The Skeptics Annotated Bible (129 page)

Here’s a summary:

Over 60 years old: Males 15 shekels, Females 10 shekels.

20-60 years old: Males 50 shekels, Females 30 shekels.

5-20 years old: Males 20 shekels, Females 10 shekels.

One month to 5 years old: Males 5 shekels, Females 3 shekels.

And babies (or fetuses) less than one month old are worth nothing at all.

3 And
thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old
, even thy estimation shall be
fifty shekels of silver
, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

(27.3)
“Thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old … fifty shekels of silver.”

4 And
if it be a female
, then thy estimation shall be
thirty shekels
.

(27.4)
“If it be a female … thirty shekels.”

5 And
if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

(27.5)
“If it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.”

6 And
if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female
thy estimation shall be
three shekels of silver.

(27.6)
“If it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female … three shekels of silver.”

7 And
if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

(27.7)
“If it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.”

8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.

9 And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.

10
He shall not alter it, nor change it
, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.

11 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:

12 And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.

13 But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.

14 And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.

15 And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.

16 And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

17 If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.

18 But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.

19 And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.

20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.

21 But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.

22 And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;

23 Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.

24 In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.

25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.

26 Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD’S firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD’S.

27 And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.

28 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath,
both of man and beast
, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed:
every devoted thing
is most holy unto the LORD.

29 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but
shall surely be put to death
.

(27.28-29)
“Both of man and beast … every devoted thing … shall surely be put to death.”
66 Does God approve of human sacrifice?

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.

31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34
These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

(27.34)
“These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.”
117 Where did Moses receive the ten commandments?

And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? ... Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
—
Numbers 31.15-18

The moral of Numbers is this: Don’t whine.

Miriam complains about Moses’ Ethiopian wife, and God gives her leprosy. The people complain about their hardships during the Exodus, and God sends a fire to burn them alive. They complain about the food, so God forces them to eat quails until it comes out of their noses and then he sends a plague for complaining about that. They complain again, and God sends fiery serpents to bite and kill them. God can’t stand a whiner.

But Numbers has a something for everyone. From talking donkeys to the law of jealousies, it’s a fun book to read.

Here are some highlights:

• God kills Aaron’s sons for offering “strange fire before the Lord.”
  3.4
  ,
  26.61
  
• The law of jealousies
  5.11-31
  
• God burns people to death for complaining.
  11.1
  
• He makes the Israelites eat flesh until it comes out their nostrils.
  11.19-20
  
• “While the flesh was yet between their teeth … the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.”
  11.33
  
• God gives Miriam leprosy.
  12.9-10
  
• “The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy … visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.”
  14.18
  
• A man is stoned to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath.
  15.32-36
  
• God buries alive Korah and his family.
  16.27-35
  ,
  26.10
  
• He burns to death 250 men for burning incense without a license.
  16.35
  ,
  26.10
  
• He kills 14,700 for complaining about God’s killings.
  16.41-50
  
• God sends “fiery serpents” to bite the people for whining about the lack of food and water.
  21.6
  
• Moses’ amazing serpent of brass.
  21.9
  
• Balaam’s talking ass.
  22.28-30
  
• God tells Moses to “take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord.”
  25.4
  
• God’s hero (Phinehas) thrusts a javelin through a man and his Midianite wife’s belly.
  25.7-8
  
• God kills 24,000 (23,000 according to 1 Cor 10.8) in a plague.
  25.9
  
• Women are not legally responsible for anything.
  30.3-16
  
• Moses tells his men to kill all the males and non-virgin women, but to keep all the virgins alive for themselves.
  31.14-18
  

1
And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

5 And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you:
of the tribe of Reuben
; Elizur the son of Shedeur.

(1.5)
“Of the tribe of Reuben”
84 What were the 12 (or 13) tribes of Israel?