The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses. They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us. We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.”
Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels. All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to Yahweh, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels. The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting for a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv49, 50, 53, 54 Hebrew, under our hands.
Hebrew, under our hands.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv49, 53 Num 31:49 And they said unto Moses, Thy servants…
Num 31:49 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.
Ver. 49. And there lacketh not one man of us.] A wonderful work of God; a whole nation cut off with no loss at all. "This was the Lord’s own doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." {Psa 118:23} Surely, if the Grecians so thankfully acknowledged to their Jupiter that overthrow they gave to the Persians, by Themistocles, and called him Eλευθεριος, their deliverer, how much more might these Israelites celebrate the unparalleled goodness of their gracious God in this so unbloody a victory!
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v50 For their error, noted, Num 31:14-16, and withal
For their error, noted, Num 31:14-16, and withal
for a memorial, as it is said Num 31:54, or by way of gratitude for such a stupendous assistance and deliverance, as appears from the word therefore in the beginning of this verse, and from Num 31:49.
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 v48 For the men of war had taken spoil, every…
For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. And which he kept for himself, and did not deliver in with the prey or booty, which was brought to Moses and Eleazar, the sum of which was taken by them; and this seems to confirm what has been hinted, that, as each soldier had taken spoil for himself, so everyone contributed his quota towards this freewill offering to the Lord.
Numbers 31:54
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 v50 An atonement - For their error noted, ver. 14,…
An atonement - For their error noted, ver. 14, 15, 16, and withal for a memorial, or by way of gratitude for such a stupendous assistance and deliverance. We should never take any thing to ourselves in war or trade, of which we cannot in faith consecrate a part to God, who hates robbery for burnt-offerings. But when God has remarkably preserved and succeeded us, he expects we should make some particular return of gratitude to him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v50 Verse 50. We have - brought an oblation for…
Verse 50. We have - brought an oblation for the Lord] So it appears there was a great deal of booty taken which did not come into the general account; and of this the soldiers, of their own will, made a very extensive offering to God, because he had preserved them from falling in battle. That not one man should have been slain is a most extraordinary circumstance, and powerfully marks the peculiar superintendence of God's especial providence. The Midianites must certainly have made some resistance; but that was ineffectual, because it was against the Lord. When any nation undertakes a crusade against those whom they are pleased to call the Lord's enemies, let them bring from the contest this proof of their Divine mission, viz., that not one man of them is either lost or missing; and then, and not till then, shall we believe that God hath sent them.
To make an atonement for our souls] That is, to make an acknowledgment to God for the preservation of their lives. The gold offered on this occasion amounted to 16,750 shekels, equal to £37,869, 16s. 5d. of our money. See Clarke on Ex 25:39, where the true value of the shekel is given, and a rule laid down to reduce it to English money.
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 v50 Num 31:50. We have brought an oblation — Finding,…
Num 31:50. We have brought an oblation — Finding, to their great joy and surprise, that not a single man was missing of the whole twelve thousand, they unanimously resolved, out of the free plunder, to make a voluntary offering to God, for the service of religion. To make an atonement — For their error, noted Num 31:14-16; and withal for memorial, or by way of gratitude for such a stupendous assistance and deliverance. We should never take any thing to ourselves, in war or trade, of which we cannot in faith consecrate a part to God, who hates robbery for burnt-offerings. But when God has remarkably preserved and succeeded us, he expects we should make some particular return of gratitude to him.
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 vv49, 50, 52, 53 There is no mention of any resistance on the…
There is no mention of any resistance on the part of the Midianites. The Israelites saw in this and in the preservation of all those engaged, proofs that the Lord had been with them in the work, and hence, the free-will oblation of Num 31:50.
