2 Avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites; afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy peoples.
And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy peoples, as Aaron thy brother was gathered,
Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes." And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and he leaned his weight upon them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain during his life.
Rejoice over her, heaven, and [ye] saints and apostles and prophets; for God has judged your judgment upon her.
and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O sovereign Ruler, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth?
not overstepping the rights of and wronging his brother in the matter, because the Lord [is] the avenger of all these things, even as we also told you before, and have fully testified.
for it is God's minister to thee for good. But if thou practisest evil, fear; for it bears not the sword in vain; for it is God's minister, an avenger for wrath to him that does evil.
For David indeed, having in his own generation ministered to the will of God, fell asleep, and was added to his fathers and saw corruption.
for these are days of avenging, that all the things that are written may be accomplished.
Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.
O ùGod of vengeances, Jehovah, ùGod of vengeances, shine forth; Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth, render the reward to the proud. How long shall the wicked, O Jehovah, how long shall the wicked triumph?
And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has slain many of us."
And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, who did not know the LORD or the work which he had done for Israel.
And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm from amongst you men for military service, that they go against Midian to execute Jehovah's vengeance upon Midian.
And the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, the prince of a father's house of the Simeonites. And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was tribal head of a father's house in Midian. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Harass the Midianites, and smite them, for they have harassed you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague because of the matter of Peor.
and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered [to his peoples], and shall die there.
Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land that I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my commandment at the waters of Meribah.
And these are the years of the life of Ishmael: a hundred and thirty-seven years; and he expired and died, and was gathered to his peoples.
And Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and full [of days]; and was gathered to his peoples.
And Abraham took another wife named Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan; and the sons of Dedan were the Asshurim, and the Letushim, and the Leummim. And the sons of Midian were Ephah, and Epher, and Enoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 31
Commentary on Numbers 31 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 31
This chapter belongs to "the book of the wars of the Lord,' in which it is probable it was inserted. It is the history of a holy war, a war with Midian. Here is,
Num 31:1-6
Here,
Num 31:7-12
Here is,
Num 31:13-24
We have here the triumphant return of the army of Israel from the war with Midian, and here,
Num 31:25-47
We have here the distribution of the spoil which was taken in this expedition against Midian. God himself directed how it should be distributed, and Moses and Eleazar did according to the directions, and thus unhappy contests among themselves were prevented and the victory was made to turn to the common benefit. It was fit that he who gave them the prey should order the disposal of it. All we have is from God, and therefore must be subject to his will.
Num 31:48-54
Here is a great example of piety and devotion in the officers of the army, the colonels, that are called captains of thousands, and the inferior officers that were captains of hundreds; they came to Moses as their general and commander-in-chief, and, though he was now going off the stage they very humbly and respectfully addressed themselves to him, calling themselves his servants; the honours they had won did not puff them up, so as to make them forget their duty to him. Observe in their address to them,