Before one of our brothers or sisters get into conclusion, thinking this is an article bashing Judaic-Christian faith, this

is not true. The main reason I took to task to write this article, is in response to some individuals who are of Judaic-Christian faith, who constantly bash, twist Islamic scripture claiming that the uran somehow sanctions !"repubescent marriages#. This is a lie, far from the truth. I will address this fictitious claim very soon, $od willing. It is only right to write this article and give these individuals %missionaries&, who spread lies about Islam, a taste of their own medicine. 'et#s see what their (oly Bible, $od breathed scripture have to say on pre-pubescent marriages. )oes the Bible sanction pre-pubescent marriages or is it forbidden* +e shall find out shortly.

+ebster#s Bible Translation ,umbers -./.0-.1 ,ow therefore kill every male among the little ones %taph&, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the female children %taph&, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

In order for me to go further on the verse, let#s first show the part where the (ebrew word !taph# is used in verse .0 and .1 for chapter -. of ,umbers that, it only refers pre-pubescent girls and boys. Below is the te2t in (ebrew for ,umbers -./ .0-.1

(ebrew word taph %or taf&, pre-pubescent

+hat does the word !taph# %or taf& in verse .0 and .1 for chapter -. of ,umbers mean* 3ccording to +ebster#s Bible translation it means !children# or !little ones#, meaning pre-pubescent girls or boys. (ebrew le2icons on the word !taph#/

"rofessor 4elig ,ewman/

Child , an infant an offspring, get with- 5.6

7arl 8eyerabend/

(taf& ., i.p. .., w.s. coll. Children, little ones. 596

4amuel "ike

little ones or children mincing in a childish manner, Isai. Iii. .:. ; to drop,
or distil to prophecy, or distil instruction, <icah ii. :, .. 5-6

=nglish ; (ebrew 'e2icons commenting on the word !taph#, the word only refers to children or infants. 3s we have got this out of the way and made plain that the verse is referring only to children %pre-pubescent& and not grown up girls. 'et#s now read the verse again to get a better understanding that it sanctions child marriage/

+ebster#s Bible Translation ,umbers -./.0-.1 ,ow therefore kill every male among the little ones %taph&, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the female children %taph&, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

3s you start reading from verse .0, the verse begins by <oses commanding the soldiers to e2ecute all the male children %infants&, and all the women who have slept with a man, in other words woman who are not virgin. +hen we get to the ne2t verse %verse .1&, <oses tells the soldiers that they can take for themselves all the female children. +hy would the male children be not shown any mercy, get e2ecuted but the female children left alive* It is obvious from the words/- >for yourselves?, <oses meant that they can have the female children for their own pleasure, to cohabit with. +hen I started investigating ,umbers -./.0-.1, reading the (ebrew words for verse .1 at the end, one word was left un-e2plained. This is not the case of @ust one

=nglish Bible translationA all the modern Bible translations have blatantly crossed out the word. The word I am referring to is !lakhem# %or lacham&, this word is left une2plained. This same word %lacham& is used in many other passages such as/ =2d ./.B, )eu ./C., Jos .B/D, Jdg ./1, .4a -./., .7i .9/9C, Isa .E/9, in all these verses mentioned, when the (ebrew word !lacham# is used , it means/- !fight#, !fought#, or !warred#. (ere is (ebrew te2t for the mentioned passage/

(ebrew word laFach or lakakh, meaning, fight, warred, fought, se2ually, se2ual

Gou can see I have circled in red, where the word !lacham# is used in them verses. If you go to any Judaic-Christian website, where they give definitions for any word from the Bible, they have always left the word !lacham# une2plained for ,umbers -./.1. Hsually when I do research on certain words which are disputed from Biblical verses, I visit these sites such asA Blueletterbible.org, biblestudytools.com, and they have always given an e2planation in detail, what a word means. But when I started e2amining ,umbers -./.1, what caught my eye was the word !lacham#, it was left blank. +hat made it even strange is, I was not allowed %able& to click on the word, to see what the meaning of the word is. I have many 4cholars who agree, that ,umbers -./.1 is referred to se2ually and there is no doubt about it. 8irst in line of e2perts, who gives their view is 4haye J. ). Cohen who is a renowned "rofessor, he writes/

><oses en@oins upon the returning warriors to kill their <idianite female captives who have lain with a man, but !spare for yourselves every young woman who has not had carnal relations with a man#A += <3G B= 4HI= T(3T !8JI GJHI4='K=4# <=3,4 T(3T T(= +3IIIJI4 <3G !H4=# T(=II KII$I, C3"TIK=4 4=LH3''G .D9 The law in numbers differs from the law in )euteronomy- perhaps the most significant distinction is that the law in )euteronomy does not care whether the captive is a virgin or not- but it too permits Israelite warrior to marry %or !marry& a foreign woman.?

