Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Bill,
> > 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:
> >     
>
> I disagree that this is clear. This chapter, understanding that the chapter
> divisions are not original, seems to be an eclectic collection of laws. The
> way I read it, the connection between verse 9 and 10 is anything but clear.
> I think its possible to read verse 9 as a law on its own. One thing which is
> against reading it as a set of instructions for military action is verse 10.
> Putting a man outside the camp all day during a military campaign makes him
> a sitting duck for the enemies.


HH: Also, the camp is a place for sleeping. During the day the soldiers 
would not necessarily need to be there. A camp was a place deemed to be 
relatively safe from the enemy. If the enemy would be a few feet outside 
the camp, it was probably not a good place to be encamped. Scouts would 
have a fairly good idea where the enemy was, and camping plans would be 
based, if the enemy was an issue, on where the enemy was. So even when 
the camp was fairly close to the enemy, the plan would be to find a 
fairly safe spot, and soldiers needing to leave the camp could leave it 
in the direction away from the enemy. If the enemy surrounded you, 
perhaps it would not be a good night to be sleeping anyway.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard