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Numbers 31

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War Against the Midianites

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Seek vengeance for the {Israelites} on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people."
3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm yourself from among your men for the battle, so that they will {go} against Midian to mete out the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian.
4 A thousand from each tribe of every tribe of Israel you will send to battle."
5 So theywere assigned from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand equipped for battle.
6 Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the battle, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the battle with them, and the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets of the blast [were] in his hand.
7 And they fought against Midian just as Yahweh commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to the ones they had slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam son of Beor by the sword.
9 The {Israelites} took captive the women of Midian and their children, and they plundered all their domestic animals and all their livestock and all their wealth.
10 They burned all their cities where they dwelled and all their camps with fire.
11 They took all the plunder and all the war-booty with the humans and domestic animals.
12 They brought the captives, the war-booty, and the plunder to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the community of the {Israelites}, to the camp to the desert-plateau of Moab, which [was] on [the] Jordan [across] Jericho.
13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.
14 But Moses was angry toward the leaders of the troops, the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, who came from the battle of the war.
15 And Moses said to them, "You have kept alive every female?
16 Behold, these women {caused} the {Israelites}, by the word of Balaam, to be in apostasy against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, so that the plague was among the community of Yahweh.
17 Now kill every male among the little children, and kill every woman who has {had sexual intercourse with a man}.
18 But all the females who have not {had sexual intercourse with a man}, keep alive for yourselves.
19 And you, camp outside the camp seven days; all who killed a person and all who touched the slain purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
20 You will purify yourselves and every garment and every object of hide and all the work of goats' hair, and every object of wood."
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of the battle who came from the war, "This [is] the decree of the law that Yahweh commanded Moses.
22 Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead--
23 everything that will go through the fire--you will pass through the fire, and it will be clean, and only in waters of impurity will it be purified. Whatever does not go into the fire you will pass through the waters.
24 And you will wash your garments on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you will come into the camp."

Division of the War-Booty

25 Yahweh said to Moses, saying,
26 "You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the {families} of the community, {take count} of the war-booty that was captured, both humans and the domestic animals;
27 divide the war-booty between those who engaged in the war, who went out to the battle, and all the community.
28 Exact a tribute for Yahweh from the men of the war, those who went out to the battle, one from five hundred persons, and from the cattle and from the male donkeys and from the flock;
29 take from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest [as] a contribution to Yahweh.
30 From half of the {Israelites}, take one [share] drawn by lot from the fifty from the humans, from the cattle, from the male donkeys, from the flock, from all the domestic animals, and give them to the Levities who keep the responsibilities of the tabernacle of Yahweh."
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Yahweh commanded Moses.
32 Thus the war-booty that remained of the plunder that the people of the battle plundered was six hundred and seventy-five thousand flocks [of sheep],
33 seventy-two thousand cattle,
34 sixty-one thousand male donkeys,
35 and the life of humankind, from the women who did not {have sexual intercourse with a man}, all the persons were thirty-two thousand.
36 The half of the share that was going out to the battle: the number of the flock [of sheep] was thee hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred;
37 the tribute to Yahweh from the flock was six hundred and seventy-five;
38 and the cattle were thirty-six thousand; and the tribute to Yahweh [was] seventy-two.
39 Of the male donkeys there were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute to Yahweh was sixty-one;
40 the humans were sixteen thousand, and the tribute to Yahweh [was] thirty-two persons.
41 And Moses gave away the tribute of the contribution of Yahweh to Eleazar the priest, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.
42 From the half of the {Israelites}, which Moses divided from the men who were fighting,
43 the half that belonged to the community was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred from the flock,
44 and thirty-six thousand cattle,
45 and thirty thousand five hundred male donkeys,
46 and sixteen thousand humans.
47 From the half that belonged to the {Israelites}, Moses took one share drawn by lot out of every fifty humans and domestic animals, and he gave them to the Levites, who keep the responsibility of the tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.
48 Then the leaders of the thousands of the army, the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, approached Moses,
49 and they said to Moses, "Your servants have {taken count} of the men of war who [were] {in our charge}, and no man is missing from us.
50 So we brought the offering of Yahweh, what each man found, objects of gold, bangles, bracelets, rings, earrings, and female ornaments, to make atonement for ourselves {before} Yahweh."
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all objects of work.
52 All the gold of the contribution that they raised up to Yahweh, from the commanders of the thousands and the commanders of the hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
53 The men of battle plundered each for himself.
54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of the thousands and hundreds, and they brought it to the tent of the assembly as a memorial for the {Israelites} before Yahweh.
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Numbers 31 Commentary

