352 UNNAMED MIDIANITE VIRGINS - BIBLICAL PEOPLE I'M CURIOUS ABOUT (PART 2 OF 6).

"Hope in a Prison of Despair" by Evelyn DeMorgan

Yes, I'm into an obscure portion of Scripture today: Numbers 31. You probably are aware of Balaam and his talking donkey (Numbers 22-24), who was hired to curse Israel but blessed them instead. It's possible you know that Numbers 25 tells how Moabite women seduced men of Israel  at Baal Peor to turn them to idolatry, and God sent a plague against those. But then, Numbers 31 tells of God telling the Israelites to take vengeance on the Midianites. No Israeli casualties, but killed in that battle was Balaam the false prophet.

Well, the children of Israel took home booty. Lifestock was no problem. The women were. Moses was mad at them, based on the crisis at Baal Peor. So they inquired of God, and they were told to kill the married women, but they could spare the virgins. The total of women prisoners, then were 32,000. 

Then, the spoil was divided 50-50 between those who fought and those who didn't. The Lord asked for a tribute of 1 of 500 from the fighters and 1 of 50 of the non-fighters. By the way, the divided booty included the ladies. The number set aside for the Lord were 352 (32 from the soldier's share, 320 from the people's).

But what does it mean for them to be given to the Lord? Sacrifice? That is inconsistent with the entirety of Scripture. Were they set apart for the priests and Levites? The High Priest is to marry within Israel, but no prohibition for other priests or Levites. Did they form an order of nuns? No record of that.

Speaking of no record: I went to the commentaries/study Bibles I have to see if they offered any clarification. Nope. J. Vernon McGee, one of my go-to sources, skipped over all the booty discussion. The Ryrie Study Bible, the MacArthur Study Bible, and the Complete Jewish Study Bible added nothing. Well, Ryrie did point out that Numbers 31:28-31 mentioned 1 of 500 of the soldiers share went to the Lord as an offering and 1 of 50 of the people's share were given to the Levites, but that's all.

I thought of writing a novel dealing with these ladies and what they went through. Were they angry and bitter? Were they fearful and miserable? Or did at least some of those 352 women come to believe in the God of Israel?