Numbers 31:17 (Moses is speaking) "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him." v.18 "But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." The word "children" is in hebrew "taph" and definitely refers to children, NOT adult women!!! I checked several Bible words translations and they all back me... as for what then happens to the girls, see Deuteronomy 21:10 to 14 (the word "humbled" given in english in verse 14 is often used in reference to a man forcing intercourse on a woman, or a child in the above case!) The Hebrews also rape young girls in Judges 21:12 and are never punished for it by God (He somehow found time to punish them for every OTHER transgression...)
2007-03-05 11:05:05 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
P.S. other Bible translations give various renderings for "women children" (i.e. "young girls", "little girls", etc.) but they all agree that the verse is talking about non-adult females...
2007-03-05 11:08:20 · update #1
P.P.S. how is quoting directly from the Bible and using word translation texts written BY CHRISTIANS "quoting out of context"?!? Moses GAVE THE ORDERS... what more proof do you WANT????
2007-03-05 11:13:44 · update #2
P.P.P.S. and just because it's an " historical event", doesn't let God or Moses off the hook! The Holocaust was a "historical event"... does that make it o.k. or make Hitler any less evil???
2007-03-05 11:16:28 · update #3
From Zonderzan NASB study Bible, pg. 253, on the word "humbled"..."Twelve other times the Hebrew for this word is used of men forcing women to have sexual intercouse with them (Deut 22:24, 29, Gen 34:2, Judges 19:24, 20:5, Sam 13:12, 14, 22, 32)" - I rest my case...
2007-03-07 05:04:24 · update #4
According to the translation I've got (Complete Jewish Bible) the passages you indicate in Numbers do not suggest intercourse but keeping those women and young girls who had never known men in the household and raising them as Hebrew.
The passage you cite in Deuteronomy is badly portrayed by you, however, Moses was indicating to the men what they must do if they decided to make the women their wives. If you read farther you will see he had very strict rules about how he should treat her after that and a command he could not just use her and abandon her.
2007-03-05 11:55:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Man's inhumanity to man is nothing new. But the provision of saving the young women. Served two purposses. One the religion would be gone that contribulted to child sacrifice, using boys and girls as temple prostitutes. Those were barberic nations that did really bad things to children. So maybe God thought they would actually be treated better as wives of the Isrealites than they would have been by their own nation.
They had laws about how young a women could be when she was taken as a wife.
Also, as with so many of the animals they are extinct today.
By saving the women those people would not be obliterated from the earth. Some of their charistics and looks would be preserved.
Also, if you went into Iraq and destroyed everyone but the children everyone under 18 was to survive. Would that change religon? war? or even their customs?
No they would grow up to be just like their parents. So would the boys. But a girl so young that she hadn't been with a man and then raised to believe like they did. that would change everything.
That is the one way you could preserve that race with out keeping the false religon and its wicked practices.
Would it have been better if they had been told as they were in some cases to just kill everyone. These were very wicked people they were fighting. incest was common in these nations.
So they would probably be used by male relatives if they hadn't already.
2007-03-05 11:18:43 · answer #2 · answered by Ruth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I also did a little research into this text since you brought it up. What you are missiing is the earlier part of the verses, NU 30 and look at the entire part in context!!!!! The Midianites had been trampling all over the Israelis for a time and God was angry with the whole tribe and the women (adult females) that had bed (slept) with Midianite boys as well as the men. God literally told Moses to destroy the people of the Midians and the Adult Jew women who 'slept around' and all such children who participated in this behavior.. Get your facts straight before you start bad-mouthing My God.
2007-03-05 11:23:51 · answer #3 · answered by Nbruce 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Numbers 31:17 is considered a fictional account while in captivity. It is about the War with the Midianites and God is saying what one needs to do - kill the males and certain woman who are causing the corrupt practices and plague. Child refers to young women.
2007-03-05 11:59:25 · answer #4 · answered by Marg 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your interpretation of this passage seems to contradict how every educated theologian throughout the history of the church interpreted this passage, so I will have to assume that your understanding on this passage is wrong. No church anywhere that I know of went around raping children, better yet go around citing this passage to justify it.
You seem to be hell-bent on making up whatever you can to discredit Moses, so nothing that I say here will really make a difference to you, and the Bible warns me not to give an answer to mockers & foolish people.
===edit===
See commentary on Numbers 31:17,18, below:
2007-03-05 11:17:10 · answer #5 · answered by Randy G 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Bible is telling you what happened in history and it clearly definds rape as wrong and shows that the Hebrews even though the are God's choosen people that they are still sinners in need of a savior who came in Jesus Christ.
2007-03-05 11:09:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nowhere does it say It is okay to rape.
You have to look at the context around it, also note that much of the Old Testament is history, so that could be it as well. I havent looked up the verse yet.
2007-03-05 11:13:29 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No.
The virgins (yes,they were ADULTS not kids) were spared because they had no part in the worshipping of the evil god Baal.They were spred because they were innocent,and were made to be a part of the community.
2007-03-05 11:11:59 · answer #8 · answered by Serena 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
some cultures give girls to be married at a very young age and it isnt thought of as wrong .... marriages were arranged by families and u dont even choose yourself and its not wrong .... get over urself and thinking ur american culture is the only right way ...
2007-03-05 11:10:33 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I wanted to wait for those who didn't believe to see if they accept what you proclaim without backing it up. Nice to jump on the backwagon without knowing where its going.
As far as your deduction, Humbled makes no reference to sexual indignation. As far as Judges 21;12, it makes no reference to sex other than these were virgins. Nowhere does it mention of raping.
humbled
`anah, aw-naw'; a primitive root [possibly rather identical with Hebrew 6030 (`anah) through the idea of looking down or browbeating]; to depress literal or figurative, transitive or intransitive (in various applications, as follow) :- abase self, afflict (-ion, self), answer [by mistake for Hebrew 6030 (`anah)], chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing [by mistake for Hebrew 6030 (`anah)], speak [by mistake for Hebrew 6030 (`anah)], submit self, weaken, × in any wise
2007-03-05 11:17:45 · answer #10 · answered by n9wff 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