They made war on Midian, as Yahweh had ordered Moses, and put every male to death. What is more, they killed the kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, the five Midianite kings; they also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword. The Israelites took the Midianite women and their little ones captive and carried off all their cattle, all their flocks and all their goods as booty. They set fire to the towns where they lived and to all their encampments. Then, taking all their booty, everything they had captured, man and beast, they brought the captives, spoil and booty to Moses, the priest Eleazar and the whole community of Israelites at the camp on the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan by Jericho.

Moses, the priest Eleazar and all the leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet them. Moses was enraged with the officers of the army, the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds, who had come back from this military expedition. He said, "Why have you spared the life of all the women? They were the very ones who, on Balaam's advice, caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to Yahweh in the affair at Peor: hence the plague which struck Yahweh's community. So kill all the male children and kill all the women who have ever slept with a man, and keep them for yourselves.

Moabite

The spoils, the remainder of the booty captured by the soldiers, came to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep and goats, seventy-two thousand head of cattle, sixty-one thousand donkeys, and in persons, women who had never slept with a man, thirty-two thousand in all. Half was assigned to those who had taken part in the war... sixteen thousand persons, of which Yahweh's portion was thirty-two. Moses gave the priest Eleazar the portion set aside for Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.



As for the half coming to the Israelites which Moses had separated from that the the combatants... sixteen thousand persons. From this half, the Israelites' share, Moses took one out of every fifty, man and beast, and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for Yahweh's Dwelling, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

Rationalization #1: Captured women were treated with dignity, and allowed to worship the true god Yahweh.

When you go to war against your enemies and Yahweh your God delivers them into your power and you take prisoners, and among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman, and you fall in love with her, and you take her to be your wife and bring her home; she must shave her head and cut her nails, and take off her prisoner's garb; she must stay inside your house and mourn her father and mother for a full month. You may then go to her and be a husband to her, and she will be your wife. Should she cease to please you, you will let her go where she wishes, not selling her for money: you must not make any profit out of her, since you have exploited her.

Rationalization #2: The children killed in genocide were spared life in a corrupt and evil pagan society.

Rationalization #3: The young children who were killed went to Heaven automatically, and thus received a greater reward than even the Israelites.

Daughter of Babel, doomed to destruction,

a blessing on anyone

who treats you as you treated us,

a blessing on anyone who seizes your babies

and shatters them against a rock!

best possible outcome

Conclusions:

thirty-two thousand young girls