In the lead-in to today's Bible reading the editor says, "Twenty-four thousand Israelites have recently died of the plague, and others have undoubtedly been killed in the conquest of Moab." Does anyone else agree with me that the last part of that sentence seems to be an error given that Numbers 25:48-49 says of the just-finished battle against the Moabite/Midianite alliance: "Then the officers who were over the units of the army - the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds - went to Moses and said to him, 'Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.' "
But it seems like too glaring a mistake. The editor does say "conquest of Moab" whereas this battle was specifically against the Midianites, however, as I said in my post yesterday, the names have been used interchangeably because the two nations were allies. I didn't see any other reference to a separate battle against Moab.
Does anyone have any further insights?
I have no further insight but am impressed by the fact that you picked up on it.
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