Dinah's Brothers Were Concerned For Her Welfare And Reputation

Genesis 34 reads,

34:1Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 34:2Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her. 34:3His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady. 34:4Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, "Get me this young lady as a wife."

34:5Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his cattle in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came. 34:6Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him. 34:7The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done. 34:8Hamor talked with them, saying, "The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 34:9Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 34:10You shall dwell with us: and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it."

34:11Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give. 34:12Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife."

34:13The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister, 34:14and said to them, "We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us. 34:15Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised; 34:16then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 34:17But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone.

34:18Their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 34:19The young man didn’t wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father. 34:20Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying, 34:21"These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For, behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. 34:22Only on this condition will the men consent to us to dwell with us, to become one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. 34:23Won’t their cattle and their substance and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us."

34:24All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. 34:25It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. 34:26They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. 34:27Jacob’s sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 34:28They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field; 34:29and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house. 34:30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house."

34:31They said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?"

Weren't Jacob's sons grieved and very angry, when they heard that Shechem had sexually defiled their sister, which thing ought not to be done, seeing it was folly in Israel? Weren't Jacob's sons concerned for the welfare and reputation of their sister? Weren't they their sister's keepers?

 

Sometimes Brethren Should Separate From One Another

Genesis 36:6-8 reads,

36:6Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his cattle, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 36:7For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their cattle. 36:8Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

Shouldn't brethren separate themselves from one another when it is appropriate to do so? Wasn't it appropriate for Esau and Jacob to separate from one another when the land of their collective dwelling could no longer support their collective possessions? Isn't the reason for such separation the preservation of peace and harmony amongst brethren, seeing that strife is the inevitable result of congestion? Doesn't this imply that when the risk of strife between brethren is high, it is better for them to separate and remain in peace and harmony than to live together in strife?

 

Joseph's Brothers Harboured Hatred Against Him

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-20 reads,

37:1Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. 37:2This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. 37:3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. 37:4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.

37:12His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 37:13Israel said to Joseph, "Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." He said to him, "Here I am."

37:14He said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 37:15A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, "What are you looking for?"

37:16He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock."

37:17The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’"

Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. 37:18They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 37:19They said one to another, "Behold, this dreamer comes. 37:20Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams."

Didn't Joseph's brethren hate him on account of their father loving him more than he loved them? Didn't they hate Joseph without a cause, seeing that Joseph had done no wrong against them? Didn't their hatred eventually grow into their harbouring murder in their hearts, seeing they sought to murder him? Didn't they succumb to sin, allowing sin to overcome and rule over them, rather than the other way round?

Didn't Jacob manifest a concern for his children? Wasn't this in keeping with being his brethren's keeper?

 

Act As Your Brethren's Keeper, Even In Death

Genesis 38:1-11 reads,

38:1It happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 38:2Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her. 38:3She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er. 38:4She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan. 38:5She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bore him. 38:6Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 38:7Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of Yahweh. Yahweh killed him. 38:8Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother." 38:9Onan knew that the seed wouldn’t be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. 38:10The thing which he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he killed him also. 38:11Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father’s house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;" for he said, "Lest he also die, like his brothers." Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Didn't Judah speak to his son Onan to act as his brother's keeper, preserving his brother's name by bearing seed on his behalf? Isn't Yahweh's word that a man raise up seed for his late brother in keeping with his acting as his brother's keeper, looking after his brother's interests and doing what is in his power to fulfil his brother's needs?

 

Jacob Was Concerned For The Welfare Of His Household

Genesis 42:1-4 reads,

42:1Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?" 42:2He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die." 42:3Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 42:4But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, "Lest perhaps harm befall him."

Didn't Jacob show his concern for the welfare of those in his household, making arrangements for the preservation of their lives when they were faced with famine? Aren't brethren supposed to show concern for one another, providing one another with their needs when it is in their power to do so?

 

Show Compassion Upon Your Brethren

Genesis 42:13-20 reads,

42:13They said, "We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more."

42:14Joseph said to them, "It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies.’ 42:15Hereby you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh you shall not go forth from here, unless your youngest brother come here. 42:16Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies." 42:17He put them all together into custody three days.

42:18Joseph said to them the third day, "Do this, and live, for I fear God. 42:19If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison-house; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. 42:20Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die."

They did so.

Didn't Joseph show compassion upon his brethren, allowing them to return to their families and take food for them, in order to preserve their lives in the famine? Wasn't this in keeping with being a brother's keeper, doing what is in one's power in providing for the needs of one's brother?

 

Joseph Understood That Yahweh Had Sent Him To Egypt To Preserve The Lives Of His Brethren

Genesis 45:1-15 reads,

45:1Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!" There stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 45:2He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 45:3Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?"

His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. 45:4Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please."

