The Levite and His Dead
The tragic fate of the Levite’s wife had of course been far more terrible than anything he had imagined possible. Even when he saw her body on the doorstep, he could not believe her dead. “And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered.” When he realized the full truth, he was like a madman. Hastily saddling an ass, he laid the woman’s body upon the animal and hurried wildly forth from the horrible city. He was
determined to summon all Israel to aid him in his vengeance.
Reaching his home in Ephraim, he divided the dead body into twelve parts and sent one to each of the twelve tribes, that they might see for themselves the wrong that had been done. “And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt.” The message which the Levite sent out with his grim tokens, was that all men should “consider of it, take advice, and speak.”
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