Numbers 31:49

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 31:48-54

Here is a great example of piety and devotion in the officers of the army, the colonels, that are called captains of thousands, and the inferior officers that were captains of hundreds; they came to Moses as their general and commander-in-chief, and, though he was now going off the stage they very humbly and respectfully addressed themselves to him, calling themselves his servants; the honours they had 1305 won did not puff them up, so as to make them forget their duty to him. Observe in their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:49

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... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 31:49

There is no mention of any resistance on the part of the Midianites. The Israelites saw in this and in the preservation of all those engaged, proofs that the Lord had been with them in the work, and hence, the free-will oblation of Numbers 31:50. 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

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Numbers 31:48-50

Numbers 31:48-50. The officers which were over thousands, &c.— After their return from war, the officers of the army made a muster of the soldiery to see what number they had lost. Three kinds of officers are distinguished: 1. Those who had the command of several thousands as the generals and lieutenant-generals. 2. Those who were over a thousand men each, as our colonels. 3. Centurions, or captains. Upon this muster they found, that not one man had fallen in the battle, Numbers 31:49. A... 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

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Numbers 31:25-54

The warriors shared the booty equally with the Israelites who remained in the camp. They were no privileged class nor did they receive a special reward for their actions. They simply served one function and the other Israelites served another in carrying out the will of God (cf. 1 Samuel 30:24-25). From the warriors’ share 1/500 went to the priests and from the congregation’s share 1/50 went to the Levites (cf. Numbers 18:26).The 32 virgins that the priests received (Numbers 31:40) probably... 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

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Numbers 31:49

(49) There lacketh not one man of us.—It is obvious from the smallness of the number of the Israelitish warriors, as well as from the reference to those chiefs only of the Midianites who were the vassals of Sihon, and from the strength of the Midianitish nation in the time of Gideon (Judges 6-8), that the attack was made only upon that particular portion of the nation which had been concerned in the seduction of the Israelites to the worship of Baal Peor. The Midianites were probably attacked... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Numbers 31:1-54

WAR AND SETTLEMENT1. THE WAR WITH MIDIANNumbers 31:1-54THE command to vex and smite the Midianites {; Numbers 25:16-17} has already been considered. Israel had not the spiritual power which would have justified any attempt to convert that people. Degrading idolatry was to be held in abhorrence, and those who clung to it suppressed. Now the time comes for an exterminating war. While hordes of Bedawin occupy the hills and the neighbouring desert, there can be no security either for morals,... read more

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