Bible Commentary

And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which [are] by Jordan [near] Jericho. Ver. 12 And they brought the captives, the prey, and the spoil,…. The women and … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:12”

And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, [both] of men and of beasts. The prey refers to the captives and live-stock: the spoil to the ornaments and other effects. Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible And they took all the spoil,…. In their cities and castles; and all the prey, both … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:11”

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. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:10”

And the children of Israel took [all] the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And the children of Israel took [all] the women of Midian captives,…. The word “all” is not in the original text, nor should … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:9”

And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; [namely], Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 8. The five names of the kings may have been derived from an historical kernel … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:8”

And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. 7. they slew every male ] An imaginative description of success. If it were historically true, Midian would have disappeared from history; but they are found not long afterwards as one of Israel’s most troublesome neighbours (Judges 6-8). … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:7”

And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of [every] tribe them, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. 6. The war being of a strictly religious character, the soldiers were apparently led not by Moses or Joshua … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:6”

So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of [every] tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 5. and there were delivered ] The use of this verb would, if the reading were certain, mark the chapter as a late composition. It occurs in Num 31:16 (see, however, note), but not elsewhere … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:5”

Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. 4. The selection of 1,000 soldiers from each tribe is purely artificial. The larger ones could send a much greater number. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Of every tribe a thousand,…. So that the whole … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:4”

And Moses spoke unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian. Avenge the Lord of Midian – The war against the Midianites was no ordinary war. It was indeed less a war than the execution of a divine sentence … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:3”