Numbers 31:21-31

21 And Eleazar, the priest, spake thus to the men of the host that fought, This is the commandment of the law, which the Lord commanded to Moses,

22 The gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead,

23 and all thing that may pass by (the) flame, shall be purged by fire; soothly whatever thing may not suffer fire, shall be hallowed with the water of cleansing. (and all the things that can pass through the flame, shall be purified by fire; but whatever thing cannot survive the flame, shall be made clean with the water of cleansing, or of purification.)

24 And ye shall wash your clothes in the seventh day, and ye shall be cleansed; and afterward ye shall enter into the tents. (And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and then ye shall be clean; and afterward ye can return to the tents.)

25 And the Lord said to Moses,

26 Take ye the sum, or the number, of those things that be taken, from man till to beast, thou, and Eleazar, [the] priest, and all the princes of the common people.

27 And thou shalt part evenly the prey betwixt them that fought and went out to battle, and betwixt all the other multitude. (And thou shalt evenly divide the spoils between those who went out to the battle and fought, and all the other multitude.)

28 And thou shalt separate a part to the Lord, of them that have fought, and were in battle, one soul of five hundred, as well of men, as of oxen, and of asses, and of sheep. (And thou shalt take a tribute, or a tax, for the Lord, from those who fought, and were in the battle, one soul out of five hundred, of people, and of oxen, and of donkeys, and of sheep.)

29 And thou shalt give that part to Eleazar, the priest, for those be the first fruits of the Lord. (And thou shalt give that portion to Eleazar, the priest, for they be the first fruits, or a special contribution, for the Lord.)

30 Also of the half part of the sons of Israel, thou shalt take the fiftieth head of men, and of oxen, and of asses, and of sheep, and of all living beasts; and thou shalt give those to the deacons, that (stand) watch in the keepings of the tabernacle of the Lord. (And from the half portion given to the Israelites, thou shalt take the fiftieth head of people, and of oxen, and of donkeys, and of sheep, yea, of all the living beasts; and thou shalt give them to the Levites, who keep charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord.)

31 And Moses and Eleazar did, as the Lord commanded.

Numbers 31:21-31 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.