31:28 “You must exact 8 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.
31:1 11 The Lord spoke to Moses:
15:1 15 The Lord spoke to Moses:
26:26 The Zebulunites by their families: from Sered, the family of the Sardites; from Elon, the family of the Elonites; from Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. 26:27 These were the families of the Zebulunites, according to those numbered of them, 60,500. 16
1 tn Heb “and there fell from the Cushites so that there was not to them preservation of life.”
2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “for the terror of the
4 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “for great plunder was in them.”
6 tn Heb “and also they struck down the tents of the livestock.”
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn The verb is the Hiphil, “you shall cause to be taken up.” The perfect with vav (ו) continues the sequence of the instructions. This raised offering was to be a tax of one-fifth of one percent for the
9 tn Heb “our souls.”
10 sn The expression here may include the idea of finding protection from divine wrath, which is so common to Leviticus, but it may also be a thank offering for the fact that their lives had been spared.
11 sn 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 purification of the nations (vv. 19-24), and the distribution of the spoils (vv. 25-54). For more detail, see G. W. Coats, “Moses in Midian,” JBL 92 (1973): 3-10; and W. J. Dumbrell, “Midian – a Land or a League?” VT 25 (1975): 323-37.
12 tn The word “apply” is supplied in the translation.
13 tn Or “a statute forever.”
14 tn Heb “as you, as [so] the alien.”
15 sn The wilderness wandering officially having begun, these rules were then given for the people to be used when they finally entered the land. That they would be provided here would be of some encouragement to the nation after their great failure. God still spoke of a land that was to be their land, even though they had sinned greatly. This chapter collects a number of religious rules. The first 16 verses deal with rulings for sacrifices. Then, vv. 17-36 concerns sins of omission. Finally, rules concerning tassels are covered (vv. 37-41). For additional reading, see G. B. Gray, Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1925); B. A. Levine, In the Presence of the
16 sn The Zebulunites showed a slight increase from 57,400 to 60,500.