Numbers 31:4

4 Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel."

Numbers 31:4 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 31:4

Of every tribe a thousand
So that the whole number of those that were armed were 12,000 as after given:

throughout all the tribes of Israel;
this is observed, as Jarchi thinks, to comprehend the tribe of Levi, which in some cases was left out of the account:

shall ye send to the war;
to fight with Midian.

Numbers 31:4 In-Context

2 "Get even with the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your ancestors [in death]."

3 Moses said to the people, "Some of your men must get ready to go to war against the Midianites. The LORD will use them to get even with Midian.

4 Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel."

5 So 1,000 men from each tribe were supplied from the divisions of Israel--12,000 men ready for war.

6 Then Moses sent them off to war, 1,000 men from each tribe along with Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar. Phinehas took with him the holy articles and the trumpets for the fanfare.