Each soldier had taken plunder for himself.

and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men.

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:

and said to him, “Your servants have taken a count of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority, and not one is missing.

Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great stature.

“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.