Bamidbar 31

1 1 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

2 Avenge the Bnei Yisroel of the Midyanim; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

3 And Moshe spoke unto HaAm, saying, Arm some of your anashim unto war, let them go against Midyan, and avenge Hashem of Midyan.

4 Of every matteh a thousand, throughout kol mattot Yisroel, shall ye send to war.

5 So there were supplied out of the thousands of Yisroel, an elef (a thousand) of every matteh, sheneym asar elef armed for war.

6 And Moshe sent them to war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Pinchas Ben Eleazar HaKohen, to the war, with the kelei hakodesh, and the tzotzerot hateru’ah in his yad.

7 And they warred against Midyan, just, as Hashem commanded Moshe; and they slaughtered kol zachar.

8 And they slaughtered the Melachim of Midyan, besides the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Tzur, and Chur, and Reva, five melachim of Midyan; Balaam Ben Beor also they slaughtered with the cherev.

9 And the Bnei Yisroel took all the nashim of Midyan captive, and their little ones, and took the plunder of all their behemah, and all their mikneh, and all their goods.

10 And they burned with eish all their towns wherein were their moshavot, and all their camps.

11 And they took all the plunder, and all the spoil, both of adam and of behemah.

12 And they brought the captives, and the plunder, and the spoil, unto Moshe, and Eleazar HaKohen, and unto the Adat Bnei Yisroel, unto the machaneh at the plains of Moav, which are by Yarden near Yericho.

13 And Moshe, and Eleazar HaKohen, and all the nasiim of the Edah, went forth to meet them outside the machaneh.

14 And Moshe was in wrath with the pekudei hechayil (officers of the army), with the sarim over thousands, and sarim over hundreds, which were returning from the milchamah of the army.

15 And Moshe said unto them, Have ye saved all the nekevah alive?

16 Hinei, these caused the Bnei Yisroel, through the davar Balaam, to turn unfaithful against Hashem in the matter of Peor, and there was a magefah (plague) among the Adat Hashem.

17 Now therefore slaughter every zakhar among the little ones, and kill every isha that hath known ish by lying with zakhar.

18 But all the girl nashim, that have no da’as of lying with zakhar, save alive for yourselves.

19 And do ye abide outside the machaneh shivat yamim; whosoever hath killed nefesh, and whosoever hath touched any chalal, purify both yourselves and your captives on Yom HaShelishi and on Yom HaShevi’i.

20 And purify all your beged, and all keli ohr (all that is made of leather), ma’aseh izzim (all that is made of goat hair) and keli etz (all that is make of wood).

21 And Eleazar HaKohen said unto the anshei hatzavah which went into milchamah, This is the chukkat hatorah which Hashem commanded Moshe:

22 Only the zahav, and the kesef, the nechoshet, the barzel, the bedil, and the oferet,

23 Everything that can withstand eish, ye shall make it go through the eish, and it shall be tahor; nevertheless it shall be purified with the mayim of niddah; and all that can not withstand the eish ye shall make go through the mayim.

24 And ye shall wash your begadim on Yom HaShevi’i, and ye shall be tahor, and afterward ye shall come into the machaneh.

25 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

26 Take inventory of the spoil that was taken, both of adam and of behemah, thou, and Eleazar HaKohen, and the Rashei Avot HaEdah:

27 And divide the spoil into two parts: between them that took the milchamah upon them, who went out to battle, and kol HaEdah;

28 And levy a mekhes (tribute) unto Hashem of the anshei hamilchamah which went out to battle: one nefesh from five hundred, both of adam, and of bakar, and of chamorim, and of tzon;

29 Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar HaKohen, for a terumat Hashem.

30 And of the Bnei Yisroel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of adam, of bakar, of chamorim, and of tzon, of all behemah, and give them unto the Levi’im, who are shomrei mishmeret Mishkan Hashem (who are guardians of the Mishkan Hashem).

