This chapter contains an order to make war upon Midian, which was accordingly done, Num. 31:1–12, but Moses was wroth, because they saved the women alive, who, through the counsel of Balaam, had been the cause of sin, and of the plague for it in Israel, and therefore orders them, and the male…

And the Lord spake unto Moses After the plague upon Israel for their fornication and idolatry, into which they were drawn by the daughters of Moab and Midian, and after the sum of the people was taken in the plains of Moab, and various laws given or repeated, and a little before the death of Moses:…

Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites For the injury they had done them, by sending their daughters among them, who enticed them to commit uncleanness with them, and then drew them into the worship of their idols, which brought the wrath of God upon them, and for which 24,000 persons were…

And Moses spake unto the people, saying In obedience to the divine command; this must be supposed to be spoken to the heads or princes of the tribes: arm some of yourselves unto the war: not the whole body of the militia, 600,000 men and upwards, only some of them, and these choice and select men;…

Of every tribe a thousand So that the whole number of those that were armed were 12,000 as after given: throughout all the tribes of Israel; this is observed, as Jarchi thinks, to comprehend the tribe of Levi, which in some cases was left out of the account: shall ye send to the war; to fight with…

So they were delivered out of the thousands of Israel ] Several thousands very probably offered themselves voluntarily to go to the war, or however were summoned together on this account, and out of them the following number was delivered of picked and chosen men: a thousand of every tribe, twelve…

And Moses sent them to the war Being mustered and armed: a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the war; which looks as if Phinehas was the general of this army; for Moses went not to the war, and no mention is made of Joshua, nor might it be proper for him,…

And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses Whether the Midianites came out against them with an army, and there was a pitched battle between them, is not certain; however the Israelites committed acts of hostility upon them, by entering their cities, plundering their…

And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain Besides the males of the common people, they slew their kings, who were petty kings or princes, perhaps under the king of Moab, or had reassumed their titles and government after the death of Sihon the king of the Amorites,…

And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives The word “all” is not in the original text, nor should it be supplied; for if all had been taken, and carried captive, and put to death, as those were afterwards, how could there have been such an increase of the Midianites as there…

And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt } So far as they went into the country, which, perhaps, might not be the whole land of Midian: and all their goodly castles with fire; which were either the palaces of their princes and nobles, or such like great personages; or they were fortified…

And they took all the spoil In their cities and castles; and all the prey, both of men and of beasts; all sorts of cattle, oxen, sheep, and asses.

And they brought the captives, the prey, and the spoil The women and children, who were the captives, and the beasts which were the prey, and the gold, silver which were the spoil: unto Moses and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel; that is, they were bringing…

And Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation Attended, no doubt, with a proper retinue: went forth to meet them without the camp; partly to do honour to them, and to congratulate them on their victory, and partly to hinder them going into the camp directly, until they…

And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host The general officers who had the command of the army, for there does not appear to be anyone that was one general over the whole, otherwise the displeasure would have fallen upon him: with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds,…

And Moses said unto them, have ye saved all the women alive? ] Which either had been reported to him, or he concluded, by seeing so many with them; and this question is put, not for information, but by way of reproof, and as chiding them for what they had done; for they might have received orders…

Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam Who advised the Midianites to send their women into the camp of Israel, and allure them to uncleanness, and so draw them into idolatry, which counsel they followed and it succeeded; for, by this means, they were brought to…

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones Which they had taken and brought captives, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him; who might be such, at least many of them, who had lain with Israelitish men; and as the adulterers had been put to death, so now the…

But all the women children The females among the little ones: that have not known a man by lying with him; which might be pretty clear, and easily concluded, from their age: keep for yourselves; either to be handmaids to them, or to be married among them when grown up, and become proselytes, and…

And do ye abide without the camp seven days. &c.] Which was the time that anyone that touched a dead body remained unclean, , whosoever hath killed any person; as most of them if not all must have done; all the males of Midian that fell into their hands being slain by them, that were men grown: and…

And purify all your raiment By washing them; and this may intend not so much their own wearing apparel, as the raiment they took off of the dead bodies of the Midianites, since the person that touched a dead body was not obliged to wash his clothes, but the clean person that sprinkled the water of…

And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war, which went to the battle To all the soldiers, officers, and common men: this is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord commanded Moses; concerning the purification of unclean persons and things, hereby confirming what Moses had said.

Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead. ] These are excepted, and, though unclean, are not to be purified by washing, but in another way, by fire, as follows; all these metals were well known in those early times, and were made use of for instruments and vessels…

Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire Either through the smoke of the fire, and so be purified by suffumigation; or be put into the fire itself, where though they might be melted as the above things, yet not consumed as raiment, and vessels of skins, goats’ hair,…

And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day As the leper did, : and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp; into the camp of Israel, into the camp of the Levites, and into the camp of God, the tabernacle.

And the Lord spake unto Moses After the purification of the soldiers, their captives, and spoil: saying; as follows.

Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and beast The number of the females that were taken captive and spared, and of the cattle, the sheep, oxen, and asses: thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation; who were all men of authority and character, and fit…

And divide the prey into two parts Into two equal parts, both the number of the people and of the cattle, when taken: between them that took the war upon them, and went out to battle; the soldiers; and by this it appears that they went voluntarily and cheerfully: and between all the congregation;…

And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war, which went out to battle That is, out of the part of the prey which was divided to them: one soul of five hundred, both “of the persons”; or one woman of five hundred, as the Targum of Jonathan: and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the…

And take it of their half Of the half part of the prey divided to the soldiers: and give it unto Eleazar the priest for an heave offering of the Lord; by way of thanksgiving for the success and victory, God had given them, by means of which so much booty had fallen into their hands.

And of the children of Israel’s half, thou shall take one portion of fifty Which was abundantly more than what was taken out of the part of the soldiers; and the reason of it is plain and easy to be discerned; the soldiers had taken much pains, and gone through much fatigue, as well as had hazarded…

And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. ] Took an account of the booty, divided it equally between the soldiers and the congregation of Israel, and levied a part out of each as a tribute for the Lord, which was given to the priests and Levites.

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days’ stay without the camp: from hence to the end of is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were…

And the officers which were over thousands of the host Over the twelve thousand, of which the host or army consisted: namely, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses; of their own accord, without being sent, or required to do what they did.

And they said unto Moses Gave the following relation to him, which is a very surprising one: thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge; since the war with Midian was over, they had mustered the several companies under their command, such as had thousands, and…

We have therefore brought an oblation to the Lord A freewill offering, out of the spoil, over and above the tribute levied out of the half that came unto them; what every man hath gotten: or “found” [[5]], in the houses, and upon the bodies of the slain, or of such that were taken captives: of…

And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them For it seems the several things before mentioned were all of gold: even all wrought jewels; or “vessels of work” [[7]] or wrought vessels, or instruments, “chains, bracelets” which were all of gold, and curiously wrought.

And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord The whole amount, weight, and value of it put together: even of the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, and perhaps of every common soldier, who might contribute his part, though it is not mentioned, but included in…

For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. ] And which he kept for himself, and did not deliver in with the prey or booty, which was brought to Moses and Eleazar, the sum of which was taken by them; and this seems to confirm what has been hinted, that, as each soldier had taken…

And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds Which they so freely and generously offered: and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation; and laid it up in some chamber there: for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord: in…