Why did Moses tell his men to spare the Midianite virgins for themselves in Numbers 31:18?

Answer

In Numbers 31, following a battle between the Israelites and the Midianites, Moses instructs his men that “the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves” «But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. », (Numbers 31:18, NLT). This permission may appear unusual, if not immoral, to contemporary readers. Why were the soldiers permitted to retain the virgins for themselves?

To comprehend the events in Numbers 31, it is essential to examine the circumstances leading up to the battle:

• the Israelites were approaching the conclusion of their time in the wilderness and were on the verge of entering Canaan (Numbers 22)

• Balak, the king of the Moabites, collaborated with the Midianites to launch an aggressive campaign against the unsuspecting Hebrews, despite Israel posing no danger or threat to Moab (Numbers 22)

• Balak employed the prophet Balaam to curse Israel; when the curses proved ineffective, Balaam proposed an alternative strategy. Driven by the reward Balak promised, Balaam counseled the Moabite/Midianite leaders on how to infiltrate the Israelite camp and corrupt them from within. The outcome was a widespread act of sexual deception (Numbers 22—25)

• Balaam’s scheme aimed to ensnare the Israelites in idolatry by sending “honeypots” into the camp: “The men [of Israel] began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them” (Numbers 25:1-3).

• God punished His people for their wrongdoing with a pl

ague, and 24,000 people died in Israel “And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.”, (Numbers 25:9).

• God then told Moses, “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them. They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident” (Numbers 25:17-18).