They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 45:5Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 45:6For these two years has the famine been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 45:7God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. 45:8So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 45:9Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. 45:10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 45:11There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have."’ 45:12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 45:13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here." 45:14He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 45:15He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

Don't Joseph's words clearly show that he understood why Yahweh had sent him to Egypt? Didn't Yahweh send him there in order to preserve the lives of his brethren - his father's entire household? Didn't he comply with Yahweh's will for both him and his father's household? Didn't he undertake to provide his father's entire household with all of their needs, to prevent them coming to poverty in the famine? Wasn't Joseph's behaviour in keeping with Yahweh's requirement that we are all our brethren's keepers?

 

Don't Take Vengeance Against Your Brethren

Genesis 50:15-21 reads,

50:15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him. 50:16They sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father commanded before he died, saying, 50:17"So will you tell Joseph, ‘Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 50:18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants." 50:19Joseph said to them, "Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 50:20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive. 50:21Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones." He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

Wasn't Joseph's heart right before Yahweh, in that he didn't take vengeance against his brothers for their sin against him? Didn't Joseph clearly understand that vengeance is Yahweh's and therefore it was not for him to take vengeance in his own hands? Didn't Joseph reiterate that he would continue being his brethren's keeper, providing them with all of their needs? Didn't Joseph truly fulfil Yahweh's will for him in his dealings with his brethren?

 

Moses' Sister Acted As His Keeper

Exodus 2:1-10 reads,

2:1A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. 2:2The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 2:3When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. 2:4His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. 2:5Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it. 2:6She opened it, and saw the child, and, behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews’ children."

2:7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, "Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"

2:8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Go."

The maiden went and called the child’s mother. 2:9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages."

The woman took the child, and nursed it. 2:10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."

Didn't Moses' sister manifest a care and concern for her brother, quite in keeping with Yahweh's injunction to humans to be their brethren's keepers?

 

Moses Acted As His Brethren's Keeper

Exodus 2:11-15 reads,

2:11It happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. 2:12He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

2:13He went out the second day, and, behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?"

2:14He said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?"

Moses was afraid, and said, "Surely this thing is known." 2:15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

Didn't Moses manifest a heart of concern for the welfare of his brothers, such as is befitting of a brother's keeper?

 

Obeying Yahweh Takes Precedence Over Keeping Your Brethren

Exodus 32:25-29 reads,

32:25When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,) 32:26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh’s side, come to me!"

All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 32:27He said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." 32:28The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 32:29Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day."

Doesn't obeying Yahweh's word take precedence over being our brother's keeper? In other words, aren't we to love Yahweh more than we love our brethren, even executing Yahweh's word against our brethren when Yahweh so commands it?

 

Yahweh Forbids Sex Between Close Relatives

Leviticus 18:1-6, 24-30 reads,

18:1Yahweh said to Moses, 18:2"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'I am Yahweh your God. 18:3You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived: and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; neither shall you walk in their statutes. 18:4You shall do my ordinances, and you shall keep my statutes, and walk in them: I am Yahweh your God. 18:5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances; which if a man does, he shall live in them: I am Yahweh.

18:6"'None of you shall approach anyone who are his close relatives, to uncover their nakedness: I am Yahweh.

18:24"'Don't defile yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. 18:25The land was defiled: therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. 18:26You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who sojourns among you; 18:27(for all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and the land became defiled); 18:28that the land not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

18:29"'For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people. 18:30Therefore you shall keep my charge, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs, which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them: I am Yahweh your God.'"

Doesn't Yahweh make clear that sexual relations between close physical relatives defiles those who so partake of them? Doesn't Yahweh also show that the geographical locations wherein such defiling acts take place likewise become defiled? And doesn't Yahweh show that the remedy for the land is its cleansing, achieved by the defilers being removed out of it? In other words, when those making a place dirty are removed from that place, will not the production of dirt cease in that place?

 

Don't Hate Your Brethren

Leviticus 19:17-18 reads,

19:17You shall not hate your brother in your heart: you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 19:18You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am Yahweh.

Hasn't Yahweh clearly commanded us not to hate in our hearts our brethren? Hasn't Yahweh clearly shown that one who so hates his brother bears sin on account of hating his brother? Hasn't Yahweh shown as how to deal with an errant brother? Isn't the manner of dealing with an errant brother one of rebuking him for his error?

 

Vengeance Belongs To Yahweh

Hasn't Yahweh also clearly shown that it is not for us to execute vengeance? Didn't Joseph show that it is for Yahweh to execute vengeance and not for human beings?

 

Love Your Neighbour As You Love Yourself

Doesn't Yahweh show us that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves, and therefore should not bear grudges against them?

