(Book of Numbers 5:5 - 5:10)
Jehovah told Moses to give the following instructions to the people of Israel: "Anyone who wrongs another man or woman in any way is guilty of committing a trespass against Jehovah. He must confess the sin he has committed and make amends. To the person who has been wronged, full monetary restitution must be made, plus 20%. However, if the injured party is deceased and there are no close relatives to whom restitution may be made, the payment will then be delivered to a priest of Jehovah -- this, in addition to a sacrificial ram that must be offered to obtain atonement for the guilty party. Every man’s sacred offerings are his, but what has been given to the priest belongs to the priest and will become his personal property."
Notes
1. Here, restitution for wrongs done to another man are placed solely on a monetary basis. Wrongs are to be paid for with property, plus, of course, the requisite 20%. Save for the 20% penalty, there seems to be no real punishment for the wrongdoing itself, only a payment of damages for the result of the wrongdoing. In this system, the moral component is entirely lost. The only deterrent from crime is whatever it may cost. A rich man, therefore, is free to do entirely what he likes, provided he is willing to pay the price for it.
2. Again we see the priesthood profiting from the bad behavior of the people they serve. If a wronged party or his family cannot be given restitution, it is the priests who benefit financially from it: they receive the payment otherwise owed to the injured party. The priests, rather than being punished for the wrongdoing of their flock, seemed to be rewarded for it. One is reminded that besides preserving civil order and promoting religious orthodoxy and uniformity of worship, a major purpose of the laws set down here is to preserve the prerogatives of the priesthood, to enhance their power, prestige, and wealth.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Expulsion of the Impure
(Book of Number 5:1 - 5:4)
Jehovah instructed Moses, "Order the Israelites to expel from camp anyone who is afflicted with tzaraath, has a ritually impure bodily discharge, or who is impure because of contact with a dead body. Expel them whether they are male or female so that they may not defile the camp where I dwell among them."
And so the Israelites did as Jehovah had commanded them and expelled such people from their camp.
Notes:
1. Tsaraath, which was covered quite extensively in Leviticus, is a catch-all term for any kind of skin disease that renders a person ritually impure. It is often translated as "leprosy," but certainly includes many other afflictions in addition to the disease called leprosy that was prevalent in ancient times (and which was probably different from modern leprosy or Hansen's disease). In fact, tsaraath can affect clothes or the walls of buildings in the form of mold or mildew.
2. Jehovah demands that these impure folks be kicked out of the Israelite camp not, it seems, because they might infect other Israelites but because he doesn't want to be around them. To what extent Jehovah actually lives among the Israelites is an open question. If he physically appears at all it would be in the Inner Sanctum of the Tabernacle. If he did, why should he worry about impure people living in other parts of the camp, for no one but a priest would be caught dead in the Inner Sanctum? (Correction: anyone else but a priest who entered the Inner Sanctum would very quickly become dead!) Does the ritual impurity of a human somehow have an effect upon Jehovah the god? Is this effect physical or otherwise? It only makes sense if a germaphobic Jehovah is afraid of catching something. Does Jehovah, if he be a physical being, need to protect himself from too close a contact with earth people so as to avoid exposure to pathogens?
3. It would be interesting to know how many were expelled from camp for this reason. (Here, Numbers fails to give us the number.) Did these people set up a separate camp and follow the Israelites in their travels? Were they able to rejoin the main camp when they became well or pure again?
Jehovah instructed Moses, "Order the Israelites to expel from camp anyone who is afflicted with tzaraath, has a ritually impure bodily discharge, or who is impure because of contact with a dead body. Expel them whether they are male or female so that they may not defile the camp where I dwell among them."
And so the Israelites did as Jehovah had commanded them and expelled such people from their camp.
Notes:
1. Tsaraath, which was covered quite extensively in Leviticus, is a catch-all term for any kind of skin disease that renders a person ritually impure. It is often translated as "leprosy," but certainly includes many other afflictions in addition to the disease called leprosy that was prevalent in ancient times (and which was probably different from modern leprosy or Hansen's disease). In fact, tsaraath can affect clothes or the walls of buildings in the form of mold or mildew.
2. Jehovah demands that these impure folks be kicked out of the Israelite camp not, it seems, because they might infect other Israelites but because he doesn't want to be around them. To what extent Jehovah actually lives among the Israelites is an open question. If he physically appears at all it would be in the Inner Sanctum of the Tabernacle. If he did, why should he worry about impure people living in other parts of the camp, for no one but a priest would be caught dead in the Inner Sanctum? (Correction: anyone else but a priest who entered the Inner Sanctum would very quickly become dead!) Does the ritual impurity of a human somehow have an effect upon Jehovah the god? Is this effect physical or otherwise? It only makes sense if a germaphobic Jehovah is afraid of catching something. Does Jehovah, if he be a physical being, need to protect himself from too close a contact with earth people so as to avoid exposure to pathogens?
3. It would be interesting to know how many were expelled from camp for this reason. (Here, Numbers fails to give us the number.) Did these people set up a separate camp and follow the Israelites in their travels? Were they able to rejoin the main camp when they became well or pure again?
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