Draft: May 15, 2001
The incident recorded in
Numbers 31 is frequently mentioned as an illustration of God’s cruelty or His “nature as a human fabrication of
twisted minds”. The passage is a troubling one, for many reasons, but there are
many misconceptions about what actually happened in the text as well. Consider
some of the statements people have sent into me about this event:
“Speaking
of which, isn't this the same God who commanded the genocide of the Midianites?
The same God who commanded the Israelites to slaughter all Midianite males
(including infants) and all adult Midianite women? The same God who commanded
that the young girls be tested for virginity and given to their captors as
sex-slaves?
And
“In Numbers
31:15-18, after his soldiers had killed all of the men among the Midianites,
Moses ordered his army officers to kill all of the male children, kill all of
the nonvirgin females but to save alive all of the virgin girls for his troops.
Prior to this, the Israelites had taken all of the animals and goods of the
Midianites and then burned all of their towns. If genocide or "ethnic
cleansing" is a war crime, then this act of Moses was clearly a war
crime…What possible reason could Moses have given in order to justify this
horrendous act of genocide? After all, wasn't he the great "law
giver"? He claimed that Yahweh, the God of Israel, ordered him to do this,
because the Midianites worshiped a deity named Baal Peor. The Midianites felt
that Baal Peor was nature's god, the creator of the universe, whereas the
Israelites believed that their god Yahweh was the creator. .. So, in effect,
what we have here is a demonization of those people who refer to the creator by
a different name. These people are accused of worshiping a false god.
And
The Bible
is rife with examples of God's acting in a manner inconsistent with goodness…
consider the passage relating the story of Israel's war with Midian (Num. 31),
wherein, as I intend to show, God sanctions the very crimes that he should
abhor, namely, murder, rape, enslavement, and child abuse.
First, he
orders Moses to lead Israel in a war against the Midianites: And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites... (vss. 1-2)
Moses and
the children of Israel obey: And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they
slew all the males. (vs. 7, my italics)
The slaying
continues in verse 8. Then in verse 9, the children of Israel take captive all
the Midianite women and children, confiscating as well "the spoil of all
their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods." Eventually, the
captives are brought before Moses, who condemns to death all the male children
and all the unvirginal women: Now
therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath
known man by lying with him. (vs. 17)
Moses then
encourages his men to use the female children for (presumably) sexual pleasure:
But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep
alive for yourselves. (vs. 18)
Thus, in
the 31st Chapter of Numbers
occur God-sanctioned murder, rape, enslavement, and child abuse.
First, God
specifically orders the war -- he does not simply allow the Israelites to visit
pain, suffering, and death upon another people, in which case God's role would
be a passive one -- on the contrary, he assumes an active role by demanding the
carnage. Second, all the men are summarily killed. Third, all the Midianite
boys and unvirginal women are ordered to their deaths. Fourth, the Israelite
men are urged to (presumably) enslave and rape the virgin Midianite girls. Most
civilized people abhor all such actions as these (with less accord on the issue
of war itself), considering them so evil that they must be prevented, even at
high cost, and punished when efforts at prevention fail.
……………………..
These are some serious accusations to make
against the God portrayed in the bible, and allegations that should disturb the
hearts of all warm-blooded people.
Right off the bat, though, there are several
obvious historical errors in these brief statements, and several assumptions
that have no warrant whatsoever in either the text itself, or in the historical
background of the ANE. The passage will be difficult enough to our
sensibilities as it is, but let’s first ‘weed out the chaff’ among these
allegations. [These ‘easy’ errors, however, in themselves might not be enough
to exonerate God, so we will to dig deep into the passage/situation to surface
the actual ethical issues and
dynamics.]
First of all, let’s look at the specific text they are referring to, in Numbers 31:
Then
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take
full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be
gathered to your people.” And Moses
spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may
go against Midian, to execute the Lord’s
vengeance on Midian. “A thousand
from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” So
there were furnished from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe,
twelve thousand armed for war. And
Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son
of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, and the holy vessels and the
trumpets for the alarm in his hand. So they made war against Midian, just as the Lord had
commanded Moses, and they killed every male. And they killed the kings of Midian along
with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five
kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. And the
sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all
their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods, they plundered.
Then they burned all their cities where they
lived and all their camps with fire. And they took all the spoil and all the prey, both
of man and of beast. And they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil
to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of
Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite
Jericho.
And Moses
and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet
them outside the camp. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the
captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service
in the war. And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel,
through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the matter of
Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the Lord. “Now
therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has
known man intimately. “But all the
girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves. “And you, camp outside the camp seven days;
whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify
yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh
day. “And you shall purify for
yourselves every garment and every article of leather and all the work of
goats’ hair, and all articles of wood.”
