Judges 19:26-30 - Such a thing has never been seen or done

19:26-28

When they had eventually finished with her, she made her way back to the door of the house where the Levite was staying and fell down there. The Levite got up in the morning and found her there. He spoke to her but there was no answer. It isn’t absolutely certain, but she may have been dead at this point.  Given what happens next, one hopes so. In the meantime he puts her on the donkey and heads home.

19:29,30

When he got home he took a knife and chopped her up into twelve parts. One part was sent to each of the tribes of Israel. This is undoubtedly a gruesome act, but the Levite wanted the whole of Israel to be brought face to face with what was going on in their country, to realise how bad things have got. It seems that it had the desired effect, for the Israelites resolved that something had to be done.