(Book of Numbers 31:25 - 31:54)
Jehovah told Moses, "You, Eleazar the priest, and the clan leaders from each tribe are to take an inventory of all the livestock and human captives so that you can divided them equally between the soldiers who took part in the war and the rest of the community. From the share of the plunder given to the fighting men you should set aside as tribute to Jehovah one out of every 500 of the human captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or goats. The tribute from their share should be given to Eleazar the priest as an offering to Jehovah. From the half share that is granted to the people of Israel, set aside one out of every 50 of the human captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and other livestock. These should be turned over to the Levites who are in charge of maintaining Jehovah's Tabernacle."
Moses and Eleazar the priest did as they were instructed by Jehovah.
The spoils remaining from that plundered by the soldiers consisted of: 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins.
The half-share given to the soldiers that took part in the war was 337,500 sheep, with 675 allotted to Jehovah, 36,000 cattle, with 72 allotted to Jehovah, 30,500 donkeys, with 61 allotted to Jehovah, and 16,000 virgins, with 32 allotted to Jehovah.
Moses turned over Jehovah's share to Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah had instructed him.
Half of the plunder belonged to the Israelite people, and so Moses separated it from the share belonging to the soldiers. It consisted of 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins. From this half-share given to the Israelite people, Moses gave to the Levites responsible for the maintenance of the Tabernacle one out of every 50 of the animals and human captives, in accordance with the commands given to him by Jehovah.
The generals and captains came to Moses and reported, "We, your servants, have accounted for all the men who went into battle under our command -- and not one of them is missing! Therefore, we are bringing as an offering to Jehovah all the articles of gold we took as booty, armlets and bracelets, signet rings and earrings, necklaces and pendants -- in order that we may make atonement with Jehovah."
Moses and Eleazar received from the military commanders all manner of jewelry and crafted articles of gold. The gold offered to Jehovah by the generals and captains amounted to 16,750 shekels worth (after every soldier had taken his share of the booty). Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the articles of gold from the generals and captains and displayed them in the Tabernacle before Jehovah's altar as a memorial.
Notes
1. The amount of livestock plundered by the Israelites seems considerable, as well as the number of captive virgins. How wonderful that it was all recorded so precisely and deemed important enough to pass down hundred and hundreds of years so that the chroniclers of the Bible could include it in their narrative, which, on the other hand, gives no description at all about the military engagements that must have been a part of the Israelite-Midianite War. Surprisingly, there is no account of the number of Midianites killed in battle or the captive women and boys who were liquidated. All in all, though, it was the total destruction of a society, a complete genocide, save that Midianite DNA would be passed down through the children of the captive and soon-to-be-no-longer virgins. Ancient man had no concept of genetics, and it was a commonly held belief that a child was derived from the father alone. While this is contrary to even superficial observation -- children take after their mothers as much as their fathers -- this belief supported the view that the extermination of a tribe or nation could be accomplished merely by killing all its male members. It never seemed to dawn upon conquerors that when they were raping and having children by the women of the people they had conquered they were continuing the blood line of their enemy, even if the mixed offspring that resulted from such liaisons would be accepted and reared as a member of the father's ethnic group.
2. The fate of the captive virgins is not mentioned. Would they all become slaves or maybe concubines, even wives? Those given as tribute to the misogynistic Jehovah, were they to become servants to the priests or did a grimmer fate await them -- human sacrifices?
3. The Israelites were enriched exceedingly by their war with the Midianites. Since they were basically nomadic herdsman wandering in areas that were mostly deserts, the Israelites could have had little opportunity to increase their wealth. They were engaged in no manufacture and little trade. Their society and its mentor, Jehovah, did nothing to encourage the pursuit of knowledge, the acquisition of new crafts, even constructive relationships with their neighbors, so really the only way they could acquire wealth was to steal it from the people they would kill or conquer.
4. The army commanders gratefully donate to Jehovah all the gold they have looted, since during the war they have suffered no fatalities. Really! Their untrained army of tribal recruits killed every last Midianite and yet loss not one of their number? You would have thought that even one of Jethro's now aged daughters could have managed to dispatch at least one Israelite!