In the same page, in footnote D9, "rofessor 4haye J.). Cohen goes further on ,umbers -./.1, he writes/

>I do not know why the new Jewish version omits !for yourselves#A the (ebrew lakhem is unambiguous. That the intent of !8JI GJHI4='K=4# I4 4=LH3' JI <3TII<J,I3' I4 JBKIJH4A the passage is correctly understood by Iabbi 4imeon Gohai in the 4ifrei ad loc %.00 9.9(&.? 5C6

If you remember earlier I mentioned that the word !lakhem# was left out blank without any definition, the professor highlighted this. +e can see the deceit of missionaries trying hard to cover up the truth. Thankfully we have sincere 4cholars as 4haye J.). Cohen. The other thing I also pointed out is the word !lakhem# can only referred to se2ually, "rofessor 4haye Cohen also highlighted this and made it clear that the word can only mean !se2ual# or !matrimonial#. =ither way the passage we have e2amined refers to prepubescent girls being married off.

+il $afney, "h.). is 3ssociate "rofessor of (ebrew and Jld Testament at The 'utheran Theological 4eminary at "hiladelphia in "ennsylvania, and is an =piscopal "riest canonically resident in the )iocese of "ennsylvania. 4he is another line of 4cholars who comments on ,umbers -./.1, she writes/

>The !one woman, one man# relationship of =ve and 3dam becomes one man and two women in $enesis C/.E, J,= <3, 3,) 3, H,TJ') ,H<B=I J8 "I="HB=4C=,T $II' C3"TIK=4 I, ,H<B=I -./.1 and in several other te2ts. IT 3""=3I4 T(3T $J) (34 '=8T IT TJ (H<3,ITG TJ )=CI)= +(J 3I= 3""IJ"II3T= I,TI<3T= "3IT,=I4 3,) H,)=I +(3T CIICH<4T3,C=4. The evolution of polygamy, both CJ,4=,4H3' 3,) 8JIC=), as a human-initiated cultural practice in the scriptures is particularly striking because of $od#s lack of condemnation of it %not to mention, according to )euteronomy, $od#s sanction of abduction or rape-marriage during armed conflicts&. +hen inviting individuals and their descendants into eternal covenant relationships with $od, $od never reFuired that the matriarchs and patriarchs revert to an =ve-3dam, monogamous pairing.? 5D6

,otice "rofessor +il brings up ,umbers -./.1 and at the same time she writes/- >$od has left it to humanity to decide who are appropriate intimate partners and under what circumstances.? 4he was referring to the prepubescent girls, in other words, she is saying $od left it to humanity to decide whether it is ok to cohabit with a pre-pubescent girls or not. Gahweh did not

forbid it. 3ctually as you have read so far, he sanctioned it in ,umbers -./.1 for men to marry pre-pubescent girls.

3nother "rofessor by the name <iguel 3. )e 'a Torre, mentions that ,umbers -./.1 found Biblical @ustification of raping female slaves and that it was considered ordained by $od, by Christian slave owners of the past, he writes/

>The Bible was masterfully used by those in power to @ustify the owning of black bodies. This was an easy featA nowhere in either the (ebrew Bible or the ,ew Testament is slavery categorically condemned. The supporters of slavery in the antebellum south were the ones who had the biblical chapters and verses to Fuote to @ustify their way of life. The abolitionists were hard pressed to find any biblical passage that outright condemned the institution of slavery. =K=, T(= I3"= J8 8=<3'= 4'3K=4 8JH,) BIB'IC3' JH4TI8IC3TIJ, 3,) +34 CJ,4I)=I=) TJ B= JI)3I,=) BG $J). 4"=CI8IC3''G, ,H<B=I4 -./.1 I,4TIHCT4 CJ, H=IJI4 34 8J''J+4/ !GJH 4(3'' 7==" 3'IK= 3'' GJH,$ 8=<3'=4 +(J (3K= ,JT (3) 4=L +IT( 3 <3'= 8JI GJHI4='K=4.# 5:6