And the division of the ‘booty’:
Then the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “You and
Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the
congregation, take a count of the booty that was captured, both of man and of
animal; and divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle
and all the congregation. “And levy a
tax for the Lord from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five
hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the
sheep; take it from their half and give
it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the Lord. “And from the sons of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out
of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep,
from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the
tabernacle of the Lord.” And Moses and
Eleazar the priest did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Now the booty that remained from the
spoil which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, and 72,000 cattle, and 61,000 donkeys, and of human beings, of the women who had not
known man intimately, all the persons were 32,000. And the half, the portion of those who went
out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500, and the Lord’s levy of the sheep was 675,
and the cattle were 36,000, from which the Lord’s levy was 72. And the donkeys were 30,500, from which the
Lord’s levy was 61. And the human beings were 16,000, from whom the
Lord’s levy was 32 persons. And Moses gave the levy which was the Lord’s
offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had commanded
Moses. (Num 31.26ff)
……………….
Now, first let me dispose of a couple of the
historical mistakes made by the objections mentioned above, and then we can get
on to analyzing the severity of the actual event.
First of all, there was no ‘test for virginity’ needed/used. In spite of the elaborate/miraculous one created by the later rabbi’s (ingenious, but altogether unnecessary) using the Urim and Thummim (!), the ‘test for virginity’ in the ANE was a simple visual one:
Because virginity was generally associated
with legal proof for blood-inheritance issues in ancient cultures (e.g., land,
property, kinship, relationships), virginity itself was often marked by
some type of clothing (e.g., the robe of Tamar in 2 Sam 13) or by cosmetic
means (cf. the Hindu ‘pre-marriage dot’); as was more typically non-virginal married
status (e.g., veils, headwear, jewelry, or certain hairstyles). Of course, non-virginal unmarried status (e.g., temple
prostitutes and secular prostitutes) were also indicated by special markings or
adornments (e.g. jewelry, dress—cf. Proverbs 7.10; Hos 2.4-5).
For example, the erotic art of the ANE shows
a consistent difference in hairstyles between women and sacred prostitutes:
“In fact, the physical characteristics of the women on the [erotic] plaques are totally different from those of other female representations in Mesopotamian and Syrian art. As with the clay figurines, they are frequently naked and their hair is loose—none of these traits is to be found in statues or seals that represent women...These groups [associations of cultic prostitutes] were defined by a generic name [the ‘separated ones’], while their specific names of individual associations hinted at their garments, which were particularly luxurious, or odd, their coiffure, or to their general appearance, which distinguished them from other women.” [OT:CANE:2526]
Some of these patterns varied by culture/age:
“Once married, women were not veiled in Babylonia. Legal texts
imply that married women were veiled in Assyria.” [OT:DLAM:135]
“The bride was covered with
a veil that the groom removed. Married women were not veiled in Babylonia but
seem to have had a special headgear;
legal texts, however, suggest that married women were veiled in Assyria.”
[OT:CANE:489]
In other words, the process of identifying the females who were (a) not married and (b) not prostitutes, either sacred or secular, would have been relatively straightforward—at the precision level required by the event.
Secondly,
the accusation that these girls were for “sex slave” purposes contradicts what
we know about the culture and about the event. [But at least one of the
writers above--to their credit--added the word ‘presumably’, realizing that the
text doesn’t actually say anything about it…]
1. Most girls were married soon/immediately after they began menstruating in the ANE (circa 12 years of age), and since infant and child mortality was so high, the average age of the girls spared would have been around 5 years of age or slightly lower (life expectancy wasn’t a straight line, with childhood risks so high). Of all the horrible things ascribed to Israel in the OT, pedophilia is the one conspicuous omission. That these little kids would have been even considered as ‘sex slaves’ seems quite incongruent with their ages.
And, at this tender age,
they would not have been very useful as ‘slaves’ at all! Children raised in
Israelite households were ‘put to work’ around this age, sometimes doing light
chores to help the mother for up to four hours per day by the age of 7 or 8
[OT:FAI:27], but 5 is still a bit young. Instead, the Israelite families would
have had to feed, clothe, train, care, protect, and shelter them for several
years before they could make much contribution to the family’s existence and
survival. [Also note that ‘slavery’ in the ANE/OT generally means something
quite different from “New World” slavery, which we normally associate with the
world ‘slavery’, and most of what is called that in popular literature should
not be so termed. See qnoslave.html
for the discussion and documentation.]
