Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Bill,
> I noticed this thread started by Gabe and would like to look at a slightly
> different aspect from Deut 23: 12,14. If we recall the vast numbers of
> people said to have undertaken the Exodus here are a few verses which seem
> inconsistent with such a huge camp. I'm sure someone will point out that I'm
> taking this out of context because it is supposed to be instructions about
> what to do once they were in the land. That aside, my point is that the
> instructions given in these verses are only workable if ``the camp'' is very
> small. A ``camp'' of a number of square kilometers (square miles for our US
> friends) could not use this method of sewage disposal.
>
> I think this is some of the problem with trying to date the books. There
> appears to be a kernel of historical memory within them overlaid with much
> material from later times.
>   

HH: If you look at the passage carefully, you will see that it is not 
talking about the whole camp of Israel, women and children and the aged 
included, but it is talking about a military expedition that is camped 
against an enemy. That is clear from verses 9 and 14:

9  "When you are encamped against your enemies, be careful to avoid 
anything offensive. 10 If there is a man among you who is unclean 
because of a bodily emission during the night, he must go outside the 
camp; he may not come anywhere inside the camp. 11 When evening 
approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may come 
inside the camp.(a )12  You must have a place outside the camp and go 
there to relieve yourself. 13 You must have a digging tool in your 
equipment; when you relieve yourself, dig a hole with it and cover up 
your excrement. 14 For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp to 
protect you and deliver your enemies to you; so your encampments must be 
holy. He must not see anything improper among you or He will turn away 
from you.

HH: This strict behavior for wartime, a special  need for cleanliness, 
is in keeping with some other Israelites traditions that suggest they 
viewed war as a holy activity where special cleanliness was called for:

CSB 1 Samuel 21:5 David answered him, "I swear that women are being kept 
from us, as always when I go out to battle.(a )The young men's bodies(1 
)are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies 
are consecrated today."

Yours,
Harold Holmyard