 

Provide For Your Needy Brethren

Leviticus 25:25-28 reads,

25:25If your brother be grew poor, and sell some of his possession, then shall his kinsman who is next to him come, and shall redeem that which his brother has sold. 25:26If a man have no one to redeem it, and he be grew rich and find sufficient to redeem it; 25:27then let him reckon the years of the sale of it, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his possession. 25:28But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then that which he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return to his possession.

Doesn't Yahweh again reiterate that we are indeed to be our brethren's keeper? Doesn't a brother redeeming one's land or possession clearly show that he is indeed acting as his brother's keeper, preserving within his brother's family what belongs to his brother, rather than allowing it to be lost to outsiders?

 

Uphold Your Needy Brethren

Leviticus 25:35-55 reads,

25:35If your brother has grown poor, and his hand fail with you; then you shall uphold him: as a stranger and a sojourner shall he live with you. 25:36Take no interest of him or increase, but fear your God; that your brother may live with you. 25:37You shall not give him your money on interest, nor give him your victuals for increase. 25:38I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

25:39If your brother has grown poor with you, and sell himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a bond-servant. 25:40As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you to the year of jubilee: 25:41then shall he go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers shall he return. 25:42For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondservants. 25:43You shall not rule over him with rigor, but shall fear your God. 25:44As for your bondservants, and your bondmaids, whom you shall have; of the nations that are round about you, of them shall you buy bondservants and bondmaids.

25:45Moreover of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them shall you buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land: and they shall be your possession. 25:46You shall make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them shall you take your bondservants forever: but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with rigor.

25:47If a stranger or sojourner with you has grown rich, and your brother has grown poor beside him, and sell himself to the stranger or sojourner with you, or to the stock of the stranger’s family; 25:48after that he is sold he may be redeemed: one of his brothers may redeem him; 25:49or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself. 25:50He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; according to the time of a hired servant shall he be with him. 25:51If there be yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 25:52If there remain but few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years shall he give back the price of his redemption. 25:53As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight. 25:54If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he, and his children with him. 25:55For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am Yahweh your God.

Doesn't Yahweh repeatedly stress that we are to act as our brethren's keepers, providing them with their needs when it is in our power to do so? Doesn't Yahweh also show that when our brethren fall under hard times and come under our authority, we are not to rule over them with rigour, but gently, as befits brethren working together? Doesn't Yahweh also make a distinction between how one deals with brethren and how one deals with outsiders? Hasn't Yahweh shown that whereas brethren should be dealt with gently, he does not impose the same requirement on dealings with outsiders? Doesn't he allow the children of Israel to make bondservants of outsiders, but not of their own brethren? And doesn't he imply that part of rigorously ruling over another is making a bondservant out of the other? Shouldn't we therefore refrain from making bondservants of our brethren?

 

Serving Yahweh Takes Precedence Over Unnecessary Family Matters

Numbers 6:1-8 reads,

6:1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6:2"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, 6:3he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. 6:4All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.

6:5"All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.

6:6"All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body. 6:7He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head. 6:8All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh.

Doesn't Yahweh show that those who are separated to him are holy and are therefore not to defile themselves by going near a dead body? Doesn't this imply that serving Yahweh supersedes attending to unnecessary family matters, such as burying the dead, even though these are matters important to family members? In other words, doesn't this show that due precedence should be applied in our relationship with Yahweh on the one hand, and with our relationship with our brethren on the other hand?

 

Edom Failed To Act As Israel's Keeper

Numbers 20:14-21 reads,

20:14Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus says your brother Israel, You know all the travail that has befallen us: 20:15how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers: 20:16and when we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border. 20:17Please let us pass through your land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border. 20:18Edom said to him, You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you. 20:19The children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price of it: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet. 20:20He said, You shall not pass through. Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. 20:21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: why Israel turned away from him.

Didn't Edom fail to act as Yahweh desires brethren act? Wasn't Edom supposed to provide Israel with the latter's need provided it was in Edom's power to do so? Didn't Edom refuse to act as his brother's keeper, refusing to provide Israel with his requested need?

 

Unmarried Daughters Should Act As Their Parents' Keepers

Numbers 27:1-11 reads,

27:1Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. 27:2They stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying, 27:3Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against Yahweh in the company of Korah: but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. 27:4Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brothers of our father. 27:5Moses brought their cause before Yahweh. 27:6Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 27:7The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: you shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers; and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 27:8You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 27:9If he have no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 27:10If he have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 27:11If his father have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be to the children of Israel a statute and ordinance, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Didn't the daughters of Zelophehad behave in a manner befitting one who is his brother's keeper? Didn't they act to preserve their father's inheritance within Israel, thereby ensuring that their father's inheritance among his brothers in Israel was not lost?

 

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