31 1 God said to Moses,
2 Take revenge on the Midianites. Then you will die.
3 Moses said to the people,
Go to war against the Midianites
This will be God's revenge on them.
4 One thousand men from each tribe will go to war.
5 So 12,000 soldiers were armed for war, 1000 from each tribe.
7 The Israelites attacked the Midianites, as God commanded, and killed all the males.
8 They killed Balaam and the five Midianite kings, took the women and children as captives, burned their cities, and took all their possessions, animals, and slaves.
12 They brought the captives and animals to Moses and Eleazar.
14 Moses was angry with the officers, and said to them,
15 Have you saved all the women alive?
16 These are the women that caused the Israelites, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against God and bring a plague on the congregation.
17 Now go and kill all the young males and every non-virgin woman.
18 But all the virgin females, keep alive for yourselves.
19 Those of you who have killed these people, or touched any of their dead bodies, must stay outside the camp for seven days to purify yourselves.
After seven days you will be clean and can return to camp.
25 God said to Moses,
26-27 Take the women and animals, and divide them into two parts: one for the soldiers, the other for the congregation.
28 Also include a tribute to me from the soldiers' portion one from every 500 of the humans and animals.
30 From the congregation's half, give one from every fifty of the humans and animals to the Levites.
31 And Moses and Eleazar did as God commanded.
32 There were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cows, 61,000 asses, and 32,000 virgins.
36 The soldiers' half was 337,500 sheep, 36,000 sheep, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 virgins.
40 From the soldiers, God received 675 sheep, 72 cows, 61 asses, and 32 virgins.
42 The congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cows, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 virgins.
47 Moses took one from every fifty of the congregation's half of the booty and gate it to the Levites, as God commanded Moses.
48-49 The officers brought gold jewelry from the Midianite massacre to Moses, and said that they didn't lose a single soldier during the massacre.
51 Moses gave the gold jewelry, which weighed 16,750 shekels, to Eleazar.
54 Moses and Eleazar brought the gold to the tabernacle as a memorial for the Israelites.
In this episode, we are joined by Seth Andrews, the host of The Thinking Atheist podcast and YouTube channel, to discuss one of the most appalling stories in the entire Bible. In it Moses commands his men to kill all the males and non-virgin females, but to keep the virgins alive for themselves.
In his autobiography, Deconverted, Seth said that Numbers 31 was one of the parts of the Bible that led him to reject the Bible and Christianity.
The Thinking Atheist YouTube Channel
Books by Seth Andrews at Amazon
Yet a little later in Judges 6-8, Gideon fights them. How is that possible?
And Balaam had nothing to do with the Moabite affair. He blessed the Israelites and refused to curse them as the king of Moab asked him to. What did he do wrong - besides mistreat his talking donkey? (Episodes 64 and 65)
Balaam's isn't mentioned anywhere in the entire chapter (Numbers 25) which tells the story about "the matter of Peor." Balaam had nothing to do with it, according to the Bible story itself. And yet here, in verse 16, Balaam is blamed for it.
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Loved this episode with Seth. Who's the next special guest going to be?
Thanks pwells!
It was a fun episode. The next one with a guest will be #74 with Objectively Dan. It should go out on Saturday, May 6.