Numbers 31:4

4 A thousand from each tribe of every tribe of Israel you will send to battle."

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 "Seek vengeance for the {Israelites} on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people."

3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm yourself from among your men for the battle, so that they will {go} against Midian to mete out the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian.

4 A thousand from each tribe of every tribe of Israel you will send to battle."

5 So theywere assigned from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand equipped for battle.

6 Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the battle, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the battle with them, and the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets of the blast [were] in his hand.