(12) “Why does my lord weep?” asked Hazael. “Because I know,” he replied, “what harm you will do to the Israelite people: you will set their fortresses on fire, put their young men to the sword, dash their little ones in pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”
(ז) וַיָּבֹ֤א אֱלִישָׁע֙ דַּמֶּ֔שֶׂק וּבֶן־הֲדַ֥ד מֶֽלֶךְ־אֲרָ֖ם חֹלֶ֑ה וַיֻּגַּד־ל֣וֹ לֵאמֹ֔ר בָּ֛א אִ֥ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים עַד־הֵֽנָּה׃ (ח) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אֶל־חֲזָהאֵ֗ל קַ֤ח בְּיָֽדְךָ֙ מִנְחָ֔ה וְלֵ֕ךְ לִקְרַ֖את אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְדָרַשְׁתָּ֨ אֶת־יְהוָ֤ה מֵֽאוֹתוֹ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הַאֶחְיֶ֖ה מֵחֳלִ֥י זֶֽה׃ (ט) וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ חֲזָאֵל֮ לִקְרָאתוֹ֒ וַיִּקַּ֨ח מִנְחָ֤ה בְיָדוֹ֙ וְכָל־ט֣וּב דַּמֶּ֔שֶׂק מַשָּׂ֖א אַרְבָּעִ֣ים גָּמָ֑ל וַיָּבֹא֙ וַיַּעֲמֹ֣ד לְפָנָ֔יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר בִּנְךָ֨ בֶן־הֲדַ֤ד מֶֽלֶךְ־אֲרָם֙ שְׁלָחַ֤נִי אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הַאֶחְיֶ֖ה מֵחֳלִ֥י זֶֽה׃ (י) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ אֱלִישָׁ֔ע לֵ֥ךְ אֱמָר־לא [ל֖וֹ] חָיֹ֣ה תִחְיֶ֑ה וְהִרְאַ֥נִי יְהוָ֖ה כִּֽי־מ֥וֹת יָמֽוּת׃ (יא) וַיַּעֲמֵ֥ד אֶת־פָּנָ֖יו וַיָּ֣שֶׂם עַד־בֹּ֑שׁ וַיֵּ֖בְךְּ אִ֥ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ (יב) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר חֲזָאֵ֔ל מַדּ֖וּעַ אֲדֹנִ֣י בֹכֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֡אמֶר כִּֽי־יָדַ֡עְתִּי אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁר־תַּעֲשֶׂה֩ לִבְנֵ֨י יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל רָעָ֗ה מִבְצְרֵיהֶ֞ם תְּשַׁלַּ֤ח בָּאֵשׁ֙ וּבַחֻֽרֵיהֶם֙ בַּחֶ֣רֶב תַּהֲרֹ֔ג וְעֹלְלֵיהֶ֣ם תְּרַטֵּ֔שׁ וְהָרֹתֵיהֶ֖ם תְּבַקֵּֽעַ׃ (יג) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר חֲזָהאֵ֔ל כִּ֣י מָ֤ה עַבְדְּךָ֙ הַכֶּ֔לֶב כִּ֣י יַעֲשֶׂ֔ה הַדָּבָ֥ר הַגָּד֖וֹל הַזֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלִישָׁ֔ע הִרְאַ֧נִי יְהוָ֛ה אֹתְךָ֖ מֶ֥לֶךְ עַל־אֲרָֽם׃
(7) Elisha arrived in Damascus at a time when King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill. The king was told, “The man of God is on his way here,” (8) and he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go meet the man of God, and through him inquire of the LORD: Will I recover from this illness?” (9) Hazael went to meet him, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the bounty of Damascus. He came and stood before him and said, “Your son, King Ben-hadad of Aram, has sent me to you to ask: Will I recover from this illness?” (10) Elisha said to him, “Go and say to him, ‘You will recover.’ However, the LORD has revealed to me that he will die.” (11) The man of God kept his face expressionless for a long time; and then he wept. (12) “Why does my lord weep?” asked Hazael. “Because I know,” he replied, “what harm you will do to the Israelite people: you will set their fortresses on fire, put their young men to the sword, dash their little ones in pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.” (13) “But how,” asked Hazael, “can your servant, who is a mere dog, perform such a mighty deed?”
