The Fourth Book of Moses, called Numbers
Numbers 31
Chapter XXXI · Vol. I, pp. 465–467
1 The Midianites are spoiled, and Balaam slain. 13 Moses is wroth with the officers for saving the women alive. 19 How the soldiers, with their captives and spoil, are to be purified. 25 The proportion whereby the prey is to be divided. 48 The voluntary oblation of the officers unto the treasury of the Lord.
1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,1
A.M. 2552. B.C. 1452.
1 The frequent repetition of this or some similar form of expression, affords one of the strongest incidental evidences of the divine inspiration of the Pentateuch. Everything done by Moses is done in accordance with an express divine command; everything enjoined by him is preceded by the important introductory phrase, 'The Lord spake unto Moses, saying.' The whole record, therefore, must be inspired; or the author must have been guilty of deliberate and systematic deceit.—P.
2 Avengea the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou b be gathered unto thy people.
3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and c avenge the LORD of Midian.
c Je. 50.28,34. ch. 25.11,13.
4 Of every tribe a d thousand,2 throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.
d Ju. 7.2. 1 Sa. 14.6. Le. 26.8.
2 Heb. a thousand of a tribe, a thousand of a tribe.
5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and e Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.3
e ch. 25.7-15; 10.8,9; 14.44. De. 20.2-4. 1 Sa. 4.17. 2 Ch. 13.12-15.
3 In Jos. 6.4,6 we find the ark borne round Jericho, and seven priests following with trumpets. Hence it has been inferred that as Phinehas carried with him trumpets, 'the holy instruments' must include the ark. It may have been that the ark was with Phinehas, but it will not follow from the passage quoted; for the priests at Jericho sounded the shopheroth, or trumpets of jubilee, Le. 25.9, but Phinehas carried the chatsotseroth, or war trumpet, Nu. 10.3. The ark was again with the Hebrew army, 1 Sa. 4.4,5; but, ver. 7, it is acknowledged that its presence, upon such an occasion, was altogether unprecedented in former wars. In 1 Sa. 14.18 the ark is called for by Saul in the day of battle; but the Septuagint, and many high authorities, for ark read ephod, which seems the more probable reading; so that the inference, that the ark was ordinarily carried with the Hebrew army is much weakened. But in 2 Sa. 11.11 the ark seems decidedly to have been in the camp in the days, and with the cognizance and approbation, of David, and as David was a scrupulous observer of divine ordinances, we are disposed to join with those who conceive that Phinehas took the ark as one of the 'holy instruments.'—C.
7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and f they slew all the males.
8 And they slew g the kings of Midian, besides the rest of them that were slain, namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: h Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
A.M. 2552. B.C. 1452.
g Jos. 13.21,22. ch. 22.4; 25.15,17.
h ch. 24.25. Jos. 13.22. 1 Ti. 6.9,10. Ps. 9.16. If he had gone away, he speedily returned.
9 And the children of Israel took all the i women of Midian captives,4 and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
i ver. 15-17. 2 Ch. 28.5,8. De. 20.14.
4 The word 'all' is not in the Hebrew, and should not have been inserted. The women taken captives were those, ver. 16, who had already contributed, by their licentious manners, to the seduction and ruin of 24,000 Israelites, Nu. 25.9.—C.
10 And they k burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
k Jos. 6.24; 11.11. 1 Sa. 30.1. 1 Ki. 9.16. Is. 1.7. 2 Ki. 25.9. Je. 51.58. Re. 18.8.
12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, m went forth to meet them without the camp.
m Ge. 14.17. 2 Ch. 28.12. ver. 19.
14 And Moses was n wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.5
16 Behold, p these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.6
p ch. 25.1-3, 9, 17. 2 Pe. 2.15. Re. 2.14. Pr. 23.27; 5.3-5. Ec. 7.26.
A.M. 2552. B.C. 1452.
