Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:10
And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
10. their encampments ] A word specially used to denote the circular encampment of a nomad tribe: cf. Gen 25:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Goodly castles – Rather, both here and in Gen 25:16, hamlets. The word is derived from a word tur,) signifying a row or range (compare Eze 46:23); and probably indicates those collections of rude dwellings, made of stones piled one on another and covered with tent-cloths, which are used by the Arabs to this day; and which are frequently mentioned as douars in narratives of the French campaigns in Algeria. These dwellings would be formed usually in a circle. See the word Hazeroth, in Num 11:35.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Partly, to blot out the name and memory of so lewd and vile a people; partly, lest any of the Israelites should be tempted to settle there, and so be discouraged in their progress to Canaan; and partly, lest they should be possessed by other people who might prove as bad neighbours to them as these would have been.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, c. So far as they went into the country, which, perhaps, might not be the whole land of Midian:
and all their goodly castles with fire which were either the palaces of their princes and nobles, or such like great personages; or they were fortified places, for the security of their cities and country: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret them of their houses of worship, their temples, and their altars.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(10) All their cities wherein they dwelt.Better, all their cities in their dwelling-places. This expression is explained by a reference to Jos. 13:21, from which it appears that the five kings or chiefs of the Midianites who are mentioned in Num. 5:8 dwelt in the territory which Sihon, king of the Amorites, had wrested from the Moabites. The Midianites were a nomad people, and were not likely to have built cities for themselves.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Cities wherein they dwelt Literally, towns in their dwellings. These were not built by the Midianites a nomad race, but probably by the Moabites who had been dispossessed by the Amorites under Sihon. This country was allotted to Reuben. Jos 13:15-23.
Goodly castles Not modern castles, but “encampments,” (R.V.,) rude dwellings made of stone walls surmounted by a canvass or skin covering. These, arranged in a circle, constituted a pastoral hamlet such as are found today among the Arabs and in Algeria.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 31:10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
Ver. 10. And they burnt all their cities. ] For the same reason, perhaps, that our Henry VIII demolished so many monasteries, saying, Corvorum nidos esse penitus disturbandos, ne iterunt ad cohibitandum convolent, That the crows’ nests were to be utterly, destroyed, lest they should make further use of them again another time. a Or rather, lest sloth or covetousness should draw any of the Israelites to hide themselves in these nests, and neglect the Promised Land. See Jdg 6:1 .
a Diruendi sunt etiam ipsi ciconiarum nidi ne redeant, – said Zisca Lavat. in Deuter. Sander. Schism. Anglic., lib. i.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
burnt = burnt up, or down. Hebrew. saraph. App-43. The same judgment is in store for spiritual fornication. Rev 17:16; Rev 18:8.
castles = fortified places.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jos 6:24, 1Sa 30:1, 1Ki 9:16, Isa 1:7, Rev 18:8
Reciprocal: 1Ch 6:54 – castles