The "opular Commentary by "aul =. 7retMmann

>v. .1. But all the women children that have not known a man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves, as slaves or handmaids, 8JI <3III3$= +IT( 4HC( +34 ,JT 8JIBI))=,. The great $od is terrible in (is @udgments, a fact which should teach us to fear (is wrath and not act contrary to (is commandments.? 506

=ven the Bible commentator "aul =. 7retMmann, makes it clear, commenting on ,umbers -./.1, that marriage with the pre-pubescent females !was not forbidden#.

)r Judith =. <c7inlay also mentions that the Bible !seems# at times to turn a blind eye and allow !free romance# commenting on ,umbers -./.1. In other words what she is saying is that Gahweh was not against grown man cohabiting with female children/

>+here the te2ts have a concern for the circumcised status, this clearly does not apply to womenN 3nd where there is a concern for lineage the importance of patrilineal descent meant a lesser concern regarding the potential mothers. 4o, in the war against <idian, <oses says to the people in ,um -...1 that of the captured <idian women, !all the young women who have not known a man by sleeping with him, keep alive for yourselves#. 3T TI<=4 IT 4==<4 34 I8 T(= BIB'= +3,T4 TJ THI, 3 B'I,) =G= TJ T(= <3TT=I 3'TJ$=T(=I 3,) 3''J+ 8I== IJ<3,C= 3 8I== (3,).? 516

The evidence presented for ,umbers -./.1 is clear that pre-pubescent marriages are encouraged by G(+(. There is no mention of G(+( saying that, >there has to be a waiting period for the girls who are pre-pubescent.? The command does not e2ist. There is no command in ,umbers -./.1 where there has to be a waiting period for a female to grow up, before a soldier can cohabit with her. The words in ,umbers -./.1 are very clear/ >keep alive for GJHI4='K=4?, means that the soldier can cohabit with the female prepubescent captive straight away. The verse does not say, >wait lads, you can keep the females for yourselves, but wait until they grow up?, such a command does not e2ist. The command in ,umbers -./.1 is straight forward, the soldiers can be with the female pre-pubescent immediately, se2ually.

<issionary ob@ection against ,umbers -./.1

Jne of the fictitious arguments raised against ,umbers -./.1 by =vangelists is that they say !it does not sanction Child marriage#, they cite this passage/

=Mekiel .: ,ew International Kersion %,IK& Jerusalem as an 3dulterous +ife . The word of the 'JI) came to me/ 9 >4on of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices- and say, !This is what the 4overeign 'JI) says to Jerusalem/ Gour ancestry and birth were in the land of the CanaanitesA your father was an 3morite and your mother a (ittite. C Jn the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. D ,o one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Iather,

you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. : >!Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, >'iveN? 0 I made you grow like a plant of the field. Gou grew and developed and entered puberty. Gour breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked. 1 >!'ater I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the 4overeign 'JI), and you became mine.

3ccording to the above passage cited by missionaries, they say that $od !forbids pre-pubescent marriages#.

uestions for missionaries/

.. ,owhere in the above verse does it say !that you are forbidden from marrying pre-pubescent females#, where does it say that >you are forbidden from marrying pre-pubescent girls? from the Bible* +here are the verses that abrogate ,umbers -./.1 e2plicitly* 9. (ow is =Mekiel .:/.-1 3 "3I3B'= %not a command& override %abrogate& ,umbers -./.1* +hen in ,umbers -./ .1, it e2plicitly states that you can !take for GJHI4='K=4#, marry female captives by force. -. (ow is =Mekiel in anyway relevant to <oses and his soldiers, when =Mekiel was born nearly 0BB years after <oses* =Mekiel did not even e2ist when <oses and his soldiers were raping, marrying pre-pubescent females.