Children were the possible soldiers of the future. When one nation conquered another, it was considered military foresight not only to destroy the men in arms, but also those who might later rise up armed.
One notes that he has no moral compunctions about the prospect of perpetrating the most barbaric cruelties on the men, women, and infants of Israel; on the contrary, these were common acts in military conquest and thus part of what constituted a "great thing" that he is not sure he is worthy to do.
No moral justification can be offered for this notorious concluding line. All one can do is to recall the background of outraged feeling that triggers the conclusion: the Babylonians have laid waste to Jerusalm, exiled much of its population, looted and massacred; the powerless captives, orered - perhaps mockingly - to sing their Zion songs, respond instead with a lament that is not really a song and ends with this bloodcurdling curse pronounced on their captors, who, fortunateloy, do not undestand the Hebrew in whichi t is pronounce.
(לד) לֹֽא־הִ֭שְׁמִידוּ אֶת־הָֽעַמִּ֑ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֣ה לָהֶֽם׃ (לה) וַיִּתְעָרְב֥וּ בַגּוֹיִ֑ם וַֽ֝יִּלְמְד֗וּ מַֽעֲשֵׂיהֶֽם׃ (לו) וַיַּעַבְד֥וּ אֶת־עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֑ם וַיִּהְי֖וּ לָהֶ֣ם לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ׃ (לז) וַיִּזְבְּח֣וּ אֶת־בְּ֭נֵיהֶם וְאֶת־בְּנֽוֹתֵיהֶ֗ם לַשֵּֽׁדִים׃ (לח) וַיִּֽשְׁפְּכ֨וּ דָ֪ם נָקִ֡י דַּם־בְּנֵ֘יהֶ֤ם וּֽבְנוֹתֵיהֶ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר זִ֭בְּחוּ לַעֲצַבֵּ֣י כְנָ֑עַן וַתֶּחֱנַ֥ף הָ֝אָ֗רֶץ בַּדָּמִֽים׃ (לט) וַיִּטְמְא֥וּ בְמַעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑ם וַ֝יִּזְנוּ֗ בְּמַֽעַלְלֵיהֶֽם׃
(34) They did not destroy the nations as the LORD had commanded them, (35) but mingled with the nations and learned their ways. (36) They worshiped their idols, which became a snare for them. (37) Their own sons and daughters they sacrificed to demons. (38) They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land was polluted with bloodguilt. (39) Thus they became defiled by their acts, debauched through their deeds.
From the above examples [cases of YHWH bringing about mass destruction], we see a distinct pattern emerging from the judgments brought by God upon various peoples:
- God declares an annihilation form of judgment to stamp out a cancer.
- The judgments are for public recognition of extreme sin.
- Judgment is preceded by warning and/or long periods of exposure to the truth and time to repent.
- Any and all ‘innocent’ adults are given a way of escape with their families; sometimes all given a way to avoid judgment via repentance or leaving a particular region. It should also be noted that expulsion from a land was the most common judgment, not extermination. This pattern goes all the way back to the ejection of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden (cf. Gen. 3:24).
- Someone is almost always saved (redeemed) from the evil culture.
- The judgment of God falls.
One has to ask if mankind today would be as long-suffering with such horrible acts? Were such acts as those chronicled in the Old Testament catapulted into the twenty-first century and globally broadcast via CNN, there would no doubt be a universal outcry with military action being prescribed if such actions were not immediately halted. Why then do God’s critics feel justified in labeling the Creator as morally unjust even when God waited, in some cases, for centuries to punish the peoples involved?
(And as for children):
Last, socially and physically, the fate of children throughout history has always rested with their parents, whether they were in good hands (in the case of Noah) or bad (Amalek). The actions of the parents were the final determinant in the temporal/earthly well-being of the children.