Chapter 31

War with Midian. (1-6) Balaam slain. (7-12) Those slain who caused sin. (13-38) Purification of the Israelites. (39-24) Division of the spoil. (25-47) Offerings. (48-54)

Verses 1-6 All who, without commission from God, dare to execute private revenge, and who, from ambition, covetousness, or resentment, wage war and desolate kingdoms, must one day answer for it. But if God, instead of sending an earthquake, a pestilence, or a famine, be pleased to authorize and command any people to avenge his cause, such a commission surely is just and right. The Israelites could show such a commission, though no persons now can do so. Their wars were begun and carried on expressly by Divine direction, and they were enabled to conquer by miracles. Unless it can be proved that the wicked Canaanites did not deserve their doom, objectors only prove their dislike to God, and their love to his enemies. Man makes light of the evil of sin, but God abhors it. This explains the terrible executions of the nations which had filled the measure of their sins.

Verses 7-12 The Israelites slew the Kings of Midian. They slew Balaam. God's overruling providence brought him thither, and their just vengeance found him. Had he himself rightly believed what he had said of the happy state of Israel, he would not have thus herded with the enemies of Israel. The Midianites' wicked wiles were Balaam's projects: it was just that he should perish with them, ( Hosea 4:5 ) . They took the women and children captives. They burnt their cities and castles, and returned to the camp.

Verses 13-18 The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting others; it teaches us to avoid all occasions of evil, and to give no quarter to inward lusts. The women and children were not kept for sinful purposes, but for slaves, a custom every where practised in former times, as to captives. In the course of providence, when famine and plagues visit a nation for sin, children suffer in the common calamity. In this case parents are punished in their children; and for children dying before actual sin, full provision is made as to their eternal happiness, by the mercy of God in Christ.

Verses 19-24 The Israelites had to purify themselves according to the law, and to abide without the camp seven days, though they had not contracted any moral guilt, the war being just and lawful, and commanded by God. Thus God would preserve in their minds a dread and detestation of shedding blood. The spoil had been used by Midianites, and being now come into the possession of Israelites, it was fit that it should be purified.

Verses 25-47 Whatever we have, God justly claims a part. Out of the people's share God required one in fifty, but out of the soldiers' share only one in five hundred. The less opportunity we have of honouring God with personal services, the more should we give in money or value.

Verses 48-54 The success of the Israelites had been very remarkable, so small a company overcoming such multitudes, but it was still more wonderful that not one was slain or missing. They presented the gold they found among the spoils, as an offering to the Lord. Thus they confessed, that instead of claiming a reward for their service, they needed forgiveness of much that had been amiss, and desired to be thankful for the preservation of their lives, which might justly have been taken away.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Footnotes 33

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 31

This chapter contains an order to make war upon Midian, which was accordingly done, Nu 31:1-12, but Moses was wroth, because they saved the women alive, who, through the counsel of Balaam, had been the cause of sin, and of the plague for it in Israel, and therefore orders them, and the male children, to be slain, Nu 31:13-18, and then directs to the purification of the soldiers, their captives and spoil, Nu 31:19-24, and by the command of God an account is taken of the prey, and a division of it made between the soldiers and the congregation, and out of each part a tribute is levied for the Lord, Nu 31:25-31 and the sum of the whole booty is given, Nu 31:32-35 and of the part which belonged to the soldiers, and of the tribute given to the Lord, Nu 31:36-41 and of the part which belonged to the children of Israel, Nu 31:42-47 and besides the above tribute to the Lord, the officers made a voluntary oblation out of their spoil, both by way of gratitude for sparing their lives, and to make atonement for their souls, Nu 31:48-54.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Numbers 31 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.