John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:25
And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... After the purification of the soldiers, their captives, and spoil: saying ; as follows. read more
Numbers 31:25-47 Niv
John Gill
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:26
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. read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:27
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, 1 Samuel 30:24 . read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:28
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. read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:29
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. read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:30
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... read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:31
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. read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:32-47
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 Numbers 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... read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 31:28
And levy a tribute unto the Lord - one soul of five hundred, etc. - The person to be employed in the Lord's service, under the Levites - the cattle either for sacrifice, or for the use of the Levites, Numbers 31:30 . Some monsters have supposed that one out of every five hundred of the captives was offered in sacrifice to the Lord! but this is abominable. When God chose to have the life of a man, he took it in the way of justice, as in the case of Midianites above, but never in the way of... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 31:25-47
We have here the distribution of the spoil which was taken in this expedition against Midian. God himself directed how it should be distributed, and Moses and Eleazar did according to the directions, and thus unhappy contests among themselves were prevented and the victory was made to turn to the common benefit. It was fit that he who gave them the prey should order the disposal of it. All we have is from God, and therefore must be subject to his will. I. The prey is ordered to be divided into... read more