Numbers 31:25-54

D. DIVISION OF THE BOOTY vv. 25-54
TEXT

Numbers 31:25. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 26. Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation: 27. And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation. 28. And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep: 29. Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave offering of the Lord. 30. And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and given them unto the Levites, Which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord. 31. And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32. And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep, 33. And threescore and twelve thousand beeves, 34. And threescore and one thousand asses, 35. And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him. 36. And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep: 37. And the Lord's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen. 38. And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the Lord's tribute was threescore and twelve. 39. And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the Lord's tribute was threescore and one. 40. And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the Lord's tribute was thirty and two persons. 41. And Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord's heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses. 42. And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided from the men that warred, 43. (now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep, 44. And thirty and six thousand beeves, 45. And thirty thousand asses and five hundred, 46. And sixteen thousand persons,) 47. Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of men and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord: as the Lord commanded Moses.

48. And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses: 49. And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us. 50. We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord. 51. And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels. 52. And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53. (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) 54. And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.

PARPAHRASE

Numbers 31:25. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, You and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers-' households of the congregation shall take a count of the loot which was taken, of both man and animal; 27. and divide the loot between the warriors who went out into battle and all the congregation. 28. And you shall levy a tax for the Lord from the warriors who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the people and of the cattle, and of the donkeys and of the sheep; 29. take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the Lord. 30. And from the half belonging to the children of Israel you shall take one of each fifty of the people, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord. 31. So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32. And the booty which remained from the loot which the warriors had taken was 675,000 sheep, 33. and 72,000 cattle, 34. and 61,000 donkeys; 35. and of people, of the women who had not lain with a man, the total number of women was 32,000. 36. And the half which was the allotment of those who went to war was the following: the number of sheep was 337,500, 37. and the Lord's tax of the sheep was 675, 38. and the number of cattle was 36,000, from which the Lord's tax was 72. 39. And there were 30,500 donkeys, from which the Lord's tax was 61. 40. And there were 16,000 people, from whom the Lord's levy was 32 people. 41. And Moses gave the tax which was the Lord's offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 42. And from the half belonging to the children of Israel, which Moses received from the men who had gone to war 43. (now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 44. and 36,000 cattle, 45. and 30,500 donkeys; 46. and there were 16,000 people), 47. and from the half belonging to the children of Isreal, Moses took one chosen from every fifty, of both man and animals, and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

48. Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, came to Moses. 49. And they said to Moses, Your servants have taken a census of the warriors who are under our command, and not one man is missing. 50. So we have brought as an offering to the Lord what each man found, items of gold, jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and belts, to make atonement for our souls before the Lord. 51. Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrought jewelry. 52. And all the gold of the offering which they offered up to the Lord from the captains of the hundreds was 16,750 shekels. 53. (Now the warriors had taken loot, every man for himself.) 54. Now Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it to the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.

COMMENTARY

Everything taken in war against the Midianites was first divided into two equal portions. These were shared alike by those who had gone to battle and those who had not. David would later base his distribution of loot from war upon this principle (see 1 Samuel 30:24 ff.): it is implicit in Joshua's words to the people when the two and one-half tribes settled east of the Jordan (Joshua 22:8).

When the equal division was completed, the booty was assessed for a tribute unto the Lord. One-fifth of one percent of that which was designated for the warriors was to be given Eleazar for a heave offering unto the Lord. The same portion was taken from those given the congregation, and these portions were taken for the Levites. Although the total portions taken were identical, the proportions differed greatly: .2% of the soldiers-' booty, but 2% of the booty of the people. This would recognize the active service of the warriors. If the number of animals taken seems large, let the later reference of Judges 6:3-5 be considered, where the Midianites-' herds and flocks are compared to grasshoppers in multitude, and their camels are said to have been without number.

The soldiers were obviously pleased with their rewards (Numbers 31:49); and an even more intriguing item is the note that not one man was missing from their ranks. This latter fact has been attributed to the protection of God, to the lack of resistance from the Midianites, and to the full obedience and sound faith of the participants. The passage does not assign a cause.

A number of items of jewelry appear in the detailing of the booty. We should not wonder that a nomadic people possessed such items, since this was a custom of antiquity among the Bedouins, whose jewelry represented the total of their wealth, apart from their flocks. The Israelites themselves had produced a sufficient quantity to more than provide for the necessities of construction of the Tabernacle. All of the gold so taken was given to the Lord, and was doubtless used to support the tabernacle services.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

576.

Compare the amount of booty allocated to the soldiers with that shared by the people.

577.

On what basis were the soldiers allowed the greater shares?

578.

What explanations have been offered for the fact that not one of the Israelite soldiers was lost in this battle? Defend the one you accept.

579.

Is it reasonable to believe that a nomadic people could have as much gold as Israel took from the Midianites? Explain your answer.