6 The character of Balaam is most extraordinary. It is full of inconsistencies; and yet on a close and thorough examination of it we are forced to admit that it is not without parallels in the history of the church. Balaam knew God and feared him; but it was the fear of a cringing slave. He was ambitious and covetous; and he was most fertile in schemes for the purpose of hiding his covetousness, and gratifying his ambitious designs, while professing to obey and honour God. He never ventured on an open act of transgression. He had not courage for that. But he adopted secret and indirect measures to accomplish the foul purposes of his heart. He blessed the Israelites with his mouth, because he was compelled to do so by the Spirit of God: but he advised a system of wily, gross, and fiendish temptation, which entailed upon the Israelites a fearful curse. Never did man more richly deserve death than Balaam.—P.
17 Now therefore q kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.7
18 But all the women-children, that have not known a man by lying with him,8 keep alive for yourselves.
8 Such as appeared virgins.
19 And r do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
r ch. 5.2; 19.11-19. Ge. 17.13,14.
20 And s purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins,9 and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood.1
s Ge. 35.2. Ex. 19.10. ch. 19.9,14,16,22. Re. 21.8. Lu. 12.3,5.
9 Heb. instruments or vessels of skin.
1 The Jews were a brave, but never a warlike nation. Their bravery, in times of danger, arose from their doctrine of providence, and love of family and country; their unwarlike disposition, from their religious institutions (as in the text), that never represented war, or aggression, or conquest, as glory, but rather as pollution contracted by the dire necessity of self-defence, or punishment of crimes committed against God and man.—C.
21 And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses;
23 Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall u be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.
u ch. 19.9,19; 8.7.
24 Andx ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.
25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Take the sum of the prey2 that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:3
2 Heb. of the captivity.
27 And divide the prey into y two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:
28 And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle; one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:
8 The distribution of the spoil was as follows:—Of sheep, 675,000: to soldiers 337,500, to God 675, to people 337,500, to Levites 6770. Of beeves, 72,000: to soldiers 36,000, to God 72, to people 36,000, to Levites 720. Of asses, 61,000: to soldiers 30,500, to God 61, to people 39,500, to Levites 610. Of persons, 32,000: to soldiers 16,000, to God 32, to people 16,000, to Levites 320. Did ever legislator act in this manner before or since the time of Moses! To his whole tribe how little!! to himself nothing!! Nay, God was his inheritance! Christ, whom he typified, his unsearchable riches.—C.
z 2 Sa. 8.11,12. 1 Ch. 26.27. Is. 18.7. Pr. 3.9,10. Mat. 22.21. Ro. 13.7.
29 Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a an heave-offering of the LORD.
a ch. 18.19-32; 15.19-21. Le. 7.14. Ex. 29.27. De. 12.11,19. Ro. 11.36. 1 Co. 10.31. 1 Pe. 4.11. Ep. 3.21. Lu. 2.14.
30 And of the children of Israel's half thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks,4 of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which b keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.
4 Or, goats.
b ch. 8.15,22,26; 18.1-6,23; iii. iv. Jn. 17.12; 10.28,29. Ac. 20.18. 1 Co. 12.28. Ep. 4.11-13. Col. 4.17. 2 Ti. 4.1,2. He. 13.7,17. Thus the Lord furnished the Israelites with cattle and bondmaids.
31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
32 And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand, and seventy thousand, and five thousand sheep,
33 And threescore and twelve thousand beeves,
34 And threescore and one thousand asses,
35 And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him.
36 And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand, and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:
37 And the LORD's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
38 And the beeves were thirty and six thousand, of which the LORD's tribute was threescore and twelve.
39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred, of which the LORD's tribute was threescore and one.
40 And the persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD's tribute was thirty and two persons.
41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD's heave-offering, c unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.
A.M. 2552. B.C. 1452.
c ver. 29; ch. 18.8,19,20. Is. 53.12. Mat. 10.10. 1 Co. 9.10-14. Ga. 6.6. 1 Ti. 5.17.
42 And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided5 from the men that warred,
5 It appears that in after-times the kings were wont to appropriate the spoil, or a large portion of it, to themselves; and that this was a common practice among the chiefs of other nations is well known to every one at all acquainted with classical antiquity. But we have no intimation of the least portion reserved by Moses for himself or family. These shared the common lot of the Levites. The disinterestedness of the leader of Israel, and his strict obedience to the Lord's commands, are conspicuous on every occasion. We have had opportunity of remarking this in many instances.—I.
