Numbers 31:18
Ver. 18. 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 initiated into their religion. Numbers 31:19Ver. 19. And do ye abide without the camp seven days..... Which was the time that anyone that touched a dead body remained unclean, Nu 19:11,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 whosoever hath touched any slain; as they must to strip them of their garments, and take their spoil from them:purify both yourselves and your captives, on the third and on the seventh day; which were the days appointed for the purification of such that were polluted by touching dead bodies, Nu 19:11 and their captives, which were the female little ones; (for as for the women, and males among the little ones, they were ordered to be slain;) though they were Heathens, yet inasmuch as they were to be for the service of the Israelites, and to be brought up in their religion, they were to be purified also; to which purpose is the note of Jarchi;"not that the Gentiles receive uncleanness and need sprinkling, but as ye are the children of the covenant, so your captives, when they come into the covenant, and are defiled, need sprinkling.'' Numbers 31:20Ver. 20. 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 purification on him, Nu 19:19, some render the words, "purify yourselves" {d}, "together with the raiment", &c. which seems to be the best version of them:and all that is made of skins; of any sort of creatures, as the covering of tents, shoes, bottles, &c. see Le 11:32and all work of goats' hair; such as the covering of tents was also made of: and this, according to Jarchi and other Jewish writers {e} includes vessels made of the horns, hoofs, and bones of these creatures: and all things made of wood; as beds, cups, dishes, &c. all which might be purified by washing; see Le 15:12.{d} wajxtt "purgatote vos", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; Vid. L'Empereur, Not. ad Kimchii odoiporia, p. 130. {e} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Celim, c. 2. sect. 1. Numbers 31:21Ver. 21. 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. Numbers 31:22Ver. 22. 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 of various sorts. Numbers 31:23Ver. 23. 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 wood, would be:and it shall be clean; accounted so:nevertheless, it shall be purified with the water of separation; with the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer burnt, and sprinkled on it; see Nu 19:9and all that abideth not the fire; without being consumed, as whatsoever is of wood, &c.ye shall make go through the water; dip them in it, and rinse them there with a quantity sufficient; which the Targum of Jonathan says is forty seahs of water. Numbers 31:24Ver. 24. And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day,.... As the leper did, Le 14:9: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. Numbers 31:25Ver. 25. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the purification of the soldiers, their captives, and spoil:saying; as follows. Numbers 31:26Ver. 26. 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 to be employed in such service, and of whose capacity and fidelity there could be no doubt. Numbers 31:27Ver. 27. 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; so that the part of them that went to battle, and of those that stayed in the camp, were alike, and which in process of time became a statute and ordinance, 1Sa 30:24. Numbers 31:28Ver. 28. 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 sheep; that is, one out of five hundred, of each of them also. Numbers 31:29Ver. 29. 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. Numbers 31:30Ver. 30. 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 their lives, and therefore less was to be taken from them; and besides the tribute levied out of their half was to be given to the priests, who were not so numerous as the Levites, among whom the part out of the half of the congregation was to be distributed:of the persons; of the women, as the Targums of Jonathan, one of fifty out of them was to be given to the Levites to be their handmaids, or to be taken in marriage by them, or their sons, when fit for it:of the beeves, of the asses, and of the sheep, of all manner of beasts; of oxen, asses, sheep, and goats, one out of fifty of each of these sorts were to be taken. Aben Ezra observes, no mention is made of camels, being but few, and no part taken:and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord; for these being employed in the service of the tabernacle, came in for their share of the tribute levied unto the Lord. Numbers 31:31Ver. 31. 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. Numbers 31:32Ver. 32-47. 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 Nu 31:47 is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 beeves or oxen, 61,000 asses, and 32,000 females who had never known man; the half out of these, which fell to the share of the soldiers, were 337,500 sheep, 36,000 beeves or oxen, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 females, out of which were given as an heave offering to the Lord six hundred and seventy five sheep, seventy two beeves or oxen, sixty one asses, and thirty two women: the half divided unto the children of Israel consisted of 337,500 sheep, 36,000 beeves or oxen, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 women, out of which one in fifty, both of women and cattle, were given to the Levites; what that amounted to is not expressed, but may be easily reckoned. Numbers 31:33Ver. 33. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:34Ver. 34. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:35Ver. 35. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:36Ver. 36. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:37Ver. 37. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:38Ver. 38. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:39Ver. 39. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:40Ver. 40. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:41Ver. 41. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:42Ver. 42. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:43Ver. 43. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:44Ver. 44. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:45Ver. 45. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:46Ver. 46. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:47Ver. 47. See Gill on "Nu 31:32". Numbers 31:48Ver. 48. 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. Numbers 31:49Ver. 49. 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 those that had hundreds:and there lacketh not one man of us; which is a most amazing and unheard of thing, that in waging war with a whole nation, slaying all their males, sacking and burning so many cities, plundering the inhabitants of their substance, taking and carrying off such a vast number of captives, yet not one should fall by the sword of the enemy, or by any disease or accident whatever, but all to a man should return to the camp of Israel again; this is not to be paralleled in any history. Numbers 31:50Ver. 50. 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" {f}, in the houses, and upon the bodies of the slain, or of such that were taken captives:of jewels of gold either such as were set in gold; or rather, as the words may be rendered,vessels of gold {g}, as dishes, cups, spoons, and the like:chains; which were wore about the neck, or upon the arm, as Aben Ezra:and bracelets; for the hand, as the same writer, see Ge 24:22,rings; for the finger:ear rings; for the ear, as we render it, the word signifies something round:and tablets; which, according to the Targum of Jonathan, were ornaments that hung down between the breasts:to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord; not only this offering was brought as a token of gratitude and thankfulness, for sparing of everyone of their lives, and giving them such success and victory, and so large a spoil of the enemy; but also to expiate any sins they had been guilty of in going out, and coming in, and particularly for sparing the women they should have put to death, for which Moses was wroth with them, Nu 31:14.{f} aum "invenit", Pagninus, Montanus. {g} bhz ylk "vas auri", Montanus; "vasa aurea", Vatablus. Numbers 31:51Ver. 51. 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" {h} or wrought vessels, or instruments, "chains, bracelets", &c. which were all of gold, and curiously wrought.{h} hvem ylk "vas operis", Montanus. Numbers 31:52Ver. 52. 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 the oblation of the officers:was 16,750 shekels; which, according to the calculation of a very learned man {i}, were 7,780 ounces, four drachms, two scruples, and thirty five grains.{i} Scheuchzer. Physica Sacr. vol. 2. p. 399. Numbers 31:53Ver. 53. 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 spoil for himself, so everyone contributed his quota towards this freewill offering to the Lord. Numbers 31:54Ver. 54. 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 remembrance of the signal victory these men obtained, and of the singular care of divine Providence in protecting them, that not one was lost in the expedition; and of their sense of gratitude and thankfulness for the favours granted them, and to put the children of Israel in mind for their imitation, when favoured with mercies from the Lord.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.