If you ask me-and Moses didn’t–the Bible is willfully ignoring the obvious point. For reasons I can’t understand, God and Moses hold the entire Midianite nation responsible for this mess, and they want payback. God, delighted by Phineas’ zealotry, stops the plague he had sent against the Israelites as punishment for their lechery. At that very moment, an Israelite walked by the Tent of Meeting with his Midianite girlfriend. God was threatening punishment for Israelites who’d been whoring with Moabite women. Why? For the fairly piddling crime described in Chapter 25. At the start of the chapter, God tells Moses he must complete one more task before he dies: taking vengeance against the Midianites. As with the story of Dinah, it is sexual misbehavior that spurs the ugliest, evilest biblical vengeance. Here is most hideous war crime in a Bible filled with them. And promises made by widows and divorcees have the same force as any man’s. If they don’t object quickly, the promise stands. The law is not completely infantilizing: The father and husband get only one brief opportunity to veto the female promise. But if an unmarried woman makes a promise, her father can override it, and if a married woman makes a promise, the husband can veto it. The chapter asks: When do you have to keep a promise? Any time a man makes a promise, he must keep it. Maybe they’re right, given that Numbers is already treating women as nonpeople again. Several readers rebuked me, arguing that this was a pretty meager recognition for women. It’s supposed to be a jolly harvest festival, but it sounds more like one of those all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecues.Ĭhapter 30 In the last entry I described the Lord’s decision to allow daughters without brothers to inherit property as a landmark in women’s rights. Goriest of all is Sukkot, which calls for: seven goats, 14 rams, 70 bulls, and 98 lambs. The Tabernacle was practically an abattoir. But use only trees that you know are not fruit trees.Chapter 28 and Chapter 29 Holiday time-what a bloodbath! These chapters specify all the animal sacrifices required for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. 20 You may need wood to make ladders and towers to help you get over the walls and capture the town. Fruit trees aren't your enemies, and they produce food that you can eat, so don't cut them down. 18 If you allow them to live, they will persuade you to worship their disgusting gods, and you will be unfaithful to the Lord.ġ9 When you are attacking a town, don't chop down its fruit trees, not even if you have had the town surrounded for a long time. 17 He has commanded you to completely wipe out the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take the women and children as slaves and keep the livestock and everything else of value.ġ6 Whenever you capture towns in the land the Lord your God is giving you, be sure to kill all the people and animals. Then, after the Lord helps you capture it, kill all the men. But if they reject your offer of peace and try to fight, surround their town and attack. If they surrender and open their town gates, they will become your slaves. We don't want you to discourage the other soldiers.ĩ When the officials are finished giving these orders, they will appoint officers to be in command of the army.ġ0-15 Before you attack a town that is far from your land, offer peace to the people who live there. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to marry the woman you are engaged to.Ĩ Finally, if any of you are afraid, you may go home. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to enjoy your grapes.ħ If any of you are engaged to be married, you may go back home and get married. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to live in your new house.Ħ If any of you have planted a vineyard but haven't had your first grape harvest, you may go home. If any of you have built a new house, but haven't yet moved in, you may go home. 4 The Lord your God will fight alongside you and help you win the battle.”ĥ Then the tribal officials will say to the troops: 2 Before you march into battle, a priest will go to the front of the army 3 and say, “Soldiers of Israel, listen to me! Today when you go into battle, don't be afraid of the enemy, and when you see them, don't panic. But don't be afraid! The Lord your God rescued you from Egypt, and he will help you fight. Laws for Going to War Moses said to Israel:Ģ0 If you have to go to war, you may find yourselves facing an enemy army that is bigger than yours and that has horses and chariots.
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