Numbers 31:23-24

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 31:23

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:24

And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day ,.... As the leper did, Leviticus 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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 31:23

The water of separation - The water in which the ashes of the red heifer were mingled; See Numbers 8:7 ; (note), Numbers 19:2 ; (note), etc. Garments, whether of cloth or skins, were to be washed. Gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead, to pass through the fire, probably to be melted down. 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 31:23

water of separation. See Numbers 19:0 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Numbers 31:21-24

Numbers 31:21-24. And Eleazar—said—This is the ordinance of the law— i.e. "This is a law to be observed hereafter by all who go to war." The law before was, that he, who touched a dead body should be purified with water; but nothing had been hitherto said of him who killed a man in war; nor of the spoil, concerning which Moses here prescribes two sorts of purifications, the fire for metals, and the water for all combustible matters. Purifying by water was a rite of the earliest antiquity, (see... 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

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 31:1-54

War against MidianThis chapter contains an account of the fulfilment of the decree of extermination passed upon the Midianites as being the occasion of Israel’s apostasy in the plains of Moab: see on Numbers 25:16-18.6. The holy instruments and the trumpets] On the use of the silver trumpets in time of war see on Numbers 10:9. It is not clear whether the ark was taken into battle on this occasion. It is possible to translate ’the holy instruments, even the trumpets.’ On other occasions,... read more

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