What does Judges 19:28 mean?
Context from the surrounding verses indicates the woman lying on the doorstep of a home in Gibeah is already dead. During the night, her husband-master had sacrificed her—his concubine (Judges 19:10)—to a ravenous crowd of men to save himself from being raped. The men violated and beat her all night before releasing her. She made it as far as the door of the home her master was staying in before collapsing (Judges 19:22–27). The prior verse hints that he was surprised to find her there.Now the Levite callously tells her to "get up." She doesn't answer, and he would have quickly realized that she's been murdered by the men in town. He picks up her corpse and takes it home. What he does next is gruesome and profane, but it serves its purpose. The people of Israel will hear about her fate and be inspired to retaliate against Gibeah (Judges 19:29–30).