2. Unlike the Greeks and Romans,
the ANE was not very ‘into’ using slaves/captives for sexual purposes, even
though scholars earlier taught this:
“During the pinnacle of Sumerian culture, female slaves outnumbered male. Their owners used them primarily for spinning and weaving. Saggs maintains that their owners also used them for sex, but there is little actual evidence to support such a claim” [OT:EML:69]
3. And the Hebrews were
different in this regard ANYWAY:
“This fidelity and exclusivity [demands on the wife] did not apply to the husband. Except among the Hebrews, where a husband’s infidelity was disparaged in the centuries after 800 BC, a double standard prevailed, and husbands were routinely expected to have sex not only with their wives, but with slavewomen and prostitutes.” [WS:AHTO:39; note: I would disagree with the remark about ‘after 800 bc’ because that dating presupposes a very late date for the composition of the narratives under discussion…If the narrative events occurred closer to the purposed times, then this ‘disparagement’ applied earlier in Israel as well as later.]
4. Even if we allow the age
range to be older, to include girls capable of bearing children, the
probability is that it was not sex-motivated, but
population/economics-motivated, as Carol Meyers points out [“The Roots of
Restriction: Women in Early Israel”, Biblical
Archaeologist, vol 41):
“Beyond this, however, the
intensified need for female participation in working out the Mosaic revolution
in the early Israelite period can be seen in the Bible. Looking again at
Numbers 31, an exception to the total purge of the Midianite population is to
be noted. In addition to the metal objects which were exempt from utter
destruction, so too were the “young girls who have not known man by lying with
him” (Num 31:18). These captives, however, were not immediately brought into
the Israelite camp. Instead, they and their captors were kept outside the camp
for seven days in a kind of quarantine period. (Note that the usual incubation
period for the kinds of infectious diseases which could conceivably have
existed in this situation is two or three to six days [Eickhoff 1977].)
Afterward, they thoroughly washed themselves and all their clothing before they
entered the camp. This incident is hardly an
expression of lascivious male behavior; rather, it reflects the
desperate need for women of childbearing age, a need so extreme that the utter
destruction of the Midianite foes—and the prevention of death by plague—as
required by the law of the herem could
be waived in the interest of sparing the young women. The Israelites weighed
the life-death balance, and the need for females of childbearing age took
precedence.”
[But note that the
traditional rabbinic interpretation of the passage is that all females which were capable of bearing children were
killed—not just those who actually were non-virginal. This would drive the
average age quite low, although the Hebrew text offers only limited support at
best for their interpretation.]
[I should also point out
that the “for yourselves” phrase
(31.18) is NOT actually referring to “for your pleasure”, but is a reference to
the opposite condition of “for YHWH” which applied to all people or
property which was theoretically supposed to be destroyed in such combat
situations. The herem (or ‘ban’)
specifically indicated that all enemy people or property which was ‘delivered
over to YHWH’ was to be killed/destroyed. By referring to ‘for yourselves’, then, in this passage,
means simply ‘do not kill them’. This can also be seen in that this ‘booty’ was
not ‘for themselves’ actually,
but was distributed to others within the community.]
Third, the accusation that the Midianites were singled out
for destruction “because the Midianites
worshiped a deity named Baal Peor”
is not at all present in the text (actually, NO reason is given in this
passage). In fact, the reason for the warfare is explicitly given in
25.16ff as the unprovoked hostility and treachery of Moab/Midian (which we will
look at in detail below):
“The LORD said to Moses, 17 “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them, 18 because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor.”
The reasons are stated in this passage as (1)
hostilities taken by the Midianites; and (2) deception of Israel by them, in
the ‘affair of Peor’. Nothing at all is said about treating them as enemies
because they worshipped a different god…
So, at least we should see that some of the
accusation elements above are contra-indicated by the data. There was no need
for ‘virginity testing’; rape and sexual slavery is not in the passage at all;
and the reason for the combat is not ‘disagreement over religious terminology’…
So,
then, what WAS all this bloodshed about?
To establish the ‘why’ of this, we need to
tell the whole story…and look at all the players: Midian, Moab, Israel.
Who were the Midianites?
