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Text -- Numbers 31:1-42 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Midianite War
31:1 The Lord spoke to Moses :
31:2 “Exact vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites – after that you will be gathered to your people .”
31:3 So Moses spoke to the people : “Arm men from among you for the war , to attack the Midianites and to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian .
31:4 You must send to the battle a thousand men from every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel .”
31:5 So a thousand from every tribe , twelve thousand armed for battle in all, were provided out of the thousands of Israel .
Campaign Against the Midianites
31:6 So Moses sent them to the war , one thousand from every tribe , with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest , who was in charge of the holy articles and the signal trumpets .
31:7 They fought against the Midianites , as the Lord commanded Moses , and they killed every male .
31:8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain – Evi , Rekem , Zur , Hur , and Reba – five Midianite kings . They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword .
31:9 The Israelites took the women of Midian captives along with their little ones , and took all their herds , all their flocks , and all their goods as plunder .
31:10 They burned all their towns where they lived and all their encampments .
31:11 They took all the plunder and all the spoils , both people and animals .
31:12 They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses , to Eleazar the priest , and to the Israelite community , to the camp on the plains of Moab , along the Jordan River across from Jericho .
31:13 Moses , Eleazar the priest , and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp .
The Death of the Midianite Women
31:14 But Moses was furious with the officers of the army , the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds , who had come from service in the war .
31:15 Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live ?
31:16 Look , these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor – which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord !
31:17 Now therefore kill every boy , and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man .
31:18 But all the young women who have not had sexual intercourse with a man will be yours.
Purification After Battle
31:19 “Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead , remain outside the camp for seven days ; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day , and on the seventh day .
31:20 You must purify each garment and everything that is made of skin , everything made of goat’s hair, and everything made of wood .”
31:21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone into the battle , “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded Moses :
31:22 ‘Only the gold , the silver , the bronze , the iron , the tin , and the lead ,
31:23 everything that may stand the fire , you are to pass through the fire , and it will be ceremonially clean , but it must still be purified with the water of purification . Anything that cannot withstand the fire you must pass through the water .
31:24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day , and you will be ceremonially clean , and afterward you may enter the camp .’”
The Distribution of Spoils
31:25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses :
31:26 “You and Eleazar the priest , and all the family leaders of the community , take the sum of the plunder that was captured , both people and animals .
31:27 Divide the plunder into two parts , one for those who took part in the war – who went out to battle – and the other for all the community .
31:28 “You must exact a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle : one life out of five hundred , from the people , the cattle , and from the donkeys and the sheep .
31:29 You are to take it from their half-share and give it to Eleazar the priest for a raised offering to the Lord .
31:30 From the Israelites ’ half-share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people , the cattle , the donkeys , and the sheep – from every kind of animal – and you are to give them to the Levites , who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle .”
31:31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses .
31:32 The spoil that remained of the plunder which the fighting men had gathered was 675,000 sheep ,
31:33 72,000 cattle ,
31:34 61,000 donkeys ,
31:35 and 32,000 young women who had never had sexual intercourse with a man .
31:36 The half-portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep ;
31:37 the Lord’s tribute from the sheep was 675 .
31:38 The cattle numbered 36,000 ; the Lord’s tribute was 72 .
31:39 The donkeys were 30,500 , of which the Lord’s tribute was 61 .
31:40 The people were 16,000 , of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 people .
31:41 So Moses gave the tribute , which was the Lord’s raised offering , to Eleazar the priest , as the Lord commanded Moses .
31:42 From the Israelites ’ half-share that Moses had separated from the fighting men ,
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Balaam |
ABEL-SHITTIM |
Moses |
Israel |
Midianites |
Wars of the Lord, The Book of the |
BOOTY |
SLAVE; SLAVERY |
Armies |
Priest |
Spoils |
Servant |
Sanitation |
Captive |
War |
TAX; TAXING |
Women |
Purification |
TRIBUTE |
Phinehas |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Num 31:1; Num 31:2; Num 31:2; Num 31:2; Num 31:3; Num 31:3; Num 31:4; Num 31:6; Num 31:6; Num 31:7; Num 31:8; Num 31:8; Num 31:10; Num 31:10; Num 31:12; Num 31:12; Num 31:12; Num 31:12; Num 31:15; Num 31:17; Num 31:17; Num 31:17; Num 31:18; Num 31:18; Num 31:18; Num 31:20; Num 31:23; Num 31:26; Num 31:28; Num 31:32; Num 31:32; Num 31:35; Num 31:38; Num 31:40; Num 31:42
NET Notes: Num 31:1 This lengthy chapter records the mobilization of the troops (vv. 1-5), the war itself (vv. 6-13), the death of the captive women (vv. 14-18), the puri...
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NET Notes: Num 31:2 This would be the last major enterprise that Moses would have to undertake. He would soon die and “be gathered to his people” as Aaron was...
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NET Notes: Num 31:4 Some commentators argue that given the size of the nation (which they reject) the small number for the army is a sign of the unrealistic character of ...
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NET Notes: Num 31:6 It is not clear what articles from the sanctuary were included. Tg. Ps.-J. adds (interpretively) “the Urim and Thummim.”
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NET Notes: Num 31:7 Many modern biblical scholars assume that this passage is fictitious. The text says that they killed every male, but Judges accounts for the Midianite...
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NET Notes: Num 31:8 And what was Balaam doing among the Midianites? The implication is strong. This pagan diviner had to submit to the revealed will of God in the oracles...
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NET Notes: Num 31:10 The ban applied to the encampments and forts of this group of Midianite tribes living in the region of Moab.
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NET Notes: Num 31:12 For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
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NET Notes: Num 31:15 The verb is the Piel perfect of the word חָיָה (khayah, “to live”). In the Piel stem it must here mean ̶...
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NET Notes: Num 31:18 Many contemporary scholars see this story as fictitious, composed by the Jews during the captivity. According to this interpretation, the spoils of wa...
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NET Notes: Num 31:20 These verses are a reminder that taking a life, even if justified through holy war, still separates one from the holiness of God. It is part of the vi...
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NET Notes: Num 31:23 Purification by fire is unique to this event. Making these metallic objects “pass through the fire” was not only a way of purifying (burni...
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NET Notes: Num 31:26 The idiom here is “take up the head,” meaning take a census, or count the totals.
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NET Notes: Num 31:28 The verb is the Hiphil, “you shall cause to be taken up.” The perfect with vav (ו) continues the sequence of the instructions. This ...
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NET Notes: Num 31:35 Here again we encounter one of the difficulties of the book, the use of the large numbers. Only twelve thousand soldiers fought the Midianites, but th...
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