43 (Now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand, and thirty thousand, and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,
44 And thirty and six thousand beeves,
45 And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,
46 And sixteen thousand persons;)
47 Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them d unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
d ch. 18.21-24. De. 12.17-19. 1 Th. 5.12,13. Lu. 10.1-8. 1 Co. 9.7-14. Ga. 6.6. 1 Ti. 5.17.
48 And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:
49 And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge,6 and there e lacketh not one man of us.7
6 Heb. hand.
e Ps. 72.14; 116.15. Jn. 18.9; 17.12.
7 The Israelitish army consisted of but 12,000 men, a mere handful when opposed to the people of Midian. Yet, when the officers made a muster of the troops after their return from the war, they found they had not lost a single man. This circumstance struck them as so decisive an evidence of God's interposition, that, out of the spoils they had taken they offered an 'oblation to the Lord,' 'an atonement for their souls.' Bishop Watson.—The success of this detachment had been very extraordinary, so small a company defeating such multitudes, and taking so large a spoil; but far more extraordinary was the fact that in the enterprise not one individual had been slain. The Midianites, no doubt, would make resistance; but the hand of God was conspicuous in that their resistance was altogether without effect. No wonder that gratitude constrained the captains to present a voluntary offering to the Lord.—I.
50 We have therefore brought an f oblation for the LORD, what every man hath g gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, ear-rings, and tablets, to make a an atonement for our souls before the LORD.
f Ps. 116.16-18; 50.14; 66.13,14; 107.1,8,15,22. cxxxvi. cxlv.-cl.
g Heb. found.—Penetrated with gratitude for the singular success that had attended them, the officers of the army now offer to Jehovah the golden jewels they had found among the spoil; an example that has been widely imitated among the nations of antiquity. The Greeks, before distributing the spoils, dedicated a part of them to the gods, by whose assistance they supposed they had attained them, and the soldiers, out of their portions, frequently did the same. For the fulfilment of this purpose, they adopted various methods; sometimes they collected the spoil into a heap and set it on fire, at other times they consecrated them as offerings in their temples. (See Paxton's Illustrations, ii. 604.)—I.]
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
52 And all the gold of the h offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels[≈ 190 kg · 420 lb].9
h Heb. heave-offering, ver. 50.
A.M. 2552. B.C. 1452.
9 Calculating these jewels of gold merely at the value of the metal, and totally independent of the workmanship, which would increase with the fineness of execution, the lowest estimate of this oblation is £37,869, 16s. 5d. reckoning the talent at 3000 shekels, or £6750.—C.
Notes
[Ver. 2. This is one of the passages against which infidelity has uttered its fellest and fiercest assaults. We may not pollute the page, nor the reader's eye, with its foul speeches. But we may ask the infidel, Do you believe God to be the moral Lawgiver and Ruler of the world? If you deny, we cease to argue with the madness of atheism. But if God be acknowledged as the Lawgiver and Ruler, then has he not a right to enforce his own laws by appropriate penalties? Nature, as it is called—though surely nature is but another name for the will, laws, and government of God—nature has often swept away by earthquake, pestilence, or famine, her tens and hundreds of thousands; yet surely nature has not been arraigned for the deed! Why then should God be arraigned at the bar of proud and unholy infidelity for punishing a wicked people by the hand of man? No sane man will accuse God, under the name of nature, in the one case, and none but a hopeless infidel will accuse him under his real name on the other. C.]
Ver. 5. [The muster of the army, upon this occasion, seems to be neither in proportion to the population of the tribes nor the military exigency of the case. That each tribe however comparatively weak, should be required to furnish a military contingent as numerous as the strongest, would to human wisdom seem unreasonable. But divine wisdom intends, by this apparent disproportion, to teach some great and important lessons. (1) That every man, and every community, is to furnish for God's service all that God requires, according as his providence bestows, without any relative comparison of what means others have, what sacrifices others make, or what service they render, or may be able to render, to God and his cause. (2) This equality of draught from unequal numbers is farther intended to inculcate the important lesson, that all real honour is derived from devotedness and zeal in the cause of God and his truth, and therefore it was necessary that every tribe should have an equal opportunity of exhibiting those qualities and securing those honours. See Jn. 12. 26.—Note, What an admonition does this equality of array suggest to churches! Some are few in number, and poor in worldly resources, but as God requires every one of his tribes to send its thousand to the war, so does he require each of his churches to make equal sacrifices to provide for his service, and equal exertions to bear witness to his truth. And true it is, for our encouragement, there are churches whose fewness in number, and poverty of means, have neither damped exertion nor denied success. C.]