Essentially, the Midianites were descendants of Abraham through Keturah, and by the time of Numbers 31, were a ‘tribal league’ of different clans and families. Some of the kin-group lived around the Gulf of Aqaba, in perhaps settlements, while other groups remained as nomads and raiders:
“The extreme northwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula,
immediately east of the Gulf of ‘Aqaba, was associated by the classical and
medieval Arab geographers with the place name Madian or Madiama. It is
generally agreed that these persevere the name of Midian, the son of Abraham and Keturah and the ancestor of the Midianites
of the Hebrew Bible.” [HI:OEANE, s.v. “Midian”]
“The Midianites are portrayed in these [Biblical] traditions as nomadic sheep and camel herders, caravaneers, and raiders, ranging over a wide territory to the south and east of Canaan. There is no reason to suppose that this portrayal is not essentially correct, at least in part. However, recent archaeological survey in northwestern Arabia—the heartland of Midian—has indicated that this is not the whole story. There also existed, during the final centuries of the second millennium BCE, sedentary communities that should, in all, probability, be included among the Midianites…At the site of Qurayyah [Qurayyah is on the east of the Gulf of Aqaba, on a major trade route between Yemen and the Levant.].” [HI:OEANE, s.v. “Midian”]
“As indicated above the
biblical evidence suggests that the
Midianites ranged over a large area, including northwest Arabia,
southern Transjordan, the Arabah, portions of the Negeb, and possibly northern
Sinai. Although northwest Arabia eventually became associated with the land of
Midian, probably the range of the Midianites
at one time was much larger…Further, some research has raised the
possibility that Midian refers not to a land but to an amorphous league of tribes. This league dominated the people
and areas of the southern Transjordan, Negeb, and portions of Arabia
from the Late Bronze Age until approvimately the 11th century B.C.,
when other people gradually supplanted the league.” [ISBE]
“The presence of Midianite shepherd bands in the Sinai should not be a problem since the discovery of the Mari documents. Large-scale sheepherding requires considerable travel between summer and winter pasturages, often involving tens or hundreds of kilometers. There is no plausible objection to the presence of shepherd bands in the Sinai who were identified or identified themselves as adherents of the political/cultural system of the Midianites. The same is true of populations in the Jordan valley just N of the Dead Sea. The Midianites can no longer be regarded naively as primitive nomadic barbarians; they were a complex and cosmopolitan civilization with a highly diverse economy and, in all probability, an extensive control system for a few decades that included parts of Palestine and Transjordan. [ABD, “Midian”, Mendenhall]
Around the time of the exodus, the Midianites closer to Egypt (where we have the evidence of settlements and industry), were hospitable to Moses and have a positive image in the biblical tradition (as Kenites):
“The hospitality of Jethro to Moses is commendable,
but beyond that the Midianites were a people hostile to Israel.” [ZPEB]
“The Kenites were a Midianite tribe (Nu. 10:29; Jdg. 1:16; 4:11). The name means ‘smith’, and the presence of copper SE of the Gulf of Aqabah, the Kenite-Midianite region, confirms this interpretation. The Kenites first appear as inhabitants of patriarchal Canaan (Gn. 15:19). Subsequently Moses becomes son-in-law of Reuel (Ex. 2:18), and invites Hobab his son to accompany the Israelites, coveting his nomadic skill (Nu. 10:29). Kenites accompanied Judah into their inheritance (Jdg. 1:16; 1 Sa. 27:10). They were spared by Saul in his Amalekite war (1 Sa. 15:6), and David cultivated their friendship (1 Sa. 30:29). The Rechabites were of Kenite stock (1 Ch. 2:55), and were prominent in post-exilic times (Ne. 3:14). [NBD, s.v. “Kenites”]
At the time of Numbers, the group of Midianites ‘up north’ were a dominant military force, albeit still with ‘ethics’ of raiders/slavetraders:
“For the Egyptians, the
inhabitants of the arid regions of Sinai, the Hijaz, and Transjordan seem to
have been subsumed under the term shasu
and depicted as pastoralists and raiders,
much as the Midianites are depicted in the Hebrew Bible.” [HI:OEANE, s.v.
“Midian”]
So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. ..36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. (Gen 37:28, 36)
“Being desert people, their
existence was nomadic. When some of them
picked up Joseph, it was typical of their way of life—trading, traveling, and
troubling others.” [ZPEB]
“The Midianites, along with
the Amalekites and the ‘people of the East,’ periodically
harassed certain tribes of Israel during the period of the Judges.
Since Palestine at this time was particularly vulnerable due to the collapse of
the Canaanite city-states and the decline of Egyptian influence, groups from the fringe areas could penetrate
deeply into otherwise secure areas. Moving from the Transjordan region into the
Jezreel Valley and beyond, the Midianites
preyed upon Israel, apparently during the harvest times (Jgs.
6:1-6). The Israelites had difficulty dealing with the Midianites, who used the camel to make long raids and retreat
quickly.” [ISBE, s.v. “Midian”]
“There is evidence that Midian exercised a protectorate over Moab, Edom, and
Sinai from ca. 1250-1000 BC (Eissfeldt). Often Midian opposed Israel
or became a subversive influence. [But note that both Midian and Moab at this
time were vassals under the power of Sihon of the Amorites—cf. Josh 13.21]
The
Midianites were allied with Moab, under the control of Sihon (who had
already been defeated by Israel):
“The expression ‘towns in their dwellings’ leads to the conclusion that the towns were not the property of the Midianites themselves, who were a nomad people, but that they originally belonged in all probability to the Moabites, and had been taken possession of by the Amorites under Sihon. This is confirmed by Josh., xiii.21, according to which these five Midianitish vassals of Sihon dwelt in the land, i.e. in the kingdom of Sihon.” (p.226)
“Moab was closely associated with the Midianites, so much so that the
elders of both peoples acted as one group when they went to the town
of Pethor to bring back Baloam (Num 22:4–7). The Bible depicts the Midianites
as largely a nomadic people. The point is this: for the Moabites to have been on such friendly terms with the
Midianites, the former also were probably still largely nomadic,
since from time immemorial there has been
strife between the inhabitants of the desert and the residents of the towns in
agricultural areas. Therefore the time of Moses must have been before the thirteenth century B.C. when
the Moabites began to build permanent towns. [“New Light on the Wilderness Journey and the Conquest”—Grace Journal—V2—Spring 1961]
As a tribal league, the various tribal
leaders could have radically different
attitudes toward life, ethics, and Israel. Moses’ father-in-law
(Jethro) and other Kenites were allied with
Israel, but those farther north were generally hostile
and predatory (cf. Heber the Kenite who was allied with Syria in
Judges 5, the Midianite/Amalekite raids, and the Midianites in our passage).
