Numbers 31:3

3 And anon Moses said, Arm ye (some) men of you to battle, that be able to take of the Midianites the vengeance of the Lord. (And at once Moses said to the people, Arm ye some men of you for battle, so that we can take the vengeance of the Lord upon the Midianites.)

Numbers 31:3 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 31:3

And Moses spake unto the people, saying
In obedience to the divine command; this must be supposed to be spoken to the heads or princes of the tribes:

arm some of yourselves unto the war:
not the whole body of the militia, 600,000 men and upwards, only some of them, and these choice and select men; and, according to the Jewish writers, good men, who, detesting the sins of lewdness and idolatry, would more strictly and severely avenge themselves on the Midianites for drawing their brethren into those sins, whereby they fell; and so Jarchi calls them righteous men:

[and] let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of
Midian:
what the Lord calls the vengeance of the Israelites, Moses calls the vengeance of the Lord, because they were the Lord's people, and his cause and theirs the same: and because the sins they were drawn into by the Midianites were not only against themselves, and to their prejudice, but against the Lord and to the dishonour of his name.

Numbers 31:3 In-Context

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Venge thou first the sons of Israel of (the) Midianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people. (First take thou vengeance for the Israelites upon the Midianites, and then thou shalt be gathered to thy people, that is, thou shalt die.)

3 And anon Moses said, Arm ye (some) men of you to battle, that be able to take of the Midianites the vengeance of the Lord. (And at once Moses said to the people, Arm ye some men of you for battle, so that we can take the vengeance of the Lord upon the Midianites.)

4 (Out) Of each lineage be chosen a thousand men of Israel, that shall be sent (in)to battle.

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;)