32.000 virgins.

[angels4u]

I have the next question,

How did Moses knew if the 32.000 virgins were really virgins??

Priests as Slave Owners: God ordered Moses to wage war against the Midianites, because the latter had attempted to convert the Israelites to their religion. They Israelite soldiers killed every male Midianite, but initially spared the lives of the women and children. Moses was angry at this act of mercy, and in an act of near genocide, ordered that all of the women and children be murdered in cold blood, allowing only 32,000 female virgins to live. All of the booty, including the surviving girls and virgin women, was then divided into two equal portions: one for the soldiers and the rest for the people of Israel. 0.1% of the slaves from the first half and 2% of the slaves from the second half were considered the Lord's share. i.e. they were to be given to the priests. The priests ended up with 365 female virgins; one for each day of the year.

[Dad Ernie]

Greetings Angels4U,

How did Moses knew if the 32.000 virgins were really virgins??

Numbers 31:18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Since the Hebrews had such strict laws regarding marriage and such, they may have believed that young "women children" would be virgins. Also it is not hard to tell by careful examination whether a young female child has been molested. Women could have been appointed to check them out.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[angels4u]

Actually, I was asking my family what they thought of this and my daughter thought she read somewhere that the high priest would check this?

?????????

[nebula]

Well, I know the high priest would check for a newly married woman whom her husband found to be not a virgin to see if this was true or not. He'd make a drink that included the ashes of the altar. If she had a reaction (i.e. thighs swelled), she would be found guilty. If she had no reaction, she would be found innocent. I do not know the exact reference on that, but it is somewhere in the Law.

As per the virgin thing, I have a guess. As I understand, women back then were married very young - like 12 years old and there-abouts. It could be the women spared were actually unmarried children. Just a guess.