The more nomadic ones seemed to have been operating as raiders and slavetraders, wheras the less
nomadic ones were more pastoralist
in culture (cf. Jethro). The ‘northern’ Midianites are often linked with the
cruel Amalekites and Canaanites in the biblical narratives (e.g., Judges 6,7).
Who were the Moabites?
The Moabites were a TransJordanian people,
descended from Lot. They were generally hostile toward Israel, and appear to be
somewhat insignificant at the time of our incident. Later, however, they became
a significant nation, and was consistently hostile to Israel (along with her
neighbors).
“Moab was the
son of Lot by incestuous union with his eldest daughter (Gn. 19:37). Both the
descendants and the land were known as Moab, and the people also as Moabites.
The core of Moab was the plateau E of the Dead Sea between the wadis Arnon and
Zered, though for considerable periods, Moab extended well to the N of the
Arnon. The average height of the plateau is 100 m, but it is cut by deep
gorges. The Arnon itself divides about 21 km from the Dead Sea and several
times more farther E into valleys of diminishing depth, the ‘valleys of the
Arnon’ (Nu. 21:14). The Bible has preserved the names of many Moabite towns
(Nu. 21:15, 20; 32:3; Jos. 13:17-20; Is. 15-16; Je. 48:20ff.).
“In pre-Exodus times Moab
was occupied and had settled villages until about 1850 bc. Lot’s descendants found a population already there, and
must have intermarried with them to emerge at length as the dominant group who
gave their name to the whole population. The four kings from the E invaded Moab
and overthrew the people of Shaveh-kiriathaim (Gn. 14:5). Either as a result of
this campaign, or due to some cause unknown, Transjordan entered on a period of
non-sedentary occupation till just before 1300 bc, when several of the Iron Age kingdoms appeared
simultaneously. Moab, like the others, was a highly organized kingdom with good
agricultural and pastoral pursuits, splendid buildings, distinctive pottery,
and strong fortifications in the shape of small fortresses strategically placed
around her boundaries. The Moabites overflowed their main plateau and occupied
areas N of the Arnon, destroying the former inhabitants (Dt. 2:10-11, 19-21; cf. Gn. 14:5). These lands were shared
with the closely related Ammonites.
“Just prior to the Exodus,
these lands N of the Arnon were wrested from Moab by Sihon, king of the
Amorites. When Israel sought permission to travel along ‘the King’s Highway’
which crossed the plateau, Moab refused (Jdg. 11:17). They may have had
commercial contact (Dt. 2:28-29). Moses was forbidden to attack Moab despite
their unfriendliness (Dt. 2:9), although Moabites were henceforth to be
excluded from Israel (Dt. 23:3-6; Ne. 13:1).” [NBD, s.v. “Moab”]
Moab figures prominently in the OT period as a nation, all the way up until the exile, but after the conquests of Babylon, Persia, and Alexander Janneaus, they are only known as a racial/ethnic group.
At the time of our incident, Moab occupies a territory thirty miles south of these events in Numbers 22-25,31.
“During periods of national strength, the Moabites controlled land that stretched from the Zered (Num. 21:12; Deut. 2:13-14) to the vicinity of ancient Heshbon, a territory whose maximum north-south extent was only about sixty miles and beyond whose northern frontier lay the kingdom of Ammon. When Moabite power waned, as in the heydey of the Amorite king Sihon and during periods of Israelite control in Transjordan, their domain was reduced to the undisputed heartland of Moab—the region between the Zered and the biblical River Arnon (modern Wadi el-Mujib).” [POTW:319]
Israel had come up from the Wilderness Journeys, and was camped in the plains of Moab, across from Jericho. They were preparing to cross the river Jordan, to begin taking possession of the Land. They were at the end of forty years of nomadic, desert existence, and were STILL in desert surroundings (the Plains of Moab, by the Jordan). They had been resisted by the Transjordanian chiefdoms during their travels, and had been victorious in several unprovoked combat encounters.
