1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward you shall be gathered to your people.
3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm you men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh's vengeance on Midian.
4 Of every tribe one thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall you send to the war.
5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
7 They warred against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses; and they killed every male.
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they killed with the sword.
9 The children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.
10 All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.
11 They took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of animal.
12 They brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
13 Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside of the camp.
14 Moses was angry with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
15 Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive?
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
18 But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19 Encamp you outside of the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
20 As to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' [hair], and all things made of wood, you shall purify yourselves.
21 Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses:
22 however the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 everything that may abide the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that doesn't withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.
24 You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp.
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the congregation;
27 and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
28 Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the donkeys, and of the flocks:
29 take it of their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh's heave-offering.
30 Of the children of Israel's half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, [even] of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites, who keep the charge of the tent of Yahweh.
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.
32 Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 and seventy-two thousand oxen,
34 and seventy-one thousand donkeys,
35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him.
36 The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:
37 and Yahweh's tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five.
38 The oxen were thirty-six thousand; of which Yahweh's tribute was seventy-two.
39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred; of which Yahweh's tribute was sixty-one.
40 The persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Yahweh's tribute was thirty-two persons.
41 Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh's heave-offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
42 Of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men who warred
43 (now the congregation's half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 and thirty-six thousand oxen,
45 and thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46 and sixteen thousand persons),
47 even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tent of Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
48 The officers who were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses;
49 and they said to Moses, Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our charge, and there lacks not one man of us.
50 We have brought Yahweh's offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all worked jewels.
52 All the gold of the heave-offering that they offered up to Yahweh, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.
53 ([For] the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)
54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 31
Commentary on Numbers 31 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 31
Nu 31:1-54. The Midianites Spoiled and Balaam Slain.
1, 2. the Lord spake unto Moses, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites—a semi-nomad people, descended from Abraham and Keturah, occupying a tract of country east and southeast of Moab, which lay on the eastern coast of the Dead Sea. They seem to have been the principal instigators of the infamous scheme of seduction, planned to entrap the Israelites into the double crime of idolatry and licentiousness [Nu 25:1-3, 17, 18] by which, it was hoped, the Lord would withdraw from that people the benefit of His protection and favor. Moreover, the Midianites had rendered themselves particularly obnoxious by entering into a hostile league with the Amorites (Jos 13:21). The Moabites were at this time spared in consideration of Lot (De 2:9) and because the measure of their iniquities was not yet full. God spoke of avenging "the children of Israel" [Nu 31:2]; Moses spoke of avenging the Lord [Nu 31:3], as dishonor had been done to God and an injury inflicted on His people. The interests were identical. God and His people have the same cause, the same friends, and the same assailants. This, in fact, was a religious war, undertaken by the express command of God against idolaters, who had seduced the Israelites to practise their abominations.
3. Arm some of yourselves—This order was issued but a short time before the death of Moses. The announcement to him of that approaching event [Nu 31:2] seems to have accelerated, rather than retarded, his warlike preparations.
5. there were delivered—that is, drafted, chosen, an equal amount from each tribe, to prevent the outbreak of mutual jealousy or strife. Considering the numerical force of the enemy, this was a small quota to furnish. But the design was to exercise their faith and animate them to the approaching invasion of Canaan.
6. Moses sent … Eleazar the priest, to the war—Although it is not expressly mentioned, it is highly probable that Joshua was the general who conducted this war. The presence of the priest, who was always with the army (De 20:2), was necessary to preside over the Levites, who accompanied the expedition, and to inflame the courage of the combatants by his sacred services and counsels.
holy instruments—As neither the ark nor the Urim and Thummim were carried to the battlefield till a later period in the history of Israel, the "holy instruments" must mean the "trumpets" (Nu 10:9). And this view is agreeable to the text, by simply changing "and" into "even," as the Hebrew particle is frequently rendered.
7. they slew all the males—This was in accordance with a divine order in all such cases (De 20:13). But the destruction appears to have been only partial—limited to those who were in the neighborhood of the Hebrew camp and who had been accomplices in the villainous plot of Baal-peor (Nu 25:1-3), while a large portion of the Midianites were absent on their pastoral wanderings or had saved themselves by flight. (Compare Jud 6:1).
8. the kings of Midian—so called, because each was possessed of absolute power within his own city or district; called also dukes or princes of Sihon (Jos 13:21), having been probably subject to that Amorite ruler, as it is not uncommon in the East to find a number of governors or pachas tributary to one great king.
