Board index ‹ LGBT: Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual, Transgender, and Homosexuality

[Vivian]

Then what about the times in the OT where men were encouraged to take the plunder in series, killing of everything but young virgins?

[jimwalton]

Plunder in the ancient world was how soldiers got paid. The government didn't pay them for their service; their "take" was whatever money, animals, gold, silver, clothes, they could find. Plunder was part of warfare economy (hey, the dead don't need it any more anyway). So when the Israelites went to war, they took their pay from the conquered in food, clothes, money—whatever they could find.

> killing of everything but young virgins?

This particular text to which you are referring (Numbers 31.18) has absolutely nothing to do with rape. The Israelites were making war against the Midianites, who were guilty of seducing the men of Israel, both in sexual ways and in idolatry (idolatry was the more serious offense). When they went to war, they were to kill the offenders, which would include the soldiers, government officials, young men (who would soon become soldiers), and the women who had seduced their men into idolatry. The young virgins were obviously innocent, so they were spared. And if any of the Israelite men wanted to take one of those young women as his wife, he could bring her back to his home. She would go through a 30-day purification and mourning process (Dt. 21.10-14), and she could become his wife. It was against Israelite law for a Gentile female POW to be used as a sex object. In light of the highly sensitive nature of sexual purity in Israel and for Israel's soldiers, specific protocols had to be followed. Rape was most certainly excluded as an extracurricular activity in Israelite warfare.

So the upshot is that God had forbidden rape—a far cry from the misunderstanding that God allows it, let alone commands it.

[Vivian]

Ok. Thanks for explaining. I often find it difficult to stomach the OT because of all the violence.