Israel had been forbidden by God to attack Moab, or try to take their land [Deut 2:9: Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.” ], and they had already passed by Moab’s territory, but Moab’s chief—Balak—was nonetheless afraid of Israel, and attempted to mount an (unprovoked) campaign against them.
Having been refused right of passage on the ‘easier’ Kings Highway, Israel had traveled north from the Sinai peninsula through the Way of the Wilderness, just to the east of the various Transjordanian nations of Edom, Moab, and Heshbon. The conflict with the Amorite Sihon, ruler of Heshbon, created a passageway from the Syrian desert over to the river Jordan. This pathway would have been some 30 miles north of the Arnon river, the then northernmost border of Moab.
Since Israel had already defeated Moab’s protector nation-state (i.e., the part of the Amorite kingdom controlled by Sihon), Balak was smart enough not to launch a ‘normal’ military attack on unsuspecting Israel (camping down in the plain, getting last minute instructions/laws from God, and generally resting up for the march across Jordan into Palestine), but decided to attempt to use sorcery against Israel. He consulted with his military advisors/superiors (Midian) and they persuaded an internationally known sorcerer/mantic to travel from Mesopotamia to Moab, to place a ‘curse’ on Israel:
The negotiation account is given in Numbers 22-24:
“Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 So
Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were
numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons
of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the
elders of Midian, “Now this horde will lick up all that is around
us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was
king of Moab at that time. 5 So he sent
messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the
River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they cover
the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. 6 “Now,
therefore, please come, curse this people for
me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to defeat them and
drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is
blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the
elders of Midian departed with the fees
for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and repeated
Balak’s words to him. 8 And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will
bring word back to you as the Lord may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab
stayed with Balaam. 9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with
you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has
sent word to me, 11 ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt and they
cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them, and
drive them out.’” 12 And God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.”
13 So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your
land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 And the leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak,
and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” 15 Then Balak again sent
leaders, more numerous and more distinguished than the former. 16
And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor,
‘Let nothing, I beg you, hinder you from coming to me; 17 for I will indeed
honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Please come then, curse
this people for me.’” 18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak,
“Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do
anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God. 19
“And now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the
Lord will speak to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If
the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word
which I speak to you shall you do.” 21 So
Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders
of Moab. (Numbers 22)
Balak takes Balaam up to several mountains overlooking where Israel is camped (implying that Balak is substantially north of his territory, and is now in Amorite territory), and assists Balaam in trying to curse Israel with powers from the local gods of each mountain. Balaam is not allowed by God to place a curse on Israel, but instead pronounces a blessing and prophecies of Israel’s eventual rulership and future Messiah.
Balak, disappointed that he cannot get God to
help him defeat Israel and ‘drive them far out of the land’, is angry at
Balaam:
“Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his
hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies,
but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! 11
“Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but
behold, the Lord has held you back from honor.” (Num 24.10)
Indeed, it looks as if the “tables are turned”:
“Since Israel had defeated
the Amorite king, Sihon, who had himself defeated the Moabites, the Moabites
had good reason to fear the Israelites (Num 21:23-31). Consequently, the
Moabite king, Balak, in agreement with the Midianites, hired Balaam to curse Israel. In a series of prophetic
oracles, Balaam pronounces a blessing on Israel but a curse on Moab (Num 22-24)! Specifically, Balaam
prophesies of a royal figure, designated metaphorically as a “star” and
“scepter” coming out of Jacob/Israel, who would militarily crush the Moabites
(24:17). [NIDOTTE, s.v. “Moab, theology”]
The final verse of chapter 24 has Balaam leaving Balak’s presence and setting off for home, and Balak beginning his long ride home as well. It seems that Israel is safe from an unprovoked attack by Moab and Midian, and that they can prepare for crossing the Jordan ‘in peace’. They are dwelling ‘opposite’ Moab (22.5) and so do not have any interchanges with the Moabites/Midianites at that time. Israel seems poised to enter the Promised Land, and get on with their destiny…
But not so…for in Chapter 25 we have an amazing story
that will be remembered in shame and horror by Israel throughout its
history—the events and idolary of Baal Peor:
“The cultic center Beth Peor and the worship of the Baal of Peor became symbolic of religious apostasy for subsequent generations (Deut 4:3-4; Josh 22:17; Ps 106:28; Hos 9:10).” [NIDOTTE, s.v. “Moab, theology”]
Chapter 25 opens like this (translation taken from WBC):
And Israel
stayed at Shittim, and the people began to have sexual relations with the
Moabite women. 2 And these invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods.
And the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel yoked himself to
Baal of Peor. And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel.
4 And
Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people, and hang them in the
sun before Yahweh, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.”
