Numbers 31 — Moses and the Sanctification of Violence

Violence Presented as Divine Command

Numbers 31 is one of the most morally disturbing chapters in the Bible. It describes the war against Midian, killing, captivity, and the division of plunder under the language of divine command.

These passages are rarely discussed openly.

They are often softened, ignored, or surrounded by theological explanations designed to protect traditional interpretations. Readers are encouraged to accept them without moral reflection, as “mysterious” aspects of God’s will.

This commentary approaches the text differently.

It asks whether cruelty can ever become righteousness, whether violence can be made sacred simply because it appears inside Scripture, and whether obedience without conscience can still be called faith.

The goal is not accusation, but clarity — and the courage to judge actions by the highest moral standard: the voice of conscience.

Numbers 31:7–12 — War, Captives, and Plunder

In the following passage, Moses is presented as a figure executing the commands of a cruel and false deity — the Lord. Such portrayals normalize violence and suppress moral reflection, keeping people at a low spiritual level.

The character known as “Moses” in these texts appears to be formed from fragmented traditions and ancient narratives. When such narratives are presented as sanctified by divine command, cruelty is no longer shown as cruelty, but as sacred obedience — even when it contradicts conscience and human dignity.

Before reading the passage below, consider the moral and spiritual level not only of the characters presented in this story, but also of those who wrote such texts, those who approved them as part of sacred Scripture, and those who continue to impose the image of the Lord as if he were the One God.

Then ask what values are being justified through the actions described here.

7 They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male.
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.
10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire,
11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast.
12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Numbers 31:7–12 ^*

Numbers 31:13–41 — Ritualized Violence and Tribute to the Lord

But the atrocities did not end there. Moses did not stop at the killing already described; he became angry that the women had been left alive, ordered the killing of male children and women who had known men, and commanded that the young girls who had not known a man be kept alive “for yourselves.”

This phrase cannot be softened morally. In the context of war, captives, and plunder, the girls are presented as human spoils preserved for the victors. The passage therefore joins killing, sexual captivity, and divine command into one horrifying image.

Mass killing is then transformed into a regulated, ritualized, and economically organized process: captives, animals, and plunder are counted, divided, purified, and assigned as tribute to the Lord. Violence is no longer portrayed as an atrocity. It is turned into a “sacred” duty, administered through priests, purification rituals, and religious accounting.

13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.
14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.
15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?
16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.
17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.
19 Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.
20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses:
22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water.
24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”
25 The Lord said to Moses,
26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation,
27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.
28 And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks.
29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord.
30 And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.”
31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep,
33 72,000 cattle,
34 61,000 donkeys,
35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him.
36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep,
37 and the Lord’s tribute of sheep was 675.
38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 72.
39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61.
40 The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 persons.
41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Numbers 31:13–41

Conscience Against the Sanctification of Violence

If you consider this to be sacred Scripture, if you accept such a false deity as your god, and if you regard the atrocities described here as the deeds of the righteous, then your path leads to dust.

You surely love your children. But look one another in the eyes and ask: do you love your children at the human level, or only at the level of an animal instinct?

If you believe that you love them at the human level, then why do your children eat GMO products? Why have 5G towers been allowed near schools, residential buildings, and other places where people live and gather? Why do screens pour out sexualized depravity and spiritual emptiness? Why are grown sons sent to wars to kill one another? And why do you remain inactive? Why do you not unite around the revealed Gift of the Creator in defense of the future of your children?

Arm yourselves with love for your children, so that the world may be saved from the satanic forces leading humanity toward the abyss through the inaction chosen by the majority.

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* The text of the Bible is quoted from the “English Standard Version”. ↑ back