28 and thou hast raised a tribute to Jehovah from the men of war, who go out to the host, one body out of five hundred, of man, and of the herd, and of the asses, and of the flock;
`And unto the Levites thou dost speak; and thou hast said unto them, When ye take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given to you from them, for your inheritance, then ye have lifted up from it the heave-offering of Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe;
`And from the sons of Israel's half thou dost take one possession out of fifty, of man, of the herd, of the asses, and of the flock, of all the cattle, and thou hast given them to the Levites keeping the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.'
and blessed `is' God Most High, who hath delivered thine adversaries into thy hand;' and he giveth to him a tenth of all.
and to the sons of Levi, lo, I have given all the tenth in Israel for inheritance in exchange for their service which they are serving -- the service of the tent of meeting.
And the city they have burnt with fire, and all that `is' in it; only, the silver and the gold, and the vessels of brass, and of iron, they have given `to' the treasury of the house of Jehovah;
also them did king David sanctify to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold which he sanctified of all the nations which he subdued: of Aram, and of Moab, and of the Bene-Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob king of Zobah.
This Shelomith and his brethren `are' over all the treasures of the holy things, that David the king, and heads of the fathers, even heads of thousands, and of hundreds, and heads of the host, sanctified; from the battles, even from the spoil they sanctified to strengthen the house of Jehovah;
Honour Jehovah from thy substance, And from the beginning of all thine increase; And filled are thy barns `with' plenty, And `with' new wine thy presses break forth.
At that time brought is a present to Jehovah of Hosts, A nation drawn out and peeled. Even of a people fearful from the beginning hitherto, A nation meting out by line, and treading down, Whose land floods have spoiled, Unto the place of the name of Jehovah of Hosts -- mount Zion!'
And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!
Surely for Me isles do wait, And ships of Tarshish first, To bring thy sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of Jehovah thy God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He hath beautified thee.
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,