Israel, and the Moabites and Ammonites

 

Question: Did the Israelites fight with the Moabites or the Ammonites during their conquest of Canaan?

 

Google; In Jewish tradition.  According to the Hebrew Bible, the Moabites opposed the Israelite invasion of Canaan, as did the Ammonites.

Throughout the Bible, the Ammonites and the Israelites are portrayed as mutual antagonists.  During the Exodus, the Israelites were prohibited by the Ammonites from passing through their lands.  The Ammonites soon allied themselves with Eglon of Moab in attacking Israel.

Wikipedia; According to the Hebrew Bible, the Moabites opposed the Israelite invasion of Canaan, as did the Ammonites.  As a consequence, they were excluded from the congregation for ten generations.[14]  The term "tenth generation" is considered an idiom, used for an unlimited time, as opposed to the third generation, which allows an Egyptian convert to marry into the community. The Talmud expresses the view that the prohibition applied only to male Moabites, who were not allowed to marry born Jews or legitimate converts. Female Moabites, when converted to Judaism, were permitted to marry with only the normal prohibition of a convert marrying a kohen (priest) applying.  However, the prohibition was not followed during the Babylonian captivity, and Ezra and Nehemiah sought to compel a return to the law because men had been marrying women who had not been converted at all (Ezra 9:1–2, 12; Nehemiah 13:23–25).  The heir of King Solomon was Rehoboam, the son of an Ammonite woman, Naamah (1 Kings 14:21).

On the other hand, the marriages of the Bethlehem Ephrathites (of the tribe of JudahChilion and Mahlon to the Moabite women Orpah and Ruth (Ruth 1:2–4), and the marriage of the latter, after her husband's death, to Boaz (Ruth 4:10–13) who by her was the great-grandfather of David, are mentioned with no shade of reproach.  The Talmudic explanation, however, is that the language of the law applies only to Moabite and Ammonite men (Hebrew, like all Semitic languages, has grammatical gender).  The Talmud also states that the prophet Samuel wrote the Book of Ruth to settle the dispute as the rule had been forgotten since the time of Boaz.  Another interpretation is that the Book of Ruth is simply reporting the events in an impartial fashion, leaving any praise or condemnation to be done by the reader.

The Babylonian Talmud in Yevamot 76B explains that one of the reasons was the Ammonites did not greet the Children of Israel with friendship and the Moabites hired Balaam to curse them.  The difference in the responses of the two people led to God allowing the Jewish people to harass the Moabites (but not go to war) but forbade them to even harass the Ammonites (Deuteronomy 23:3–4).

 

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