31 And Moshe and Eleazar HaKohen did just as Hashem commanded Moshe.

32 And the spoil, being the rest of the plunder which the am hatzava (personnel of the army) had taken, was 675,000 tzon,

33 And 72,000 bakar,

34 And 61,000 chamorim,

35 And 32,000 nefesh adam from the nashim who had no da’as of zachar by lying with him.

36 And the half, which was the chelek of them that went out to war, was in number 337,500 tzon;

37 And the mekhes (tribute) for Hashem of the tzon was 675.

38 And the bakar were 36,000; of which the mekhes for Hashem was 72.

39 And the chamorim were 30,500; of which the mekhes for Hashem was 61.

40 And the nefesh adam were 16,000; of which the mekhes for Hashem was 32 nefesh.

41 And Moshe gave the mekhes, which was the terumat Hashem, unto Eleazar HaKohen, as Hashem commanded Moshe.

42 And of the Bnei Yisroel’s half, which Moshe divided from the anashim hatzove’im,

43 (Now the half that pertained unto the Edah was 337,500 tzon,

44 And 36,000 bakar,

45 And thirty thousand chamorim and five hundred,

46 And sixteen thousand nefesh adam);

47 Even of the Bnei Yisroel’s half, Moshe took one portion of fifty, both of adam and of behemah, and gave them unto the Levi’im, who were shomrei mishmeret Mishkan Hashem; just as Hashem commanded Moshe.

48 And the pekudim (officers) which were over thousands of the tzava (army), the sarim of thousands, and sarim of hundreds, came near unto Moshe;

49 And they said unto Moshe, Thy avadim have taken the muster census of the anshei hamilchamah which are under our charge, and there was missing not one ish of us.

50 We have therefore brought a korban Hashem, what every ish hath gotten, of articles of zahav, armlets, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make kapporah for our nefashot before Hashem.

51 And Moshe and Eleazar HaKohen took the zahav of them, even all wrought jewels.

52 And all the zahav of the terumah (offering) that they offered up to Hashem, of the sarim of thousands, and of the sarim of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53 (For the anshei hatzava had taken plunder, every ish for himself.)

54 And Moshe and Eleazar HaKohen accepted the zahav of the sarim of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Ohel Mo’ed, for a zikaron (memorial) for the Bnei Yisroel before Hashem.

Bamidbar 31 Commentary

Chapter 31

War with Midian. (1-6) Balaam slain. (7-12) Those slain who caused sin. (13-38) Purification of the Israelites. (39-24) Division of the spoil. (25-47) Offerings. (48-54)

Verses 1-6 All who, without commission from God, dare to execute private revenge, and who, from ambition, covetousness, or resentment, wage war and desolate kingdoms, must one day answer for it. But if God, instead of sending an earthquake, a pestilence, or a famine, be pleased to authorize and command any people to avenge his cause, such a commission surely is just and right. The Israelites could show such a commission, though no persons now can do so. Their wars were begun and carried on expressly by Divine direction, and they were enabled to conquer by miracles. Unless it can be proved that the wicked Canaanites did not deserve their doom, objectors only prove their dislike to God, and their love to his enemies. Man makes light of the evil of sin, but God abhors it. This explains the terrible executions of the nations which had filled the measure of their sins.

Verses 7-12 The Israelites slew the Kings of Midian. They slew Balaam. God's overruling providence brought him thither, and their just vengeance found him. Had he himself rightly believed what he had said of the happy state of Israel, he would not have thus herded with the enemies of Israel. The Midianites' wicked wiles were Balaam's projects: it was just that he should perish with them, ( Hosea 4:5 ) . They took the women and children captives. They burnt their cities and castles, and returned to the camp.

Verses 13-18 The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting others; it teaches us to avoid all occasions of evil, and to give no quarter to inward lusts. The women and children were not kept for sinful purposes, but for slaves, a custom every where practised in former times, as to captives. In the course of providence, when famine and plagues visit a nation for sin, children suffer in the common calamity. In this case parents are punished in their children; and for children dying before actual sin, full provision is made as to their eternal happiness, by the mercy of God in Christ.

Verses 19-24 The Israelites had to purify themselves according to the law, and to abide without the camp seven days, though they had not contracted any moral guilt, the war being just and lawful, and commanded by God. Thus God would preserve in their minds a dread and detestation of shedding blood. The spoil had been used by Midianites, and being now come into the possession of Israelites, it was fit that it should be purified.

Verses 25-47 Whatever we have, God justly claims a part. Out of the people's share God required one in fifty, but out of the soldiers' share only one in five hundred. The less opportunity we have of honouring God with personal services, the more should we give in money or value.

Verses 48-54 The success of the Israelites had been very remarkable, so small a company overcoming such multitudes, but it was still more wonderful that not one was slain or missing. They presented the gold they found among the spoils, as an offering to the Lord. Thus they confessed, that instead of claiming a reward for their service, they needed forgiveness of much that had been amiss, and desired to be thankful for the preservation of their lives, which might justly have been taken away.

Chapter Summary

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.