Zur—father of Cozbi (Nu 25:15).
Balaam also … they slew with the sword—This unprincipled man, on his dismissal from Balak, set out for his home in Mesopotamia (Nu 24:25). But, either diverging from his way to tamper with the Midianites, he remained among them without proceeding farther, to incite them against Israel and to watch the effects of his wicked counsel; or, learning in his own country that the Israelites had fallen into the snare which he had laid and which he doubted not would lead to their ruin, he had, under the impulse of insatiable greed, returned to demand his reward from the Midianites. He was an object of merited vengeance. In the immense slaughter of the Midianitish people—in the capture of their women, children, and property and in the destruction of all their places of refuge—the severity of a righteous God fell heavily on that base and corrupt race. But, more than all others, Balaam deserved and got the just reward of his deeds. His conduct had been atrociously sinful, considering the knowledge he possessed, and the revelations he had received, of the will of God. For any one in his circumstances to attempt defeating the prophecies he had himself been the organ of uttering, and plotting to deprive the chosen people of the divine favor and protection, was an act of desperate wickedness, which no language can adequately characterize.
13. Moses, and Eleazar the priest, … went forth to meet them without the camp—partly as a token of respect and congratulation on their victory, partly to see how they had executed the Lord's commands, and partly to prevent the defilement of the camp by the entrance of warriors stained with blood.
14-18. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host—The displeasure of the great leader, though it appears the ebullition of a fierce and sanguinary temper, arose in reality from a pious and enlightened regard to the best interests of Israel. No order had been given for the slaughter of the women, and in ancient war they were commonly reserved for slaves. By their antecedent conduct, however, the Midianitish women had forfeited all claims to mild or merciful treatment; and the sacred character, the avowed object of the war (Nu 31:2, 3), made their slaughter necessary without any special order. But why "kill every male among the little ones"? It was designed to be a war of extermination, such as God Himself had ordered against the people of Canaan, whom the Midianites equalled in the enormity of their wickedness.
19-24. abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person … purify both yourselves and your captives—Though the Israelites had taken the field in obedience to the command of God, they had become defiled by contact with the dead. A process of purification was to be undergone, as the law required (Le 15:13; Nu 19:9-12), and this purifying ceremony was extended to dress, houses, tents, to everything on which a dead body had lain, which had been touched by the blood-stained hands of the Israelitish warriors, or which had been the property of idolaters. This became a standing ordinance in all time coming (Le 6:28; 11:33; 15:12).
25-39. Take the sum of the prey that was taken—that is, of the captives and cattle, which, having been first lumped together according to ancient usage (Ex 15:9; Jud 5:30), were divided into two equal parts: the one to the people at large, who had sustained a common injury from the Midianites and who were all liable to serve: and the other portion to the combatants, who, having encountered the labors and perils of war, justly received the largest share. From both parts, however, a certain deduction was taken for the sanctuary, as a thank offering to God for preservation and for victory. The soldiers had greatly the advantage in the distribution; for a five-hundredth part only of their half went to the priest, while a fiftieth part of the congregation's half was given to the Levites.
32-47. the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught—Some of the captives having been killed (Nu 31:17) and part of the cattle taken for the support of the army, the total amount of the booty remaining was in the following proportions:
Amount Half to
Soldiers Deducted
to God Half to
Congregation Deducted
to Levites Sheep 675,000 337,500 675 337,500 6,750 Beeves 72,000 36,000 72 36,000 720 Asses 61,000 30,500 61 30,500 610 Persons 32,000 16,000 32 16,000 320
48-54. officers … said … there lacketh not one man of us—A victory so signal, and the glory of which was untarnished by the loss of a single Israelitish soldier, was an astonishing miracle. So clearly betokening the direct interposition of Heaven, it might well awaken the liveliest feelings of grateful acknowledgment to God (Ps 44:2, 3). The oblation they brought for the Lord "was partly an atonement" or reparation for their error (Nu 31:14-16), for it could not possess any expiatory virtue, and partly a tribute of gratitude for the stupendous service rendered them. It consisted of the "spoil," which, being the acquisition of individual valor, was not divided like the "prey," or livestock, each soldier retaining it in lieu of pay; it was offered by the "captains" alone, whose pious feelings were evinced by the dedication of the spoil which fell to their share. There were jewels to the amount of 16,750 shekels, equal to £87,869 16s. 5d. sterling.