Numbers 31:26-47

26 "Take the count of the booty that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Elea'zar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation;

27 and divide the booty into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.

28 And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the flocks;

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

30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of the LORD."

31 And Moses and Elea'zar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

32 Now the booty remaining of the spoil that the men of war took was: six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 seventy-two thousand cattle,

34 sixty-one thousand asses,

35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him.

36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

37 and the LORD's tribute of sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.

38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD's tribute was seventy-two.

39 The asses were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD's tribute was sixty-one.

40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD's tribute was thirty-two persons.

41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the offering for the LORD, to Elea'zar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

42 From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had gone to war--

43 now the congregation's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

44 thirty-six thousand cattle,

45 and thirty thousand five hundred asses,

46 and sixteen thousand persons--

47 from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every fifty, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Numbers 31:26-47 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.