It’s a story filled with surprising alliances, desperate prayers, and… well, a healthy dose of mistaken identity.
So, picture this: Zepho, a king with a problem. He’s about to go to war, and he wants to know how it's going to turn out. Naturally, he turns to the best (or perhaps the most notorious) diviner of the time: Balaam. Yes, that Balaam – the one famous for his talking donkey! But even Balaam's magic apparently had its limits. He couldn't give Zepho the answers he craved.
The war begins, and initially, things go south for Zepho and his allies, the Egyptians. But then, a twist! They call upon the Israelites for help. Talk about a complicated alliance.
Now, you might think the Israelites would be all, "Nah, we're good," but they find themselves in this precarious position. So what do they do? They pray. They pour out their hearts to God, begging for assistance. And, as the story goes, the Lord heard their prayer.
Emboldened, the Israelites charged into battle against Zepho's forces. They fought with a ferocity that sent the enemy reeling. Thousands fell, and panic seized the opposing army, as Ginzberg recounts in Legends of the Jews. The enemy fled, and the Israelites pursued them right to the very edge of the country.
But here’s where things get really interesting – and a little messy. The Egyptians, instead of backing up their Israelite allies, hightailed it out of there! Can you imagine? They left this small band of Israelites to face the brunt of the attack.
Understandably, the Israelites were… annoyed. Furious, even. According to the narrative, they turned on some two hundred Egyptians, slaughtering them under the pretense that they thought they were part of the enemy. A brutal case of mistaken identity, fueled by betrayal and the chaos of war.
It's a harsh reminder of how quickly alliances can crumble and how easily lines can become blurred in times of conflict. And it leaves you wondering: what price do you pay when you get caught in the middle?