Numbers 31:19

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 31:13-24

We have here the triumphant return of the army of Israel from the war with Midian, and here, I. They were met with great respect, Num. 31:13. Moses himself, notwithstanding his age and gravity, walked out of the camp to congratulate them on their victory, and to grace the solemnity of their triumphs. Public successes should be publicly acknowledged, to the glory of God, and the encouragement of those that have jeoparded their lives in their country's cause. II. They were severely reproved for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:19

And do ye abide without the camp seven days ..... Which was the time that anyone that touched a dead body remained unclean, Numbers 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 31:19

Verse 19 19.And do ye abide without the camp seven days. We have elsewhere seen, (209) that, if any one had touched a dead body, he was accounted unclean. Moses, by now extending the ceremony of expiation to lawful homicide, intimates how carefully we ought to abstain from shedding human blood. It was required of the Israelites that they should strenuously advance through the midst of carnage; but, inasmuch as it is in a manner contrary to the order of nature that men should be killed by men,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Numbers 31:19-20

Numbers 31:19-20. Abide without the camp seven days According to the law, Leviticus 15:13. Purify yourselves With the water of sprinkling, Numbers 19:9. Your raiment Namely, your spoil and prey. All work All which had contracted some ceremonial uncleanness, either from the dead bodies which wore them, or the tents or houses where they were, in which such dead bodies lay, or from the touch of the Israelitish soldiers, who were legally defiled by the slaughters they made. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:1-54

Judgment on Midian (31:1-54)God now sent Israel to carry out his judgment on the Midianites (and Balaam with them) for the evil they did to Israel at Peor (see 25:1-9,14-17). Since it was a ‘holy’ war, the person who led the Israelite forces was not the army general Joshua, but the priest Phinehas (see 25:10-13). The Israelites were to destroy the Midianite fighting forces and burn their settlements. All captives and goods seized in battle were to be given to God, represented by the high... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Numbers 31:19

person = soul. Hebrew. nephesh ( App-13 ). read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Numbers 31:19

Numbers 31:19. And do ye abide without the camp seven days— The whole army were to stay without the camp seven days; and such of them as had stained their hands in blood, or touched a dead body, were to purify themselves by the water of separation, ch. Numbers 19:9. For, though it was lawful to kill men in a just war; yet, because of the common affinity which subsists between all mankind, and to preserve sentiments of humanity, it was thought fit and decent to oblige all who had shed blood, as... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Numbers 31:19

19-24. abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person . . . purify both yourselves and your captives—Though the Israelites had taken the field in obedience to the command of God, they had become defiled by contact with the dead. A process of purification was to be undergone, as the law required (Leviticus 15:13; Numbers 19:9-12), and this purifying ceremony was extended to dress, houses, tents, to everything on which a dead body had lain, which had been touched by the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Numbers 31:1-24

The "vengeance" Israel was to take (Numbers 31:2) was for the spiritual and sexual seduction the Midianites had led the Moabites to practice with them. This had resulted in the defeat of God’s people (ch. 25). Her enemies had lured Israel away from her true husband, Yahweh.Moses did not give us the name of Israel’s military leader in this battle. However Phinehas, the high priest’s son, is the prominent person in the record (Numbers 31:6). This phenomenon points to the nature of the battle as... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Numbers 31:1-54

3. Reprisal against the Midianites and the settlement of the Transjordanian tribes chs. 31-32Moses’ last campaign ch. 31The writer now recorded the fulfillment of God’s instructions to Moses that Israel should destroy the Midianites (Numbers 25:16-18). In this account, the aftermath of the battle receives more attention than the battle itself. Evidently God included this chapter here for two reasons at least. It records Israel’s victory over one of her enemies, and it explains the way she... read more

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