BAMIDBAR/Numbers 31

[debi b]

1 And the Adonai spoke to Moshe, saying,
2 Avenge the people of Israel of the Midianites…

This is a result of the events of Baal Peor (Num 25).

BAMIDBAR/Numbers 25

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
17 Harass the Midianites, and strike them;
18 For they harassed you with their wiles (deception), with which they have beguiled (decieved) you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.

So they go to war and win. There was only 12,000 sent (1,000 from each tribe) and they must have been far outnumbered. It is the response of the leaders of the army that I find interesting.

BAMIDBAR/Numbers 31

48 And the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near to Moshe;
49 And they said to Moshe, Your servants have taken a census of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacks not one man of us.
50 We have therefore brought an offering (korban) for the Adonai, what every man has found, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, ear rings, and tablets, to make an atonement (kafar) for our souls before Adonai.

The root for offering is kof resh bet and means to draw near. There is a note in the Stone Tanach for Vayikra/Leviticus 1:2 “The common translation, sacrifice, does not capture the essence of the word korban offering, whose root is kof resh bet coming near, because an offering is the means to bring us closer to Adonai….”

There purpose was to make “kafar” kaf pey resh usually translated as atonement. There was no sin involved here and their heart was of thanksgiving and acknowledging Adonai’s protection.

Why was it not a different kind of offering? Why are they making a KAFAR when there is no sin?

 

[Sephania]

Why was it not a different kind of offering? Why are they making a KAFAR when there is no sin?

Why do you say there is no sin? Is atonement not needed for rebellion? Does the fact that they gave an offering cover up their sin of disobedience, and doing what was right in their own eyes? Interpreting what HaShem said to their ways of thinking?


B'midvar 25 6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting. 7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. 8 And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.


Now what was Moshe angry about?

B'midvar 31

7 And they warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew every male. 8 And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 9 And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.

12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp, unto the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho. 13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. 14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

15 And Moses said unto them: 'Have ye saved all the women alive?
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to revolt so as to break faith with the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.

The whole reason for them being send was to keep the children of Israel from turning to other gods, it apparently was connected through the "unvirgin" women of Midian. We can see by Phinehas' reaction that the woman was a grave danger to all the soul of Israel and to HaShem's laws, this to me would be great reason for atonement.

Shalom

 

[debi b]

So you see the offering as connected to the Baal Peor incident? Interesting. It appears from the text that it is in response to not one was found missing. For a communal offering for idolatry it should have been a male kid, and the gold was put in the tent for a memorial.

 

[Sephania]

So you think that the offering was for idolatry, not disobedience? The 12,000 were to take vengence of the L-rd against the Midians for the children of Israel. They represented them and when they did not obey fully did not help them but added more onto them. My post was from making a quick reading of the incident and not gathering all the facts everywhere in Tenach about this. What would be the communal offering for disobedience? Moshe didn't seem to think that they were out-of-line in offering it, so he must have had understanding what it was for. I thought a male goat was for atonement?

You are confusing me now deb, I will have to now make a thorough reading of this and get back at a later date. I hope someone else has something to add. Have you checked the halacha forum for commentary on this parcha?

 

[debi b]

Sorry don't mean to be confusing. I guess what I was getting at is - if the korban in chapter 31 was in response to the incident of Baal Peor I would expect that to be for communal idolatry in which case I would have expected a male kid.

When I read the text in chapter 31 it appears to be not connected to Baal Peor and is in response for the protection that Adonai gave them in the battle because not one was lost. And the articles of gold that they drew near were kept in the ohel moed as a memorial. I don't know of any sacrfices that were to cover some sort of sin that were kept as memorials? (the censors in the Korach situation were applied to the outside altar but that wasn't an offering)

 

[Sephania]

Since it is past noon where I am I will have to stop any study of Torah, to be resumed on Wednesday afternoon.

Have a meaningful fast!