Numbers 31:16-26

16 Why, these are the ones who - because of Bil'am's advice -caused the people of Isra'el to rebel, breaking faith with ADONAI in the P'or incident, so that the plague broke out among ADONAI's community!

17 Now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man.

18 But the young girls who have never slept with a man, keep alive for yourselves.

19 Pitch your tents outside the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a person or touched the corpse of someone slain, purify yourselves on the third and seventh days, you and your captives.

20 Also purify every garment, whether of skin or goat's hair, and everything made of wood."

21 El'azar the cohen said to the soldiers who had gone to the front, "This is the regulation from the Torah which ADONAI has ordered Moshe.

22 Even though gold, silver, brass, iron, tin and lead

23 can all withstand fire, so that you are indeed to purify everything made of these materials by having them pass through fire; nevertheless they must also be purified with the water for purification. Everything that can't withstand fire you are to have go through the water.

24 On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean; after that you may enter the camp."

25 ADONAI said to Moshe,

26 "Take all the booty, both people and animals, you, El'azar the cohen and the leaders of clans in the community;

Numbers 31:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

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.