Numbers 31:25-54

Division of the Booty

25 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

26 "You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' households of the congregation take a count of the booty that was captured, both of man and of animal;

27 and ¹divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.

28 "²Levy a tax for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep;

29 take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the LORD.

30 "From the sons of Israel's half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who ³keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD."

31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

32 Now the booty that remained from the spoil which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 * * * * * * sheep,

33 and 72,000 * * cattle,

34 and 61,000 * * donkeys,

35 and of human beings, of the women who had not known man intimately *, all the persons were 32,000 * *.

36 The half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500 * * * * * * * *,

37 and the LORD'S levy of the sheep was 675 * * *;

38 and the cattle were 36,000 *, from which the LORD'S levy was 72 *;

39 and the donkeys were 30,500 * * *, from which the LORD'S levy was 61 *;

40 and the human beings were 16,000 * *, from whom the LORD'S levy was 32 * persons.

41 Moses gave the levy which was the LORD'S offering to Eleazar the priest, just ⁴as the LORD had commanded Moses.

42 As for the sons of Israel's half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war -

43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 * * * * * * * * sheep,

44 and 36,000 * * cattle,

45 and 30,500 * * * donkeys,

46 and the human beings were 16,000 * * -

47 and from the sons of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, approached Moses,

49 and they said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing.

50 "So we have brought as an offering to the LORD what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces, ⁵to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD."

51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles.

52 All the gold of the offering which they offered up to the LORD, from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, was 16,750 * * * * * shekels.

53 ⁶The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.

54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it to the tent of meeting as ⁷a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD.

Numbers 31:25-54 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.

Cross References

• 1. Joshua 22:8
• 2. Numbers 18:21-30
• 3. Num 3:7, 8, 25, 26, 31, 36, 37; Numbers 18:3, 4
• 4. Numbers 5:9, 10; Numbers 18:19
• 5. Exodus 30:12-16
• 6. Numbers 31:32; Deuteronomy 20:14
• 7. Exodus 30:16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "of captives"
• [b]. Lit "soul from"
• [c]. Lit "heave offering," and so throughout the ch
• [d]. Lit "people"
• [e]. Lit "by lying with a man"
• [f]. Or "divided"