What actually happens in Numbers 31? Genocide, or some kind of divine quarantine? Dr. Josh places the text in its literary context, considering similar events in Numbers to better understand the events of this passage.

Numbers 31 (NRSV):

“The Israelites took the women of Midian and their little ones captive, and they plundered all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their towns where they had settled, and all their encampments, they burned, 11 but they took all the spoil and all the plunder, both people and animals.

Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? … kill every woman who has known a man by sleeping with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known a man by sleeping with him, keep alive for yourselves. ”
– Numbers 31, 9-18 abridged

On this Historicity of this event:

“The scholarly consensus is that this war did not take place, certainly not as narrated. Within the wider context of the Exodus, there probably never was an invasion of Canaan (the “Promised Land”) by all Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt. Scholars believe that Israelite culture emerged from the wider Canaanite culture surrounding it, with whom it had strong linguistic, religious and other cultural links. There was no political unification of several Semitic Canaanite tribes into a single Israelite state until after 1100 BCE.”

“The claims that 12,000 Israelite soldiers exterminated or captured the entire Midianite population and destroyed all their towns without suffering a single casualty are held to be historically impossible, and should be understood as symbolic. Moreover, even other biblical books set in later times still refer to the Midianites as an independent people, such as Judges chapters 6–8, where Gideon fights them. Most likely, the author(s) wished to convey a certain theological message about who Yahweh, Moses, Eleazar and Phinehas were, and how powerful the Israelites would be if Yahweh was on their side.”

Dr. Josh Bowen holds a Ph.D. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, (Assyriology major with a minor in Hebrew Bible), an M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (both from The Johns Hopkins University), and a Th.M. in Old Testament Studies (Capital Bible Seminary). A former Pastor, now an academic, Dr Bowen has extensive experience teaching Biblical Hebrew.