5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Put to death, each of you, those of
his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
Shittim is a small
village about 5 miles from the Jordan, which had been recently captured by
Israel from Sihon. Although Israel had destroyed all the ‘towns’ (fortified
cities—the Hebrew in Deut 2.36 says “not a
town was too high for us”—a
reference to fortifications), outlying villages and hamlets may have been left
without damage, and would have therefore presented temporary living quarters.
There could have also been some
of the local populace of Amorites and Midianites there (we shall see latter
that they were occupying some of these towns).
Then, all of
sudden, Moabite women (“daughters of Moab”) start showing up there--in large
numbers—having traveled in groups from the kingdom of Moab thirty miles south
of there. Travel in this part of the country, and at this time essentially was
done by caravan, and under armed guards:
“Such difficulties and perils doubtlessly contributed to the fact that most international travel and communication was undertaken by caravans; in numbers, there was some protection against alien elements and agents. Considerable literary evidence from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor indicates that caravans were generally large and almost always escorted by security guards, armed by the public powers for their tasks, and that the caravanners were expected to stay strictly on the preordained route. It was not uncommon for caravans to include as many as 100 to 200 donkeys, sometimes carrying priceless commodities, and one extraordinary text from Mari refers to a caravan of 3,000 donkeys “ [ABD, “Travel and Communication (Old Testament World)”]
And the trip would
have taken 2-3 days:
“The evidence is generally
uniform and mutually corroborating that one day’s journey in the ancient world
(for efficient non-military travel) incorporated between 17 and 23 miles” [ABD, “Travel and
Communication (Old Testament World)”]
“As W. W. Hallo has calculated from the
distances between known points in an Old Babylonian itinerary, the length of a
daily stage of a caravan was between twenty-five and thirty kilometers [15.5-18.6 miles].” [OT:DLAM:275]
Ezra’s caravan, for example, likely only
averaged 9 miles per day [ABD,
“Travel and Communication (Old Testament World)”]
So, these Moabite
women show up, with government funding and security escorts, having carefully planned
the trip, and having left all family responsibilities on indefinite “hold” back
in Moab…and the sequence of events runs like this (according to the text, which
is a series of stark waw-consequtives):
This last step—a ‘yoking’—is likely an ancient cultic term, but we
don’t have much indication of its meaning from history. It could mean something
as formal as “joining in a covenant” (in violation of the exclusive Mosaic one
they were already in!), or something as vivid as “sexual union” with the God,
through ritual intercourse (a standard fertility motif). Almost any meaning of
this word, since it is undoubtedly “worse than” just “bowing down” (v. 2),
would be enough to seriously jeopardize Israel’s protection by Yahweh.
The Baal god, as
we have described in more detail in the article on the Canaanites elsewhere (qamorite.html),
had some particularly “family-unfriendly” destructive rituals:
“The Moabites worshipped the
war god Cheomsh, but they must have also indulged in the fertility religion of
Baal. This cult was marked by some of the most
depraved religious practices in Canaan. In lurid and orgiastic rites, the
worshippers would emulate the sacred prostitution of their gods and goddesses,
often also participating in a ceremonial meal.” [HSOBX, at Num 25]
“It is clear that, after sexual relationships had led to participation
in the pagan sacrificial feasts, the next step was a formal association with a particular god. That god was Baal-Peor.
Baal was the name of the great Canaanite god of vegetation.” [NICOT, Numbers,
p517]
“Baal-peor or Baal of Peor
was one of the leading gods of the Moabites, Midianites, and Ammonites, but akin
to the Canaanite Baal and Moloch. The sensual
rites of worship indicate a connection with the Phoenician Baal and
the Moabite Chemosh. [ABD, “Baal Peor”]
This event was
almost a recapitulation—with some heightening—of the sacred orgy Israel had started
the Wandering with, back in Exodus 32, and God’s response was the same—anger at
such disloyalty and treachery.
“In a sense this chapter
matches the grim account of Israel's involvement in the pagan rites of the
worship of the golden calf at the base of Sinai (Exod 32). The apostasy of
Israel in their flagrant worship of the golden calf points back to Egypt. The
golden calf was a symbol of the Egyptian bull-god Apis, likely referred to in
Jeremiah 46:15. Apis was the sacred bull in Egypt, the incarnation of Osiris,
the principal deity of Egypt. Exodus 32:6 reads, "So the next day the
people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship
offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in
revelry." The verb translated "to indulge in revelry" (lesaheq Piel infinitive construct of sahaq; meaning "to laugh"
in the Qal--the word that forms the base for the name "Isaac")
sometimes speaks of sexual involvement. It is a euphemism for
"caressing" in sexual play (as in Gen 26:8). So in this chapter
Israel engages in sexual acts of the worship of a god of Canaan.” [EBCOT, at
Num 25]
One very detailed
zoom-in of the situation is given in 25.6ff:
Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before
the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at
the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 7
When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left
the assembly, took a spear in his hand
8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through
both of them—through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. Then the plague
against the Israelites was stopped; 9
but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000…The name of the Israelite who
was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a
Simeonite family. 15 And the name of
the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal
chief of a Midianite family.