Ver. 7. [Not all the males of the whole nation, as appears from Ju. 6. 7, but of the 'garrisons of the cities and castles,' ver. 10, by whom and their accomplices they had formerly been seduced, ver. 16, and were now opposed. And these the Lord commanded them to slay for sins, that when individualized still continue in these countries to be punished with death, and which instead of being diminished in atrocity by being nationalized, as was the case with the Canaanites and Midianites, became by their universality the more abominable in the sight of a holy God. See the horrible catalogue, Le. 18. 21-27, and the sentence of the righteous Judge, ver. 24-30. C.]
Ver. 14. [From the omission of any reference to Joshua as general, and the rebuke given indiscriminately to all the captains, it seems certain that the army had no commander-in-chief, but that each tribe had sent forth its own quota under their own leaders. This avoided all suspicion of favouritism, and removed every cause of jealousy, until circumstances required still greater concentration of counsel, and the character of Joshua as a leader had earned for him an indisputable claim to the first rank. C.]
Ver. 17. [Every male. The killing of 'every male among the little ones' has been censured by infidels as an act of cruelty unworthy the character of a merciful God. That children, however, die in infancy, infidels cannot deny, and if that death takes place by God's will, wherein does it differ from the death here inflicted by God's command? If it be replied, the ordinary death of children is natural. The answer is easy: what in this case is nature but the result of certain organic laws? and what are organic laws, but the result of God's will? So that we arrive, in spite of infidelity, at the point of God's will in the one case, and command in the other. If the infidel deny that death is the result of God's will, then he becomes an atheist, with whom it is generally vain to argue: for he who is mad enough to deny the being and government of a God, is certainly not sane enough to comprehend any rational argument. See Ps. 14. 1. The infidel who in this case accuses the 'God of the Jews,' accuses, at the same time, the 'God of nature,' whom infidels, in general, pretend to acknowledge and worship, and whom, therefore, even upon their own principles, they dare not openly condemn. The sentence against the males is against the perpetuation of a wicked community; the sentence against the women is in condemnation of lewdness, seduction, and idolatry. C.]
Ver. 18. [The assertion that Moses, in this verse, permitted the people to retain the 'women children' for concubines is one of the most monstrous that frontless infidelity has ever had the hardihood to pronounce. For, not to speak of other parts of the law already promulgated, as Ex. 20. 14; Le. 19. 20, the restrictions, De. 21. 11-14, will sufficiently demonstrate that the direction in the text was merely a permission to hold them as bond-women, a class who were amply protected against every form of oppression, and endowed with many privileges, for which see note on Le. 25. 46. C.]
Reflections.—Short-lived is success in sinning, and at last most dearly bought. Enticers to sin therefore ought to be held as our worst enemies, and treated accordingly: especially since God takes the greatest delight in comforting and honouring those who have been singularly zealous for his cause. And it is easy for him to accomplish great exploits, whether by many or by few. Our humane tenderness, carried to an excess, often spares our most dangerous enemies and the most guilty criminals. But everything, even in war, ought to be conducted with a sacred regard to religion, strict equity, and brotherly kindness; and the success thankfully ascribed to God. And after every action we have need to purify ourselves in Jesus' blood; as, even in the best, there is enough of sin to ruin us, if God deal not with us according to his great mercy, and his Son's infinite atonement. Let then every enticement of my indwelling corruptions provoke my resentment against them, and animate me to put on the whole armour of God; that, directed by Jesus, my Captain of salvation, I may exert myself for their utter destruction. And since the Lord and I have one common cause, let me, however weak, hope for certain victory. Let me never spare an enticing lust. And let him have the honour; and let the church and my own soul have the advantage of whatever spoil the Lord shall bring to my hand.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.