35 and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not known man by lying with him.
36 And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep:
37 and Jehovah's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
38 And the oxen were thirty and six thousand; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and twelve.
39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and one.
40 And the persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Jehovah's tribute was thirty and two persons.
41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was Jehovah's heave-offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
42 And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men that warred,
43 (now the congregation's half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand and five hundred sheep,
44 and thirty and six thousand oxen,
45 and thirty thousand and five hundred asses,
46 and sixteen thousand persons),
47 even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.
48 And the officers that were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;
49 and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war that are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.
50 And we have brought Jehovah's oblation, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
52 And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered up to Jehovah, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
53 (`For' the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)
54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 31
Commentary on Numbers 31 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 31
This chapter belongs to "the book of the wars of the Lord,' in which it is probable it was inserted. It is the history of a holy war, a war with Midian. Here is,
Num 31:1-6
Here,
Num 31:7-12
Here is,
Num 31:13-24
We have here the triumphant return of the army of Israel from the war with Midian, and here,
Num 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.
Num 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 won did not puff them up, so as to make them forget their duty to him. Observe in their address to them,