Bible verses about "concubines" | VIN

¹ In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a Levite living on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah. ² She was unfaithful to him and went to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah. She was there four whole months. ³ Her husband went after her to persuade her to return. He had his servant with him and a couple of donkeys, and she brought him into her father's house. When her father saw him, he was pleased to meet him. ⁴ His father-in-law, the girl's father, persuaded him to stay, and he stayed with him three days, eating and drinking and sleeping there. ⁵ On the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he got ready to depart, and the girl's father said to his son-in-law, Strengthen yourself with something to eat and then go on your way. ⁶ The two men sat down and ate and drank together. Then the woman's father told him: "Spend the night and enjoy yourself." ⁷ And when the man rose up to leave, his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again. ⁸ The morning of the fifth day he started to leave. The woman's father said: "Eat something and wait until later in the day." The two men ate together. ⁹ When the man, his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, Look now, it's nearly evening; please stay all night. Stay here and enjoy yourself, and tomorrow set off early and go home. ¹⁰ But the man wouldn't stay that night; he got up and departed, and went towards Jebus (that is Jerusalem) with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine. ¹¹ When they were by Jebus, the day was almost gone, and the servant said to his master, "Please come and let us stop at this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it." ¹² His master said to him, We won't go into the city of a foreigner whose people are not Israelites; we will go on to Gibeah. ¹³ "We will pass by and go a little farther and spend the night at Gibeah or Ramah." ¹⁴ So they went on and towards evening they were near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵ They stopped there to spend the night in Gibeah. They went in and sat down in the street, because no-one took them into his house for the night. ¹⁶ In the evening there came an old man from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim and he lived in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites. ¹⁷ When he saw the traveller in the street the old man said, Where are you going? Where have you come from? ¹⁸ He said to him, We are on our way from Bethlehem Judah to the far side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there and I have been in Bethlehem Judah. I am going to the house of the LORD, and no-one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ Yet we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine also for me and for the maidservant and for the young man who is with us. We don't need anything. ²⁰ And the old man said, "Peace be to you. I will take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the square." ²¹ So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank. ²² As they were enjoying themselves the wicked men of the city surrounded the house, beating on the door; they said to the owner of the house, the old man, Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with him! ²³ The owner of the house went out to them and said to them, No my brothers, please don't act so wickedly; since this man is my guest don't do this disgraceful thing. ²⁴ Look, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out now and you can use them and do with them what seems good unto you, but don't do any such disgusting thing to this man. ²⁵ But the men wouldn't listen to him, so the man took his concubine and brought her out to them and they raped her and abused her all night until the morning, and when the day began to dawn they let her go. ²⁶ Then the woman went back and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, and lay there until it was light. ²⁷ Her master got up in the morning and opened the door and went out to continue on his way, and there was his concubine fallen down at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, Get up, and let us be going! but there was no answer. Then he put her up on the donkey and set off for home. ²⁹ When he had come into his house, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent them throughout all the regions of Israel. ³⁰ Everyone who saw it said: "No such deed has been seen or done since the people of Israel left Egypt! We must do something about this! What will we do?"

¹³ David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

² from the nations which the LORD had said to the Israelites, "You shall not marry them, and they shall not marry you. They will certainly turn your heart after other gods." But Solomon clung to them to love. ³ He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.