Not a Sexy Beginning
Numbers 25:1-15 tells the story of the children of Israel having sexual relationships with the people of Moab. This was a big no-no, because the Israelites were supposed to hate the Moabites (we explain why the Moabites are so hated in another Card Talk. That one is all about the sex.) Needless to say, God is upset by this, not (only) because of all the sex, but because of what the sex brought with it, which was worship of the Moabite gods. Thus, Israel yoked itself to the Baal of Peor who was really, really shitty—literally—and the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel (vs 2-3).
God’s anger was made known to the people:
The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and impale them in the sun before the Lord, in order that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you shall kill any of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.” (vs 4-5)
In addition to this death sentence, 24,000 die in a plague (c.f. Psalm 106:28-31).
But it gets better…well, worse…which is the subject of this card and Card Talk.
Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
When Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand, he went after the Israelite man into the tent, and pierced the two of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. So the plague was stopped among the people of Israel. (vs 6-8)
Background on Backstabbing
We want to address three (3) points of contention in this passage:
1. Who she was
While it is noteworthy that the woman is a Midianite, not a Moabite, it is clear from the framing of the story that the Midianites are being associated with the evils of the Moabites. Regardless of the reason, Phineas is not having any of it. He takes a spear and stabby stabby stabby.
[For the Bible nerds: In Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, Frank Moore Cross argues that this is an Aaronite priestly text praising and elevating Phineas—who is from Aaron’s line—, while (possibly) taking a shot at the Mushite priestly line, as Moses was married to a Midianite (201-203)].
2. Where they got stabbed.
As we’ve discussed before Biblical translators can be prudes. Thus, in most English translations, vs 8 say that the spear went through the man and then through the woman’s “belly,” “stomach,” or “abdomen.”
However, the good old, often very literal, Douay-Rheims translation renders קֹבָה a different way
…and thrust both of them through together, to wit, the man and the woman in the genital parts. And the scourge ceased from the children of Israel:
Following suit, renowned Hebrew Bible scholar Everett Fox translates קֹבָה as “private parts.” And if Phinehas was able to stab her through the vagina, that means he also pierced what was thrusting inside of it. In other words, Phinehas’ aim was crazy good. Through the back, through the penis, through the vagina.
3. Where they were having sex
The passage says (vs 6) that the man brought the woman before his family “in the sight” of everyone, while they “were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” The couple then went into “the tent.” Some argue that this means that the sexy couple walked by everyone in the Tabernacle, and then went and had sex in the man’s tent.
However, others argue that the mention of the man’s family, and the use of the phrase “in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites” while they were at “the entrance of the tent of meeting,” means that the couple were publicly having sex in that tent. They didn’t go back to the man’s house, they were doing it in the Tabernacle itself, God’s house.
I wonder why people got so mad…?
The Rabbinic Perspective
Sifrei Bamidbar—the Midrash on Numbers— has quite a bit to say about this passage. Of particular note is the retelling of Phineas’ action itself. The Midrash reports that God performed twelve miracles once Phineas entered the tent with his spear.
In summary:
(1) an angel kept the bodies joined together, and
(2) sealed their mouths so they couldn’t scream.
(3) The spear joined them directly at the genitals, so none of the skeptics could doubt what they were doing, which was made easier because
(4) they did not slide off the spear, even when
(5) the angel lifted the spear so everyone could see. This upset people, so they attacked Phineas, but
(6) the angel fought them off until Phineas told the angel to calm down and the plague ceased.
After this (7) the spear, still holding the bodies, began to grow straight up in the air, but
(8) Phineas, who is now holding the spear again, is granted super-strength to support the load, which is good because
(9) the spear didn’t break. In addition, God protected Phineas from becoming ritually unclean (tame’) during all this because
(10) the blood of the couple did not fall on him, and
(11) the couple was still alive while all of this was happening.
In the end (12) the arrangement of the bodies and the scene itself convinced the people that this was all God’s will.
This emphasis on the guresome and fantasitcal nature of their deaths, is not just to turn the text into a biblical snuff film. This midrash contains a lot of commentary on this background and implications of the Hebrews’ interactions with the Moabites.
It explains that this situation is just as terrible as the incident with the golden calf. It describes the people turning their backs on God: a gradual decline into moral (and physical) debauchery. They are selling their bodies and souls into the embrace of the enemy, slowly, but completely.
It reports Elazar b. Shamua as saying “Just as a nail cannot be removed from a door without wood (attached), so, an Israel cannot leave Peor without souls (i.e., without adhesions thereof).”
In other words, even when the people eventually come to their senses, the damage has been done, and there is no clear break with the evils of the past
Phineas’ actions should be seen in light of this.
God-making Sex
Though important, sexual purity is not the main focus of this passage. It isn’t even racial/ethnic identity that is at the center of this, though again, that was also very important. The point is spiritual allegiance to the One True God. And before you get too triggered by that sort of language, just remember, everyone has “a god” they serve. For some people, that is actually a deity.
In The End of Education, Neil Postman equate the word “god” with the word “narrative” in ways we find instructive:
“I use the word narrative as a synonym for “god,” with a small “g.” I know it is risky to do so, not only because the word “god,” having an aura of sacredness, is not to be used lightly, but also because it calls to mind a fixed figure or image. But it is the purpose of such figures or images to direct one’s mind to an idea and, more to my point, to a story. Not any kind of story but one that tells of origins and envisions a future; a story that constructs ideals, prescribes rules of conduct, provides a source of authority, and above all, gives a sense of continuity and purpose. A god, in the sense I am using the word, is the name of a great narrative, one that has sufficient credibility, complexity, and symbolic power so that it is possible to organize one’s life around it…[narrative is] a comprehensive narrative about what the world is like, how things got to be the way they are, and what lies ahead” (5-6).
Postman argues that when we are creating a narrative, we are creating meaning for our lives, we are “god-making” (7).
Phineas was responding to not only the plague, but the assault on the community’s concepts of authority, continuity, and purpose. Their “great narrative” was in danger, and he sought to defend it. The people were flagrantly creating a god he couldn’t abide. In this instance, that god-making, was synonymous with sex.
Putting aside, for one moment, the patriarchal ideas underpinning much of the discussion of sex and sexuality in the Bible, a case could be made that a significant portion of the time, the prohibitions against sex in the Bible are often focused on the outcome, namely the people of God being distracted, enticed, or drawn away from their first love, YHWH. Hence all the “unfaithful wife” imagery employed (c.f. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Jesus, Paul). The idea that who you sleep with matters because of where those relationships might lead. Not kinky sex dungeons (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but places your heart/mind shouldn’t go. Just look at Samson or David and his sons—esp. Amnon and Solomon—as examples.
But let’s be clear: patriarchal ideas underpin the vast majority of the Bible’s take on sex and sexuality. And as we’ve covered in the past, we’re not saying that this is okay, but it should be taken into account.
Perhaps we should recognize that strange stories in the Bible tend to be a rehashing of the great commandments to “love God” and “love our neighbor.”
This one is no different.
Perhaps we should take more care to see how our actions impact our communities, especially when we are making a god out of things that are harmful.
But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we’re going to Hell.