<ore 4cholarly evidences on pre-pubescent marriages

The following Fuotations I am going to present are all from my other article, click on the link for more info/ http/OOdiscover-the-truth.comO9B.-OBEO.CObible-child-marriage-in-ancientisraelite-times-paedophiliaO

Jacob ,eusner is an 3merican academic scholar of Judaism. In the Book/ !The Comparative (ermeneutics of Iabbinic Judaism/ 4eder Tohorot. Tohorot through HFsin.# The Jewish oral Torah>i.e. <ishnah says/

<. D/C 3 girl three years and one day old is betrothed by intercourse. 3nd if a 'evir has had intercourse with her, he has acFuired her. 3nd they are liable on her account because of the law 5"rohibiting intercourse with6 a married woman. 3nd she imparts uncleanness to him who has intercourse with her 5when she is menstruating6 to convey uncleanness to the lower as to the upper layer. 5If6 she was married to a priest, she eats heave offering. 5If6 one of those who are unfit 5for marriage6 has intercourse with her, he has rendered her unfit to marry into priesthood. 5If6 one of all those who are forbidden in the Torah to have intercourse with her, he is put to death on her account, but she is free of responsibility.?

3 Commentary on the above verse, in the Book/ !3 history of the <ishnaic 'aw of "urities. .D. ,iddah, by Jacob ,eusner, it says/

<. D/C-D bring us to the ne2t stage in the matter of the legal status of children, female and male. The girl three years and one day old is deemed capable of se2ual relations, which accounts for 3, B, and C. ). "resumably should not be apply to <. D/--aA if the girl is unclean as a menstruant but is incapable of se2ual relations, one who has %or attempts& relations with her is not made unclean as is one who has had se2ual relations with a menstruant. = simply goes over familiar groundA since the girl can be acFuired as a wife, she also may eat heave-offering. 8. 8ollows, and $. Iepeats what is already obvious. But ( limits the matter. The girl is not held responsible in a matter of forbidden se2ual relations. I is a minor gloss. If the girl is less than three years and one day old, we do not regard the se2ual relationship as of legal conseFuence. The theory is that the tokens of Kirginity are restored before that time but not afterword.

"ay close attention to the above statements, how 4cholar Jacob ,eusner says that a female of three year old !could be deemed capable of se2ual relations.# 3nd in the first Fuotation he says that the <ishnah approves that a man could have se2ual relations with a betrothed girl when she is only @ust three years

old.

"rofessor of 4ociology <ary )e Goung writes/

>The possession of Children by their parents was also given religious sanction in the teachings of both the Talmud and the Bible. Iush %.11B& states that the Talmud teaches that a girl of !three years and one day# could be betrothed through an act of se2ual intercourse.?

=ven "rofessor $eMa Kermes who is a well known and highly respected scholar comments that "re-pubescent marriages were allowed/

>the $reek parthenos could also mean that the girl was young andOor unmarried. In fact, in the 4eptuagint translation of the Jld Testament parthenos was used to render three distinct (ebrew words, !Kirgin#, !girl# and !young woman#. 3lready Iabbis in the Tannaitic era %first to second century ad& subscribed to further nuances, and there is no reason to think that all these were invented by them. =ven the word betulah, which normally means virgo intact, when used by them could carry the laternal sense of bodily immaturity with the conseFuential inability to conceive. In Iabbinic terminology this type of virginity in a woman ceased with the physical onset of puberty. The <ishnah, the oldest of the rabbinic codes, defines a virgin as a female who !has never seen blood even though she is married# %m,iddah ./C&. The Tosefta, another early Jewish code of law, claims in the name of Iabbi =lieMer ben (yrcanus %late first century ad& that such a woman would continue to count as a virgin even after she had conceived and borne children without prior menstruation %t,iddah ./:&N To understand these statements, we must remember that in the InterTestamental and early rabbinic age, prepuberty marriage was generally permitted. In fact rabbis seriously debated whether bloodstains found after the wedding night in nuptial bed of a minor, i.e. a !virgin in respect of menstruation#, marked her first period or the consummation of the marriage.?

Ieverend 7athryn J. Iiss who is a Christian also makes mention that in first century parents married off their daughters who were pre-pubescent to much older men. +hat is interesting is she does not mention once that Iabbis or anyone higher up in authority speaking against such marriages/

>The longest ,ew Testament passage on marriage is found, not in =phesians, but in . Corinthians chapter 0. In stark contrast to the legal positions and social e2pectations of the first century, here the rights and responsibilities of man and woman are upheld as eFual. 3lthough marriages were arranged by parents, who often espoused their pre-pubescent daughters to much J')=I <=,.?

