the Benjamites were
conquered, and cut off to a man; thus the crime of a few was punished
by the destruction of a multitude. These things also are contained in
the Book of Judges: the Books of Kings follow. But to me who am
following the succession of the years, and the order of the dates, the
history does not appear marked by strict chronological accuracy. For,
since after Samson as judge, there came Semigar, and a little later the
history certifies that the people lived without judges, Eli the priest
is related in the Books of Kings to have also been a judge,296
| 296 The meaning here is
doubtful. | but the Scripture has not stated how many
years there were between Eli and Samson. I see that there was some
portion of time between these two, which is left in obscurity. But,
from the day of the death of Joshua up to the time at which Samson
died, there are reckoned four hundred and eighteen years, and from the
beginning of the world, four thousand three hundred and three.
Nevertheless, I am not ignorant that others differ from this reckoning
of ours; but I am at the same time conscious that I have, not without
some care, set forth the order of events in the successive years (a
thing hitherto left in obscurity), until I have fallen upon these
times, concerning which I confess that I have my doubts. Now I shall go
on to what remains.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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