This Chapter 31, from The New American Bible, from Numbers is where Moses, as ordered by Yahweh to assemble an Israeli army of soldiers, sends these soldiers to commit genocide by putting all Medianites to death. Moses and Yahweh were infuriated when the soldiers initially only killed the Medianite men, sparing the women and children.
Some modern thinkers dismiss Yahweh as a cruel, barbaric, vindictive, bloodthirsty deity, subsidizing genocide against those worshiping other deities including pagans like the Medianites. I read online that the Hebrews, like most or all other ancient peoples, regarded their tribe or their nation as the only true humans, that those from other tribes were subhuman. Well, we all know from genocidal regimes in the 20th century, we know what happens when people from neighboring tribes or nations are dismissed as subhuman; it is not immoral to kill those who are subhuman.
I do not want Christians, Jews or Muslims to wipe out any worshiper of a rival religion, but, there may be just wars too; it is complicated. We should not exterminate whole peoples as a general rule, though Yahweh’s campaign to purify Palestine as the land of the chosen people who exclusively worshiped Yahweh may be required such measures as wiping out the Medianites.
I as a moderate am not against rival deities and the worship of them as long as they are good deities, but if those following corrupt pagan faiths are devil worshipers, then they should be vigorously opposed, though Old Testament style wiping them out may go too far.
One helpful online article I glanced at suggested that Yahweh was the chief executive of a theocratic state, so to capture and purify the land of Canaan, neighboring tribes with their pagan deities and fertility cult practices, child sacrifice, temple prostitutes of both sexes, worshipers putting their feces on the altar as a sacrifice to Baal , Anath and Asherah, may have required brutal practices of genocide just to shock wayward Israelites from turning on Yahweh, a just God.
There is no doubt that Yahweh or God does allow for just war. Hebrews were not pacifists.
From the Holy Bible (KJV) here is a quote from Numbers 31:1-2: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Medianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.”
My response: This campaign against the Medianites was Moses’s last main assignment for he would die and be gathered unto his people, so it seems that the Hebrews believed in an afterlife where Moses’s family reside immortally as spirits.
In these passages from the Holy Bible, it becomes clear that Yahweh wants extermination of the Medianites to occur to rid Palestine of a people detrimental to Yahweh setting up Israel or Canaan as a land ruled by God’s covenant. It is also clear that Yahweh is a jealous God and does not want His people fraternizing with pagan neighbors with their pagan deities.
From what I was able cursorily to glean from AI and online articles on Baal and Anath, god and goddess of farming cults, seem to be powerful rivals, these the Medianites and Moabites were formidable enemies of Yahweh, the monotheistic God of the desert and wilderness,, seeking to use Balaam to curse Israel who were getting too strong. The Medianite women seduced Israeli men to worship Baal and engage in idolatrous and sexually promiscuous acts.
Yahweh blessed the Israelites as His chosen people, and when the Medianites and Moabites recruited Balaam to curse Israel, that infuriated God so God had Moses recruit an army of Israelites to kill the Medianites and Balaam, a Medianite.
Here is an AI search I did for why Yahweh wanted to slay the Medianites: “Including results for
The command in Numbers 31 regarding the Midianites, including the devastating reality that children were destroyed, is one of the most challenging narratives in the Old Testament.
May 31, 2023 · As strange as it may sound, the ultimate good of the Midianite males may not have come about without their being killed by the Israelites in warfare. This is “brass tacks” and gets to the root of whether one thinks that man was made in the image of God or whether one makes a god in the image of man. “
My response: I believe that man is made in the image of God more than man makes a god in the image of men.
AI: “
They killed the men, including their five kings and Balaam, burnt their settlements and took captive the women, children and livestock. Moses commanded the Israelites to kill the boys, and women who had sex with men, and spare the virgin girls for themselves.
Take vengeance on the Midianites: The Midianites were a nomadic people associated with the people of Moab in Numbers 25. God commanded that they be attacked in retribution for their part in the seduction of Israel into sexual immorality and idolatry.
How can we address the moral dilemma posed by the massacre of Midianite women and children in parshat Matot.
Mar 4, 2026 · The command for Moses to lead the Israelites in the killing of the Midianites is a difficult but significant part of biblical history. It highlights the seriousness with which God views sin, especially when it influences His chosen people, and underscores His commitment to justice and holiness. “
My response: That God would order Moses and the Israelites to start a holy war, a just war, to wipe out the Medianites does overtly, violently make clear to pagan peoples, pagan neighbors, and to the Israelis themselves that Yahweh is not messing around, that His chosen people have agreed to worship him and be holy, virtuous and moral, and the refusal or rebellion against so doing and living will not be tolerated, that sin will be swiftly, completely and totally punished and vanquished. Yahweh is not playing and sinning has consequences which shall be visited upon the sinners by Yahweh.
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