The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

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Ken Stone

Ken Stone is associate professor of Hebrew Bible at Chicago Theological Seminary, where he also directs the Ph.D.
Center. His publications include Sex, Honor and Power in the Deuteronomistic History and Practicing Safer Texts: Food, Sex and Bible in Queer Perspective.

Articles by this author

Daughters of Lot: Bible

When the men of Sodom demand sexual relations with two messengers from God, Lot offers his daughters instead. The daughters, however, escape with Lot and live in a cave after Sodom is destroyed. There they have relations with their father and give birth to his sons.

A carving of the Levite carrying the corpse of the concubine away.

Concubine of a Levite: Bible

The concubine of a Levite is offered to a group of Benjaminite men while traveling with her husband and is subsequently raped until she is near death. In retaliation, the Israelites launch a series of attacks on the Benjaminites. The narrative of the concubine is horrifying and shows the chaos of life before monarchial rule was established.