1Then the Lord said to Moses, 2Give the Midianites punishment for the wrong they did to the children of Israel: and after that you will go to rest with your people. 3So Moses said to the people, Let men from among you be armed for war to put into effect against Midian the Lord's punishment on them. 4From every tribe of Israel send a thousand to the war. 5So from the thousands of Israel a thousand were taken from every tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war. 6And Moses sent them out to war, a thousand from every tribe, and with them Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, taking in his hands the vessels of the holy place and the horns for sounding the note of war. 7And they made war on Midian, as the Lord gave orders to Moses; and they put to death every male. 8They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword. 9The women of Midian with their little ones the children of Israel took prisoner; and all their cattle and flocks and all their goods they took for themselves; 10And after burning all their towns and all their tent-circles, 11They went away with the goods they had taken, man and beast. 12And the prisoners and the goods and everything they had taken, they took to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the people of Israel, to the tent-circle in the lowlands of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 13Then Moses and Eleazar the priest and the chiefs of the people went out to them before they had come into the tent-circle. 14And Moses was angry with the chiefs of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come back from the war. 15And Moses said to them, Why have you kept all the women safe? 16It was these who, moved by Balaam, were the cause of Israel's sin against the Lord in the question of Peor, because of which disease came on the people of the Lord. 17So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man. 18But all the female children who have had no sex relations with men, you may keep for yourselves. 19You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean. 20And every bit of clothing, and anything made of leather or goats' hair or wood, you are to make clean. 21Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had been to the fight, This is the rule of the law which the Lord has given to Moses: 22But gold and silver and brass and iron and tin and lead, 23And anything which may be heated, is to go through the fire and be made clean; but in addition it is to be put in the water of cleaning: and anything which may not go through the fire is to be put in the water. 24And on the seventh day, after washing your clothing, you will be clean, and then you may come into the tent-circle. 25And the Lord said to Moses, 26Get an account of everything which was taken in the war, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of families of the people: 27And let division be made of it into two parts, one for the men of war who went out to the fight, and one for all the people: 28And from the men of war who went out let there be offered to the Lord one out of every five hundred, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep: 29Take this from their part and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to be lifted up to the Lord. 30And from the part given to the children of Israel, take one out of every fifty, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep, and give it to the Levites who have the care of the House of the Lord. 31So Eleazar and Moses did as the Lord had given orders to Moses. 32Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33And seventy-two thousand oxen, 34And sixty-one thousand asses; 35And thirty-two thousand persons, that is, women who had never had sex relations with a man. 36And the half given as their part to the men who went to the war, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep, 37Of which the Lord's part was six hundred and seventy-five. 38The number of oxen was thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's part was seventy-two; 39The number of asses was thirty thousand, five hundred, of which the Lord's part was sixty-one. 40And the number of persons was sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's part was thirty-two persons. 41And Moses gave the Lord's part, lifted up as an offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had given orders to Moses. 42And from the half given to the children of Israel, which Moses had kept separate from that given to the fighting-men, 43(Now the people's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep, 44And thirty-six thousand oxen, 45And thirty thousand, five hundred asses, 46And sixteen thousand persons;) 47Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses. 48Then the men in authority over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came to Moses, 49And said to him, Your servants have taken note of the number of all the fighting-men under our orders, and every one is present; 50And we have here an offering for the Lord from what every man took in the war, ornaments of gold, leg-chains and arm-rings, finger-rings, ear-rings, and neck-ornaments, to make our souls free from sin before the Lord. 51So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even all the worked ornaments. 52And the gold which the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds gave, as an offering to be lifted up before the Lord, came to sixteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53(For every man of the army had taken goods for himself in the war.) 54Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold given by the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and took it into the Tent of meeting, to be a sign in memory of the children of Israel before the Lord.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
War with Midian. (1-6) Balaam slain. (7-12) Those slain who caused sin. (13-38) Purification of the Israelites. (39-24) Division of the spoil. (25-47) Offerings. (48-54) 1-6 All who, without commission from God, dare to execute private revenge, and who, from ambition, covetousness, or resentment, wage war and desolate kingdoms, must one day answer for it. But if God, instead of sending an earthquake, a pestilence, or a famine, be pleased to authorize and command any people to avenge his cause, such a commission surely is just and right. The Israelites could show such a commission, though no persons now can do so. Their wars were begun and carried on expressly by Divine direction, and they were enabled to conquer by miracles. Unless it can be proved that the wicked Canaanites did not deserve their doom, objectors only prove their dislike to God, and their love to his enemies. Man makes light of the evil of sin, but God abhors it. This explains the terrible executions of the nations which had filled the measure of their sins. 7-12 The Israelites slew the Kings of Midian. They slew Balaam. God's overruling providence brought him thither, and their just vengeance found him. Had he himself rightly believed what he had said of the happy state of Israel, he would not have thus herded with the enemies of Israel. The Midianites' wicked wiles were Balaam's projects: it was just that he should perish with them, #Ho 4:5|. They took the women and children captives. They burnt their cities and castles, and returned to the camp. 13-18 The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting others; it teaches us to avoid all occasions of evil, and to give no quarter to inward lusts. The women and children were not kept for sinful purposes, but for slaves, a custom every where practised in former times, as to captives. In the course of providence, when famine and plagues visit a nation for sin, children suffer in the common calamity. In this case parents are punished in their children; and for children dying before actual sin, full provision is made as to their eternal happiness, by the mercy of God in Christ. 19-24 The Israelites had to purify themselves according to the law, and to abide without the camp seven days, though they had not contracted any moral guilt, the war being just and lawful, and commanded by God. Thus God would preserve in their minds a dread and detestation of shedding blood. The spoil had been used by Midianites, and being now come into the possession of Israelites, it was fit that it should be purified. 25-47 Whatever we have, God justly claims a part. Out of the people's share God required one in fifty, but out of the soldiers' share only one in five hundred. The less opportunity we have of honouring God with personal services, the more should we give in money or value. 48-54 The success of the Israelites had been very remarkable, so small a company overcoming such multitudes, but it was still more wonderful that not one was slain or missing. They presented the gold they found among the spoils, as an offering to the Lord. Thus they confessed, that instead of claiming a reward for their service, they needed forgiveness of much that had been amiss, and desired to be thankful for the preservation of their lives, which might justly have been taken away.