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Texts -- Numbers 31:1-11 (NET)

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 .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.The first major value of Numbers is th...
  • I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-101. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-42. Commands and rituals t...
  • 22:1-20 Moab had not attacked Israel as the people of God had moved north along Moab's eastern border. In fact the Moabites sold the Israelites bread and water (Deut. 2:29). The Moabites probably counted on Sihon, who had for...
  • "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
  • The writer now recorded the fulfillment of God's instructions to Moses that Israel should destroy the Midianites (25:16-18). In this account, the aftermath of the battle receives more attention than the battle itself. Evident...
  • These instructions deal with how Israel was to come into possession of the Promised Land (cf. Num. 33:50-56). They are in the context of civil legislation because Israel did not have a standing army. Soldiers volunteered to g...
  • This portion of the Promised Land went to the two and one-half tribes that had requested it previously (Num. 32).13:8-14 This pericope of verses records the boundaries of Israel's whole transjordanian territory. The peoples t...
  • The main part of the second half of the Book of Joshua dealing with the division of the land ends with the appointment of the Levitical cities (chs. 13-21). The rest of the book deals with settlement in the land (chs. 22-24)....
  • The Israelites felt the main influence of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River that bordered Ammon (v. 8). However the Ammonites also attacked the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim west of the Jordan (v. 9)...
  • If the erring believers would not judge themselves and repent they could anticipate God's judgment (cf. 1 Cor. 11:31)."Unwillingness to repent shows that a person is not a faithful believer."118They would die by the sword pro...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!'--Num. 23:10.Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.'--Num. 31:8.PONDER these two pictures. Take the first scene. A prophet, who knows God ...
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