“They fought against Midyan, as Adonai had ordered Moshe, and killed every male. They killed the kings of Midyan along with the others who were slain — Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva, the five kings of Midyan. They also killed Bil‘am the son of B‘or with the sword. The people of Israel took captive the women of Midyan and their little ones, and they took as booty all their cattle, flocks and other goods.”-Numbers 31:7-9
Before we get deep into our text study of Numbers Chapter 31, there is one issue that needs to be addressed.
When reading this chapter, it would appear that the Israelites totally wiped out the Midianites to the point of extinction.
However, later on in the Torah and in other parts of the Tanach, we will read about other encounters with the Midianites.
And not only that.
There is also archaeological evidence that shows Midian existed at many different points of time beyond this particular part of Scripture.
So are we dealing with a contradiction here?
The answer is NO, we are not dealing with a contradiction.
And here’s the reason why.
Do you remember how I told you that Canaan was NOT a sovereign nation?
Rather Canaan was just a large geographical area containing several tribes who had all descended from Noah’s cursed grandson Canaan.
Well it’s exactly the same thing with Midian.
They were not a nation, but more of a region.
Let’s have a quick review of where we have encountered Midian thus far in Scripture.
Do you remember where Moses went after he fled Egypt.
That’s right, he fled to an area called Midian.
Do you recall who Moses’ first wife was?
Again, she was a Midianite named Tziporra.
Midian was also the area where Moses first encountered HASHEM when He spoke to him through the Burning Bush (which is the reason why I believe Midian was where Mount Sinai was located by the way).
My whole point is that Midian was NOT a nation with well-defined boundaries.
It was a general geographical area consisting of several tribes who all descended from a man named Midian.
Do you remember who Midian was?
Midian was the son of Abraham’s second wife Keturah.
Do you know what this means?
It means the Midianites are Semites.
They are descendants of Abraham which means they are distant cousins to Israel.
The truth is, many different Midianite tribes and clans eventually spread out and settled all over the Arabian Peninsula.
They were mainly concentrated in the western region of the Arabian Peninsula, stretching northwards up to Moab (which is where Numbers 31 takes place) and westward all the way to Edom and the Negev.
So what’s my point?
My point is that our story here in Numbers 31 is dealing ONLY with just those Midianite clans who had settled in Moabite territory.
Israel didn’t destroy every Midianite tribe in existence.
But having said that, the scale of the human destruction they did accomplish was still quite significant.
Leave a Reply