New World Translation, and Women! PART 2 - Leviticus and Numbers (Because there are just way too many examples)

Hi All,


I am back with another set of Bible quotes on women. This time from Leviticus and Numbers.



Leviticus 21:13 


This quote is about how men of God should only marry pure women who are not widowers, defiled women, or prostitutes and to make sure the woman is not outside of the community. (I have the Hungarian version, in which it says he shall not marry a violated woman)

I understand that in the days when there was tribes were not united it may be the best to keep marriages in the community. This quote is too easy to read as if a woman is assaulted she is unclean and unfit for marriage. Or like in the case of Dinah, a woman may be forced to marry her violator. As a Jehovah's Witness I used to think along the same lines and I feel obligated to make sure I challenge these ideas.




Numbers 5:11-23



In these verses we learn how husbands should handle jealousy. In case of jealousy a husband shall take his wife to the priest and the priest should give the woman holy water with the dust of the church floor and if it made her sick, she shall dies in her sin. Also these verses say if another man let his seed in you your womb shall swell and deteriorate you hips.
I need to point out that this view ignores rape and assault. Not only that but it is not explained what a wife should do in cases of infidelity on her husband's part.I believe infidelity is a terrible form of disrespect therefore either women or men should have an avenue to leave a relationship if they don't feel confident in their partner for any reason.




Numbers 31: 13-19



After a battle against Midian Moses and his army leaders when outside of the camp and Moses was angry at them because they left the women alive. At this point Jehovah inspires them to kill all men, boys and women/girls who had relations with men. After that they are prisoners and possibly married by their captors.
Now in those ages people definitely died early, so I take a big issue and have doubts about the morality of having children witnessing a battle and then being taken captive to be married off. I definitely think that in any manner it is not moral to demand such a thing of any person. And just to be fair it is extreme to kill little boys for the battle of their parents. And vice versa. Parents should not be punished for the faults of their children. I just thought this was important to highlight as people of faith like to refer to God as a God of Love. Or a Father. I would definitely say a Father should not require such a thing of children. 




This is a shorter one, but I thought these three verses were important to dig deeper into. I think we need to research history along with religion to understand how religion evolved and formed in it's early days. As with Christianity and with Islam it was a form of unifying the people. With Christianity it was the Roman Empire and the vast territory and many types of people on the land. Especially Jewish people had a very different culture and religion, a monotheistic one that prohibited them from animal sacrifice. They wanted independence and Romans were especially vigilant about the region and raided the people of Jerusalem. Unrest grew against tax collectors and Roman soldiers and a sect of Judaism evolved into what we now know as Christianity when a rabbi Jesus of Nazareth was killed at the stake. Islam has a similar history, but in Arabia, with quite similar roots and pillars. Both are monotheistic, believe Jesus is a prophet sent by God and originated from the Middle East.
So here's a little bit about that. I am just very interested in history. And it is important to place these ruling in context with history. See, today with science we have better healthcare, longer lifespans and therefore in the early 1900s en expansion of childhood, the teenage years were defined. It is an important addendum to this post as today a 16 year old would barely be allowed to get married, however in the Biblical days a 16 year old would be considered an adult. Marriage is also a very different institution today then back then. Today, with more social freedom for both women and men partners have means to end marriages if it turns abusive or if their partner does not match them. Also marriage is more based on emotion and not bettering political and feudal relationships.


With that I end my post, and don't forget curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back!