Numbers 31:25-35

25 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, of man and of cattle, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the assembly;

27 and divide the prey into halves, between them that conducted the war, who went out to the battle, and the whole assembly.

28 And thou shalt levy a tribute for Jehovah of the men of war who went out to the army, one soul of five hundred of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the small cattle.

29 Of their half shall ye take it, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave-offering of Jehovah.

30 And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the small cattle, of every [kind of] beasts, and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.

31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

32 And the prey, the rest of the spoil, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 and seventy-two thousand oxen,

34 and sixty-one thousand asses,

35 and of human persons, of the women that had not known lying with a man, all the persons were thirty-two thousand.

Numbers 31:25-35 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.