Numbers 31:5-15

5 And of each lineage they gave a thousand, that is, twelve thousand of men, ready to battle; (And so from each tribe they gave a thousand men, that is, twelve thousand men in all, ready for battle;)

6 which Moses sent forth with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest. And Moses betook to them [the] holy vessels, and trumps to make sound (and the trumpets with which to sound the battle-cry).

7 And when they had fought against (the) Midianites, and had overcome them, Israel killed all the males (the Israelites killed all their adult males),

8 and the kings of them, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five princes of the folk of them. Also Israel killed with sword Balaam, the son of Beor. (and their kings, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five Midianite kings. And the Israelites also killed with the sword Balaam, the son of Beor.)

9 And Israel took the women of them, and their little children, and all their beasts, and all the purtenance of their household; whatever they might have, they spoiled, that is, they destroyed; (And the Israelites took captive the Midianite women, and their little children, and carried off all their beasts, and all their household things; yea, whatever the Midianites possessed, they took;)

10 the flame burnt as well the cities, as (the) little towns, and castles. (and the flame burned up the cities, as well as the little towns, and the tents, or the camps.)

11 And they took prey, and all things which they had taken, as well of men as of beasts, (And they took the spoils, and all the things which they had captured, of men and of beasts,)

12 and they brought to Moses, and to Eleazar, the priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. Soothly they bare other useable things to their tents, standing in the field places of Moab, beside (the) Jordan, against Jericho. (and they brought it all to Moses, and to Eleazar, the priest, and to all the multitude of the Israelites. Yea, they carried all the useable things back to the tents, pitched there on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River, opposite Jericho.)

13 [And] Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and all the princes of the synagogue, went out into the coming of them, without the tents. (And Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went out to meet them, away from the tents.)

14 And Moses was wroth to the princes of the host, to the tribunes, and the centurions [(to the) leaders of thousands, and governors of hundreds], that came from the battle; (And Moses was angry with the leaders of the army, yea, with the tribunes, that is, the leaders of a thousand men, and the centurions, that is, the leaders of a hundred men, who came back from the battle;)

15 and he said to them, Why kept ye (all) [the] women (alive)?

Numbers 31:5-15 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.