Commentators are
generally quick to point out that this is VERY flagrant and VERY anti-covenant
behavior, by two leaders, signifying complete abandonment of the God who was
about to give them the Land:
“Among the Israelites, then, the Midianite and Moabite women continued to prostrate themselves in Baal worship, imitating fertility rituals. And one day, as all the Israelites were gathered in front of the tabernacle confessing their sin, the son of one of the leaders in the tribe of Simeon paraded before them with a Moabite [sic] woman, headed for his tent…Reading the situation clearly, Phinehas swung into action. By the time he reached them in the back (bedroom) part of the tent, the couple were already involved in sexual intercourse.” [HSOBX]
“By bringing a Midianite
woman to his family, this man was encouraging
all of his male kin to participate in this forbidden ritual—even
though the people were supposed to be repenting for their previous idolatry. The ‘chamber’ into which they enter appears to be in
the sacred enclosure and therefore suggests ritual intercourse.
Though the ritual may have been fertility-oriented, the Israelites are not
engaging in agriculture, so it is difficult to imagine what connection that
might have here. “ [OT:BBCALL]
Where did this Midianite women come from? The Moabite women would have traveled north, but the Midianite women (and presumably the leadership, since this woman is called the daughter of a prince/chieftain) would have also have had to have moved into the area. [For nomads, this is not much problem, and indeed, they could even have facilitated the travel of the Moabite women from the south.] In Numbers 31.10,11, they are said to have been in camps and in towns (which they were only occupying at the time). This would have situated them in either (a) Sihon’s old territory, toward Moab; or (b) Sihon’s old territory toward the east, now vacated by Israel. If the latter, they were ostensibly attempting to engage Israel somehow.
The scale and scope of this sexual atrocity was extensive,
indicating that the number of Israelite men and Midianite/Moabite women would
have been quite high:
This would have required several thousand (maybe even over 10,000)
foreign women, to have precipitated and effected such a large scale apostasy,
in such a short period of time. And these women would have had to have traveled
deliberately to do just this…
And it is here at
this point that the treachery of the Midianites becomes visible in the
narrative: this was deliberate strategy on
the part of the Midianite leadership to use ‘sex’ as a weapon, and
have Israel abandon the protection and life-source of their God.
The verses give us
the substance of the treachery and deceit:
The LORD said to Moses, 17 “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them, 18 because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor.” [Num 25.16f]
“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. 16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD’s people. [Num 31.15]
So, Balaam somehow is back into the picture?! Somehow Balaam advised the women on how to turn
the Israelites away from the Lord?!
“It appears that the
Israelite men began to have sexual relations with the Moabite and Midianite
women (Num 25:1,6). How such liaisons began we can only guess, but they seem to
be connected with the bad advice given to the
Moabites by the prophet Balaam, son of Beor. Prior to this event,
the king of Moab had hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel; because of the
strong hand of God on his life, however, Balaam had only been able to bless
them. Apparently still bent on helping the
Moabite king, Balaam had stayed on in the land of Moab and Midian.
Numbers 31:16 informs us the ‘[the Midianite women] were the ones who followed
Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD
in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD’s people.’
(Apparently the Midianites were in Moab giving military advice to the Moabites
at this time). [HSOBX]
“Chs. 22-24 highlighted
Moab’s attempt to overthrow Israel; Midian played a minor role in these
chapters. Here the reverse is true—Midian is
the chief actor, with Moab taking a supporting role.” [NICOT,
Numbers, p516]
“In the further course of
history, we learn that Balaam went to the
Midianites, and advised them to seduce the Israelites to unfaithfulness to
Jehovah, by tempting them to join in the worship of Peor. He was
still with them at the time when the Israelites engaged in the war of vengeance
against that people, and was slain by the Israelites along with the five
princes of Midian.” [KD:1:202]
“As the princes of Midian, who were allied to Moab,
had been the advisers and assistants of the Moabitish king in the attempt to
destroy the Israelites by a curse of God; so now, after the failure of that
plan, they were the soul of the new
undertaking to weaken Israel and render it harmless, by seducing it
to idolatry, and thus leading it into apostasy from its God.” [KD:1:203
I should also point out that for the Israelite male, the temptation/seduction was purely sexual at first—there was literally no religious motivation to seek Baal out:
“It is clear that, after
sexual relationships had led to participation in the pagan sacrificial feasts,
the next step was a formal association with a particular god. That god was
Baal-Peor. Baal was the name of the great Canaanite god of vegetation.” [NICOT, Numbers, p517]