5. The gold, 16,750 shekels, amounted to 420 pounds, and since it was all in crafted articles, pieces of jewelry and so forth it would have greater value than just its weight in gold. It is not entirely clear, but it seems that the common soldiers kept their share of the loot, while the officers denoted their share of gold artifacts to Jehovah.
Showing posts with label Midianites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Midianites. Show all posts
Friday, July 24, 2015
War Against the Midianites
(Book of Numbers 31:1 - 31:24)
Jehovah told Moses, "For the sake of the Israelites you must take revenge upon the Midianites. After that, you may join your ancestors."
Moses ordered his people, "Recruit a troop of men and arm them so that they can execute Jehovah's vengeance upon the Midianites. Send into battle 1000 fighting men from each of the tribes of Israel."
And so the clans supplied 12,000 fighting men, 1000 from each of the tribes of Israel. Moses sent them into battle, the 1000 from each tribe, along with Phinehas son the Eleazar the priest, who took with him several sacred articles from the Sanctum as well as trumpets to sound the attack. As Jehovah had commanded Moses, they waged war against the Midianites and killed them to a man. Among the dead were the five kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. Also fallen by the sword was Balaam son of Beor. The army of Israel then captured all the Midianite women and children and seized as plunder the Midianite herds and flocks as well as all their valuables. Every town where the Midianites lived, all their camps and settlements were burned to the ground. The Israelite army gathered together their spoils and all they had plundered, including captives and livestock, and transported them back to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the entire congregation of Israel that was encamped on the plains of Moab across the River Jordan from Jericho. Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the tribal leaders went to greet them outside of camp.
Moses, though, was angry with the generals and captains who returned from battle. "Why have you let all the women live?" he questioned. "These are the very women who, at the urging of Balaam, made the Israelites betray Jehovah at Peor and caused the plague that raged against the people of Jehovah. Kill all the boys and all the women who have had sex with a man. You may spare the young girls who are still virgins. You can keep them for yourselves!
"Anyone who has killed someone or who has touched a dead body must remain outside of camp for 7 days. On the 3rd and 7th days you must purify yourselves and your captives. Purify every garment and every article of leather, goat hair, or wood."
Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone into battle, "The law that Jehovah has given Moses demands that metals, gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead, anything that will not burn, must be passed through the fire in order to be ritually pure, although to be completely purified they must also be cleansed by water. What cannot withstand fire must pass through the cleansing water. On the 7th day you must wash your clothes, and then you will be ritually pure once again. After that, may you reenter camp."
Notes
1. The war against the Midianites seems less in the Israelite interests than a means of avenging Jehovah and mollifying his wounded pride. No quarter was given, and the war was all but genocidal. All the men are killed and later all the captive boys were exterminated. The women are also killed and the virgins are given over to the men, presumably to use as they wished, probably to be raped and abused as sex slaves -- the custom, as you know, in ancient times. Captives of war ceased to be human beings; they were merely property. Most slaves at this time had been captives of war.
2. As a result of his conduct as the leader of Israelites in the Midianite war Moses can proudly add to his resume the title of war criminal, although, to be fair, in ancient times the concept scarcely existed. We would not expect the early Israelites to embrace the principles of honorable combat espoused by the later Romans. Still, Moses exhibits greater brutality than even the ruthless Assyrians generally exercised. "Love your enemy, forgive your enemy" are precepts of Christianity that have not yet supplanted the Old Testament exhortation to "hate your enemy and destroy him utterly without mercy or compassion and with no consideration for justice or humanity."
3. The requirement for ritual purity comes into play after the war when the returning soldiers more or less go into quarantine for a week. (It's as if they've come back from a trip to moon.) One imagines, though, that the purification ceremony allowed the soldiers to ease their transition back into what we would call civilian life and to feel justified in the brutal acts they have just committed.
