We often think of grand political machinations and sweeping historical movements, but sometimes, it all boils down to a good old-fashioned betrayal.
Take the story of Hadad, the king of Edom. He wasn't exactly a household name, was he? According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Hadad, having failed to achieve glory in an earlier campaign in Egypt, finally found his moment in a war against Moab. But the Moabites, they weren't so keen on facing Hadad’s forces solo. So, they did what any sensible (or perhaps not so sensible) ancient kingdom would do: they formed an alliance with the Midianites.
Picture the scene: a battlefield thick with tension, the clash of swords, the shouts of warriors. And then, the Moabites, those sneaky devils, decided they’d had enough. They bolted! They abandoned their Midianite allies, leaving them to face the full force of Hadad and his Edomites. Needless to say, the Midianites were… not pleased. They were, in fact, utterly decimated. Hadad and his army cut them down "to a man," as the story goes.
The Moabites, meanwhile, got off relatively scot-free. Sure, they had to pay tribute, but hey, at least they were alive. But the Midianites, well, they weren't about to let this treachery slide. Fueled by righteous anger (and probably a healthy dose of resentment), they rallied their kinsmen, the sons of Keturah (Abraham’s wife after Sarah), and gathered a mighty army. The following year, they launched a full-scale attack on Moab, seeking revenge for the earlier betrayal.
However, just when it looked like the Midianites might finally get their payback, guess who came riding to the rescue? That's right, Hadad! He swooped in, inflicting yet another crushing defeat upon the Midianites, who were forced to abandon their plans for revenge.
And here, my friends, is where things get really interesting. This series of events, this double-cross and double-defeat, sparked a deep-seated, unyielding hatred between the Moabites and the Midianites. According to Legends of the Jews, this was "the beginning of the inveterate enmity" between them. word: inveterate. It speaks to something so deeply ingrained, so long-lasting, that it becomes almost a part of their identity. So fierce was the animosity that, as Ginzberg writes, "If a single Moabite is caught in the land of Midian, he is killed without mercy, and a Midianite in Moab fares no better." Wow.
It's a stark reminder that even in the grand sweep of history, personal betrayals and the thirst for revenge can have profound and lasting consequences. It also makes you wonder about all the seemingly small conflicts simmering beneath the surface of our own world. Which ones, like this ancient feud, might one day erupt into something far bigger and more destructive? And what role do we play in either fueling or extinguishing those flames?