The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 31 -

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“First, avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites, and then you shall be gathered to your people.”

And immediately Moses said: “Arm the men among you for a battle, so that they may be able to fulfill the retribution of the Lord on the Midianites.

Let one thousand men be chosen from each tribe of Israel, who shall be sent to war.”

And they gave one thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand foot soldiers for battle.

And Moses sent them with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest; also, he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.

And when they had fought against the Midianites and had prevailed, they killed all the men.

And they put to death by the sword their kings: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five leaders of the nation, and also Balaam the son of Beor.

And they seized their women and little ones, and all their cattle, and all their goods; whatever they were able to have, they despoiled.

Both their cities and their villages, as well as their fortresses, they burned.

And they carried away prey from everything that they had seized, both of men and of beasts.

And they led these to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. But the remainder of the articles they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, next to the Jordan, opposite Jericho.

Then Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the assembly went out to meet them beyond the camp.

And Moses, being angry with the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had arrived from the battle,

said: “Why have you spared the females?

Are not these the ones who deceived the sons of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam, and who caused you betray the Lord by the sin of Peor, because of which the people also were struck down?(a)

Therefore, put to death all of them: whatever is of the male sex, even among the little ones, and cut the throats of those women who have known men by sexual relations.(b)

But the young girls, and all female virgins, reserve for yourselves.

And remain beyond the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a man, or who has touched one that was killed, shall be purified on the third day and on the seventh day.

And all of the spoils, whether it is a garment, or a vessel, or another useful thing, made from the pelts or hair of goats, or from wood, shall be expiated.”

Likewise, Eleazar the priest spoke in this manner to the men of the army who had fought: “This is the precept of the law, which the Lord has commanded Moses:

Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin,

and all that may be able to pass through fire, shall be purified by fire. But whatever is not able to sustain fire shall be sanctified with the waters of expiation.

And you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and, after having been purified, you shall enter the camp.”

Division of the Spoils

And the Lord also said to Moses:

“Take the sum of those things which were captured, from man even to beast, you and Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the common people.

And you shall divide the prey equally, among those who went out to war and fought, and among the remainder of the multitude.

And you shall separate a portion for the Lord from the portion of those who fought and were in the battle: one soul out of five hundred, as much from humans, as from oxen and donkeys and sheep.(c)

And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because these are the first-fruits of the Lord.

Likewise, from the half of the portion belonging to the sons of Israel, you shall receive the fiftieth head of humans, and of oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and of all living things, and you shall give these to the Levites who stand watch over the care of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

And Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had instructed.

Now the prey which the army had seized was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,

seventy-two thousand oxen,

sixty-one thousand donkeys,

and thirty-two thousand human lives, of the female sex, who had not known men.

And one half of the portion was given to those who had been in the battle: three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep.

From these, for the portion of the Lord, there were accounted: six hundred seventy-five sheep;

and from the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen;

from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, sixty-one donkeys.

From the sixteen thousand human souls, there fell to the portion of the Lord thirty-two souls.

And Moses delivered the number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as had been commanded of him,

from the one half portion belonging to the sons of Israel, which he had separated from the portion of those who had been in the battle.

Yet truly, from the one half portion which fell to the remainder of the multitude, that is, from the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

and from the thirty-six thousand oxen,

and from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,

and from the sixteen thousand persons,

Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites who stand watch at the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had instructed.

The Voluntary Offering

And when the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions had approached Moses, they said:

“We, your servants, have taken a census of the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and indeed not one was lacking.

For this reason, we offer as gifts to the Lord whatever gold each one was able to find amid the spoils, in anklets and arm bands, rings and bracelets, and little chains, so that you may intercede for us to the Lord.”

And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in its various kinds,

weighing sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels, from the tribunes and the centurions.

For whatever each one had taken away in the spoils was his own.

And having been accepted, they took it into the tabernacle of the testimony, as a memorial of the sons of Israel before the Lord.

Footnotes

(a)31:16 The sin of Phogor:The sin committed in the worship of Beelphegor.(Challoner)

(b)31:17 Of children:Women and children, ordinarily speaking, were not to be killed in war, Deut. 20:14. But the great Lord of life and death was pleased to order it otherwise in the present case, in detestation of the wickedness of this people, who by the counsel of Balaam, had sent their women among the Israelites on purpose to draw them from God.(Challoner)

(c)31:28 The word ‘hominibus’ is used to refer to men in the general sense of human persons, in this case only females.(Conte)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian.

You shall send one thousand out of every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”

So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses. They killed every male.

They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder.

All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.

They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal.

They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp.

Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive?

Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.

But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

“Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

You shall purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.”

Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses.

However the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

everything that may withstand the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.

You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.”

Division of the Spoils

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation;

and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.

Levy a tribute to the LORD of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks.

Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for the LORD’s wave offering.

Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle.”

Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,

seventy-two thousand head of cattle,

sixty-one thousand donkeys,

and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him.

The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep;

and the LORD’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five.

The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was seventy-two.

The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD’s tribute was sixty-one.

The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom the LORD’s tribute was thirty-two persons.

Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought

(now the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

thirty-six thousand head of cattle,

thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,

and sixteen thousand persons),

even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The Voluntary Offering

The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses.

They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us.

We have brought the LORD’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.”

Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels.

All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.(a)

The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.

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 the LORD.

Footnotes

(a)31:52 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 16,750 shekels is about 167.5 kilograms or about 368.5 pounds.