“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
In verse 9 of Numbers 31, we’re presented with information that is downright offensive to most modern and civilized people’s sensitivities.
We’re told the Israelites took captive the women and children of Midian, confiscated all the livestock and burned the Midianite towns down to the ground.
Now here’s what usually gets lost.
In ancient times, these practices were completely normal.
Let me say that again.
It was totally normal procedure for a tribe or nation to enlarge it’s population and power by taking captive the women, children and even in some cases the men after they had defeated another tribe or nation.
Actually, this isn’t the first time we’re reading about this happening.
Recall about 500 years earlier when Jacob’s two sons Simeon and Levi went on that raid of revenge on the city of Shechem to avenge their sister who had been raped.
After killing all the adult males, we’re told that the women and children were taken as slaves.
As a result of this, literally overnight, Jacob grew his clan by leaps and bounds.
Well, the exact same thing is happening here in Numbers 31.
We’re gonna read about this happening numerous times, so you had best get used to it.
Whenever Israel conquered some king, a good portion of that kingdom’s population ended up being grafted into Israel.
Or let me say it another way, throughout their history, Israel’s population increases were due to a lot more than just babies being born to Israelite women.
You know what conclusion we can draw from this?
Pretty much practically from Israel’s very inception, there never was such a thing as genealogical purity in the Hebrew nation.
The majority of the people who Israel conquered were eventually absorbed and over time no longer even considered foreigners.
That was just how tribal society worked in those days, and I would say that’s even how it works today.
Heck, when I visited Israel last summer, I mingled with Jews of all different colors.
Some were of Ethiopian descent, some were of Arabic descent, some were a bit brownish in skin color (Sephardic Jews) and others looked super white European (the Ashkenazi).
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