Levy a tribute to Yahweh 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 Yahweh’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 Yahweh’s tabernacle.”
Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh 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 Yahweh’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five. The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which Yahweh’s tribute was seventy-two. The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which Yahweh’s tribute was sixty-one. The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom Yahweh’s tribute was thirty-two persons. Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh 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 Yahweh’s tabernacle, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv28, 30, 35, 37, 40, 42, 47 Of the prey that falleth to the soldiers.
Of the prey that falleth to the soldiers.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv28, 30, 32, 41 One soul, i.e. one person, as it follows here…
One soul, i.e. one person, as it follows here and Num 31:30.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv28–32 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the…
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. Took an account of the booty, divided it equally between the soldiers and the congregation of Israel, and levied a part out of each as a tribute for the Lord, which was given to the priests and Levites.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. Took an account of the booty, divided it equally between the soldiers and the congregation of Israel, and levied a part out of each as a tribute for the Lord, which was given to the priests and Levites.
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Numbers 31:32
num 31:32
num 31:32
num 31:32And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught,.... The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days' stay without the camp: from hence to the end of Num 31:47 is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 beeves or oxen, 61,000 asses, and 32,000 females who had never known man; the half out of these, which fell to the share of the soldiers, were 337,500 sheep, 36,000 beeves or oxen, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 females, out of which were given as an heave offering to the Lord six hundred and seventy five sheep, seventy two beeves or oxen, sixty one asses, and thirty two women: the half divided unto the children of Israel consisted of 337,500 sheep, 36,000 beeves or oxen, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 women, out of which one in fifty, both of women and cattle, were given to the Levites; what that amounted to is not expressed, but may be easily reckoned.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv29–30 An heave-offering - In thankfulness to God for their…
An heave-offering - In thankfulness to God for their preservation and good success.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv28, 32 Verse 28. And levy a tribute unto the Lord…
Verse 28. And levy a tribute unto the Lord - one soul of five hundred, &c.] The person to be employed in the Lord's service, under the Levites-the cattle either for sacrifice, or for the use of the Levites, Nu 31:30. Some monsters have supposed that one out of every five hundred of the captives was offered in sacrifice to the Lord! but this is abominable. When God chose to have the life of a man, he took it in the way of justice, as in the case of Midianites above, but never in the way of sacrifice.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v29 Num 31:29-30. A heave-offering — In thankfulness to God…
Num 31:29-30. A heave-offering — In thankfulness to God for their preservation and good success. One of fifty — Whereas the former part was one of five hundred; the reason of the difference Isaiah , 1 st, Because this was taken out of the people’s portion, whose hazards being less than the others, their gains also, in all reason, were to be less. 2d, Because this was to be distributed into more hands, the Levites being now more numerous, whereas the priests were but few.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv29, 32 An heave-offering - Render simply an offering, and compare…
An heave-offering - Render simply an offering, and compare Num 18:24. The verb from which the word here rendered “heave-offering” is derived, is rightly translated “levy” in Num 31:28.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv32, 41 Spoil. Hebrew, "the remains of the spoil," which had…
Spoil. Hebrew, "the remains of the spoil," which had not been consumed by the 12,000. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v32 the booty, being the rest of the prey which…
the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught--Some of the captives having been killed (Num 31:17) and part of the cattle taken for the support of the army, the total amount of the booty remaining was in the following proportions:
Prey Total Amount Half to Soldiers Deducted to God Half to Congregation Deducted to Levites
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Sheep 675,000 337,500 675 337,500 6,750
Beeves 72,000 36,000 72 36,000 720
Asses 61,000 30,500 61 30,500 610
Persons 32,000 16,000 32 16,000 320
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv28–30 28. Levy a tribute — One fifth of one…
28. Levy a tribute — One fifth of one per cent. of the portion of the army of the human captives and animals was to be set apart for the Lord in acknowledgment of him as the God of battles and the author of victory.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv28, 32 28. levy a tribute] lit. ‘lift off a fixed…
28. levy a tribute] lit. ‘lift off a fixed proportion.’ The verb has the technical sense which is more often found in the corresponding subst. terûmâh (Num_31:29); see on Num_31:9.
one soul out of (every) five hundred] The word nephesh (‘soul’) denotes the life or animating principle of every living creature, man or beast, and here stands for an ‘individual’ person or a ‘head’ of cattle.
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the beeves] an archaic plural of ‘beef,’ used for the live animals; cf. Shakespeare, Merch. of Venice, 1. iii. 68, ‘flesh of muttons, beefs or goats.’ The word occurs in R.V. and A.V. five times in this chapter, and in Lev_22:19; Lev_22:21 (R.V. in the latter verse ‘herd’).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv28, 30, 32 (28) And levy a tribute unto the Lord.—Literally, and…
(28) And levy a tribute unto the Lord.—Literally, and thou shalt lift up (or, heave), &c. The portion assigned to the priests, which was taken from the prey that fell to the lot of the warriors, and which is described in Num_31:29 as “the heave offering of the Lord,” was one-five-hundredth part of the maidens and of the cattle which had fallen to their share. The maidens were probably employed as slaves, and the cattle used for the maintenance of the priests. Inasmuch, then, as the entire booty consisted of 32,000 maidens, 675,000 small cattle, 72,000 oxen, and 61,000 asses, the portion which fell to the lot of the 12,000 warriors was 16,000 maidens, 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 oxen, and 30,500 asses, of which the portion of the priests was 32 maidens, 675 sheep and goats, 72 oxen, and 61 asses.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv29, 30, 32 A heave offering unto the Lord. Septuagint, taou .…
A heave offering unto the Lord. Septuagint, taou . The Hebrew word (to lift) from which terumah is derived, had practically lost its literal significance, just as the English word has in the phrase "to lift cattle;" hence terumah often means simply that which is set aside as an offering. No doubt the offering levied on the portion of the warriors was in the nature of tithe for the benefit of Eleazar and the priests.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv28, 30, 32, 36, 39, 42, 47 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to Moses.
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General Information:
"me" refers to Yahweh.
Then levy a tax to be given to me from the soldiers who went out to battle
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Collect a tax from the soldiers' plunder and give it to me" (See: Active or Passive)
every five hundred
"every 500" (See: Numbers)
from their half
"from the soldiers' half"
to be presented to me
This can be stated in active form. AT: "which he will present to me" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
tax
cow
donkey
ewe
goat
Eleazar
sacrifice
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 36 31:32-35 The total number of animals and young girls…
31:32-35 The total number of animals and young girls who were not killed was quite large, which indicates that Israel fought against many Midianites.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.