(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Avenge the Israelite people on the Midianites; then you shall be gathered to your kin.” (3) Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Let men be picked out from among you for a campaign, and let them fall upon Midian to wreak the LORD’s vengeance on Midian. (4) You shall dispatch on the campaign a thousand from every one of the tribes of Israel.” (5) So a thousand from each tribe were furnished from the divisions of Israel, twelve thousand picked for the campaign. (6) Moses dispatched them on the campaign, a thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar serving as a priest on the campaign, equipped with the sacred utensils and the trumpets for sounding the blasts. (7) They took the field against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and slew every male. (8) Along with their other victims, they slew the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword. (9) The Israelites took the women and children of the Midianites captive, and seized as booty all their beasts, all their herds, and all their wealth. (10) And they destroyed by fire all the towns in which they were settled, and their encampments. (11) They gathered all the spoil and all the booty, man and beast, (12) and they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the whole Israelite community, at the camp in the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho. (13) Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the chieftains of the community came out to meet them outside the camp. (14) Moses became angry with the commanders of the army, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, who had come back from the military campaign. (15) Moses said to them, “You have spared every female! (16) Yet they are the very ones who, at the bidding of Balaam, induced the Israelites to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so that the LORD’s community was struck by the plague. (17) Now, therefore, slay every male among the children, and slay also every woman who has known a man carnally; (18) but spare every young woman who has not had carnal relations with a man. (19) “You shall then stay outside the camp seven days; every one among you or among your captives who has slain a person or touched a corpse shall cleanse himself on the third and seventh days. (20) You shall also cleanse every cloth, every article of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and every object of wood.” (21) Eleazar the priest said to the troops who had taken part in the fighting, “This is the ritual law that the LORD has enjoined upon Moses: (22) Gold and silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead— (23) any article that can withstand fire—these you shall pass through fire and they shall be clean, except that they must be cleansed with water of lustration; and anything that cannot withstand fire you must pass through water. (24) On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes and be clean, and after that you may enter the camp.” (25) The LORD said to Moses: (26) “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community take an inventory of the booty that was captured, man and beast, (27) and divide the booty equally between the combatants who engaged in the campaign and the rest of the community. (28) You shall exact a levy for the LORD: in the case of the warriors who engaged in the campaign, one item in five hundred, of persons, oxen, asses, and sheep, (29) shall be taken from their half-share and given to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD; (30) and from the half-share of the other Israelites you shall withhold one in every fifty human beings as well as cattle, asses, and sheep—all the animals—and give them to the Levites, who attend to the duties of the LORD’s Tabernacle.” (31) Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. (32) The amount of booty, other than the spoil that the troops had plundered, came to 675,000 sheep, (33) -72,000 head of cattle, (34) -61,000 asses, (35) and a total of 32,000 human beings, namely, the women who had not had carnal relations. (36) Thus, the half-share of those who had engaged in the campaign [was as follows]: The number of sheep was 337,500, (37) and the LORD’s levy from the sheep was 675; (38) the cattle came to 36,000, from which the LORD’s levy was 72; (39) the asses came to 30,500, from which the LORD’s levy was 61. (40) And the number of human beings was 16,000, from which the LORD’s levy was 32. (41) Moses gave the contributions levied for the LORD to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD had commanded Moses. (42) As for the half-share of the other Israelites, which Moses withdrew from the men who had taken the field, (43) that half-share of the community consisted of 337,500 sheep, (44) -36,000 head of cattle, (45) -30,500 asses, (46) and 16,000 human beings. (47) From this half-share of the Israelites, Moses withheld one in every fifty humans and animals; and he gave them to the Levites, who attended to the duties of the LORD’s Tabernacle, as the LORD had commanded Moses. (48) The commanders of the troop divisions, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, approached Moses. (49) They said to Moses, “Your servants have made a check of the warriors in our charge, and not one of us is missing. (50) So we have brought as an offering to the LORD such articles of gold as each of us came upon: armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants, that expiation may be made for our persons before the LORD.” (51) Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles. (52) All the gold that was offered by the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds as a contribution to the LORD came to 16,750 shekels.— (53) But in the ranks, everyone kept his booty for himself.— (54) So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, as a reminder in behalf of the Israelites before the LORD.