Theological )ictionary of the Jld Testament, Kolume 1 edited by three great 4cholars/ $. Johannes Botterweck, (elmer Iinggren and (einM-Josef 8abry says/

>Jne might counter that the e2pression mohar habbetulot %=2. 99/.:5.06& refers rather to the pretium virginitatis. In this case, the mohar would be compensation to the girl for the loss of her virginity. This e2planation, however, is unacceptable, since it proceeds on the assumption that the term betula means !virgin.# This may doubtlessly be the case in many passages, but in @oel ./1, betula thus refers to a married woman who had been !possessed# by her husband %ba#al&A betula thus refers to a marriageable girl who was physically able to cope with a man, !taking her into his possession.# (ere the term betula says nothing about her virginity. =2.99/.: %.0& %kesep yisFol kemohar hab betulot& can thus be translated !he shall weigh out as much silver as is reFuired for marriageable girls.# In this conte2t we should point out that ancient (ebrew custom did not associate marriageability with puberty. In contrast to the marriageable girl %betula&, the . 3lma refers to a girl in puberty capable of conception. $irls could in fact already be given marriage long before actual physical maturity, perhaps even as young as five years old %cf. 'ev. 90/D&, and it did happen that marriages were already consummated with prepubescent girls.?

,otice how all these Jewish and Christian e2perts agree that pre-pubescent marriages were approved of in ancient Israel and as the in the <ishnah it encouraged men to sleep with - year old girls. +e must remember that the Bible itself encouragesOapproves of pre-pubescent marriages.

+e can conclude that the Bible encouragesOsanctions pre-pubescent marriages with females. ,umbers -./.1 is proof that Gahweh encouraged his

men to marry female captives by force and the girls were all pre-pubescent. I also cited 4cholarly references that agreed that, ,umbers -./.1 is about marriage with pre-pubescent girls, the scholars agreed that the passage is referred to se2ually. +hat I mean is, when the words in ,umbers -./.1 are used as !keep alive for GJHI4='K=4#, this meant that soldiers can keep alive the female pre-pubescent for their own pleasure. 8urthermore I went over one ob@ection raised by the =vangelists, it was of no value whatsoever, the passage cited nowhere condemned pre-pubescent marriages. +hy I say it was of !no value#, because =Mekiel was born 0BB years after <oses. 'ast but not least I cited many scholarly Fuotes that agreed that pre-pubescent marriages was sanctioned and was practised among Jews and Christians. +e know historically among Jews and Christians in 3ncient times that, prepubescent marriages was a norm. uestion to the hate-monger#s who spout lies on Islam/ +hy is there not one verse in the Jld Testament or the four $ospels that e2plicitly condemns ,umbers -./.1* +hy did Jesus not speak against pre-pubescent marriages*

Ieferences/ 5.6 3n =nglish and (ebrew le2icon composed after Johnson#s directory, containing fifteen thousand =nglish words, rendered into Biblical, or rabbinical (ebrew, or into Chaldee. To which is anne2ed a list of =nglish and (ebrew words the e2pressions and meanings of which appear to be the same in both languages %.1-9&. By "rofessor 4elig ,ewman page :. 596 3 complete (ebrew-=nglish pocket-dictionary to the Jld Testament %.EBD6& By 7arl 8eyerabend page ..1 5-6 3 Compendious (ebrew 'e2icon, 3dapted to the =nglish 'anguage, and Composed upon 3 ,ew and Commodious "lan 54econd =dition %.1..&6 by 4amuel "ike page DE 5C6 The Beginnings of Jewishness/ Boundaries, Karieties, Hncertainties By 4haye J. ). Cohen 5chapter 16 page 9DD ; 9D: 5D6 Christian (oliness and (uman 4e2uality/ 3 4tudy $uide for =piscopalians 5Chapter 9 4cripture/ 4e2uality and 4e2ual Jrientation6 "rofessor +I' $38,=G 5:6 3 'ily 3mong the Thorns/ Imagining a ,ew Christian 4e2uality 5Copy Iight 9BB06 By <iguel 3. )e 'a Torre page CD 506 The "opular Commentary by "aul =. 7retMmann http/OOwww.studylight.orgOcomOkpcOview.cgi*bkP-QchP-. http/OOwww.kretMmannpro@ect.orgO"=,TO,H<O,H<R-..htm

516 Ieframing (er/ Biblical +omen in "ostcolonial 8ocus 5Copy Iight 9BBC6 By Judith =. <c7inlay page 90