4. Moses seems to have few qualms about completely exterminating his wife's tribe. Is his wife, Sephora, a Midianite, still alive and, if so, what is her view of this war? Sephora does not seem to be a factor during the Exodus, except, at one point, when she, a "foreigner" becomes a reason for the people to rebel against Moses. The authors certainly give her short shrift. Miriam, Moses' sister, seems to be the only woman who had political influence -- and that is presented in a negative light.
Jehovah told Moses, "For the sake of the Israelites you must take revenge upon the Midianites. After that, you may join your ancestors."
Moses ordered his people, "Recruit a troop of men and arm them so that they can execute Jehovah's vengeance upon the Midianites. Send into battle 1000 fighting men from each of the tribes of Israel."
And so the clans supplied 12,000 fighting men, 1000 from each of the tribes of Israel. Moses sent them into battle, the 1000 from each tribe, along with Phinehas son the Eleazar the priest, who took with him several sacred articles from the Sanctum as well as trumpets to sound the attack. As Jehovah had commanded Moses, they waged war against the Midianites and killed them to a man. Among the dead were the five kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. Also fallen by the sword was Balaam son of Beor. The army of Israel then captured all the Midianite women and children and seized as plunder the Midianite herds and flocks as well as all their valuables. Every town where the Midianites lived, all their camps and settlements were burned to the ground. The Israelite army gathered together their spoils and all they had plundered, including captives and livestock, and transported them back to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the entire congregation of Israel that was encamped on the plains of Moab across the River Jordan from Jericho. Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the tribal leaders went to greet them outside of camp.
Moses, though, was angry with the generals and captains who returned from battle. "Why have you let all the women live?" he questioned. "These are the very women who, at the urging of Balaam, made the Israelites betray Jehovah at Peor and caused the plague that raged against the people of Jehovah. Kill all the boys and all the women who have had sex with a man. You may spare the young girls who are still virgins. You can keep them for yourselves!
"Anyone who has killed someone or who has touched a dead body must remain outside of camp for 7 days. On the 3rd and 7th days you must purify yourselves and your captives. Purify every garment and every article of leather, goat hair, or wood."
Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had gone into battle, "The law that Jehovah has given Moses demands that metals, gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead, anything that will not burn, must be passed through the fire in order to be ritually pure, although to be completely purified they must also be cleansed by water. What cannot withstand fire must pass through the cleansing water. On the 7th day you must wash your clothes, and then you will be ritually pure once again. After that, may you reenter camp."
Notes
1. The war against the Midianites seems less in the Israelite interests than a means of avenging Jehovah and mollifying his wounded pride. No quarter was given, and the war was all but genocidal. All the men are killed and later all the captive boys were exterminated. The women are also killed and the virgins are given over to the men, presumably to use as they wished, probably to be raped and abused as sex slaves -- the custom, as you know, in ancient times. Captives of war ceased to be human beings; they were merely property. Most slaves at this time had been captives of war.
2. As a result of his conduct as the leader of Israelites in the Midianite war Moses can proudly add to his resume the title of war criminal, although, to be fair, in ancient times the concept scarcely existed. We would not expect the early Israelites to embrace the principles of honorable combat espoused by the later Romans. Still, Moses exhibits greater brutality than even the ruthless Assyrians generally exercised. "Love your enemy, forgive your enemy" are precepts of Christianity that have not yet supplanted the Old Testament exhortation to "hate your enemy and destroy him utterly without mercy or compassion and with no consideration for justice or humanity."
3. The requirement for ritual purity comes into play after the war when the returning soldiers more or less go into quarantine for a week. (It's as if they've come back from a trip to moon.) One imagines, though, that the purification ceremony allowed the soldiers to ease their transition back into what we would call civilian life and to feel justified in the brutal acts they have just committed.
4. Moses seems to have few qualms about completely exterminating his wife's tribe. Is his wife, Sephora, a Midianite, still alive and, if so, what is her view of this war? Sephora does not seem to be a factor during the Exodus, except, at one point, when she, a "foreigner" becomes a reason for the people to rebel against Moses. The authors certainly give her short shrift. Miriam, Moses' sister, seems to be the only woman who had political influence -- and that is presented in a negative light.
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