Bamidbar 31:30

30 And of the Bnei Yisroel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of adam, of bakar, of chamorim, and of tzon, of all behemah, and give them unto the Levi’im, who are shomrei mishmeret Mishkan Hashem (who are guardians of the Mishkan Hashem).

Bamidbar 31:30 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 31:30

And of the children of Israel's half, thou shall take one
portion of fifty
Which was abundantly more than what was taken out of the part of the soldiers; and the reason of it is plain and easy to be discerned; the soldiers had taken much pains, and gone through much fatigue, as well as had hazarded their lives, and therefore less was to be taken from them; and besides the tribute levied out of their half was to be given to the priests, who were not so numerous as the Levites, among whom the part out of the half of the congregation was to be distributed:

of the persons;
of the women, as the Targums of Jonathan, one of fifty out of them was to be given to the Levites to be their handmaids, or to be taken in marriage by them, or their sons, when fit for it:

of the beeves, of the asses, and of the sheep, of all manner of beasts;
of oxen, asses, sheep, and goats, one out of fifty of each of these sorts were to be taken. Aben Ezra observes, no mention is made of camels, being but few, and no part taken:

and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle
of the Lord;
for these being employed in the service of the tabernacle, came in for their share of the tribute levied unto the Lord.

Bamidbar 31:30 In-Context

28 And levy a mekhes (tribute) unto Hashem of the anshei hamilchamah which went out to battle: one nefesh from five hundred, both of adam, and of bakar, and of chamorim, and of tzon;
29 Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar HaKohen, for a terumat Hashem.
30 And of the Bnei Yisroel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of adam, of bakar, of chamorim, and of tzon, of all behemah, and give them unto the Levi’im, who are shomrei mishmeret Mishkan Hashem (who are guardians of the Mishkan Hashem).
31 And Moshe and Eleazar HaKohen did just as Hashem commanded Moshe.
32 And the spoil, being the rest of the plunder which the am hatzava (personnel of the army) had taken, was 675,000 tzon,
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.