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 vv49–50 Wanting. Septuagint, "all were unanimous," (Origen,) and "all answered…
Wanting. Septuagint, "all were unanimous," (Origen,) and "all answered to their names." Thus God was pleased to shew, that his Providence had directed the battle. (Haydock)
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 v48 officers . . . said . . . there…
officers . . . said . . . there lacketh not one man of us--A victory so signal, and the glory of which was untarnished by the loss of a single Israelitish soldier, was an astonishing miracle. So clearly betokening the direct interposition of Heaven, it might well awaken the liveliest feelings of grateful acknowledgment to God (Psa 44:2-3). The oblation they brought for the Lord "was partly an atonement" or reparation for their error (Num 31:14-16), for it could not possess any expiatory virtue, and partly a tribute of gratitude for the stupendous service rendered them. It consisted of the "spoil," which, being the acquisition of individual valor, was not divided like the "prey," or livestock, each soldier retaining it in lieu of pay; it was offered by the "captains" alone, whose pious feelings were evinced by the dedication of the spoil which fell to their share. There were jewels to the amount of 16,750 shekels, equal to £87,869 16s. 5d. sterling.
Next: Numbers Chapter 32
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 vv49, 50, 52, 53, 54 THE FREEWILL THANK OFFERING TO JEHOVAH, Num_31:48-54.
THE FREEWILL THANK OFFERING TO JEHOVAH, Num_31:48-54.
49. There lacketh not one man — The supernatural element in this campaign is seen in this astonishing report of the officers of the army, that not a man of the twelve thousand who went forth to this war failed to answer to the roll call on their last review before entering the camp. It is remarkable that in all the record of Joshua’s conquest of Western Palestine there is no dead list, save in the case of the defeat before Ai, which was in consequence of unpunished sin in the camp. Joshua 7, notes.
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 vv49–50 49. The officers report the safe return of every…
49. The officers report the safe return of every single Israelite soldier. No element of success must be absent from the ideal picture of a sacred victory.
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 vv49, 52 (49) There lacketh not one man of us.—It is…
(49) There lacketh not one man of us.—It is obvious from the smallness of the number of the Israelitish warriors, as well as from the reference to those chiefs only of the Midianites who were the vassals of Sihon, and from the strength of the Midianitish nation in the time of Gideon (Judges 6-8), that the attack was made only upon that particular portion of the nation which had been concerned in the seduction of the Israelites to the worship of Baal Peor. The Midianites were probably attacked in an unprepared and defenceless state. After due allowance, however, has been made for all these circumstances, the fact that not a single Israelitish warrior perished can be satisfactorily explained only on the supposition that God vouchsafed to grant to His people miraculous aid and protection.
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 vv49, 50, 52, 54 There lacketh not one man of us. The officers…
There lacketh not one man of us. The officers naturally regarded this as a very wonderful circumstance; and so indeed it was, whether Midian made any resistance or not. It was, however, in strict keeping with the promises of that temporal dispensation. It would have been no satisfaction to the Israelite who fell upon the threshold of the promised land to know that victory remained with his comrades. His was not the courage of modern soldiers, who fling away their lives in blind confidence that some advantage will accrue thereby to the army at large; rather, he fought under the conviction that to each, as well as to all, life and victory were pledged upon condition of obedience and courage. In this ease no one was found unfaithful, and therefore no one was allowed to fall.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v50 (See Scofield "Exo 29:33").
atonement
(See Scofield "Exo 29:33").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v48 The Gifts Consecrated to the Lord
The Gifts Consecrated to the Lord
v. 48. And the officers which were over thousands of the host, (namely,) the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;
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v. 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. "This is one of the features of this narrative which shows that we are dealing here with the execution of a divine sentence. It implies an extraordinary divine protection, which is in accordance with the view that they were in a peculiar sense the Lord’s instruments. " (Gosman. )
v. 50. We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of the individual plunder which they had made, of jewels of gold, chains, armbands, and bracelets, seal-rings, rings, such as were fastened in the noses, earrings, and tablets, small golden spheres which were used for personal adornment, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord, for the blessing of their safe return, since they felt that they were not worthy of such divine goodness.
v. 51. And Moses and Eleazar, the priest, took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels, gold that had been fashioned into jewelry.
v. 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 (16,750), or more than $160,000, not too large a sum, by any means; for the nomadic tribes were rich in jewelry as well as in herds and flocks.
v. 53. (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. )
v. 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, into the treasury of the Sanctuary, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord. It pleases the Lord, even now, if believers, for special manifestations of God’s goodness and mercy, show their appreciation in special gifts of gratitude, for the work of the Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv48, 50, 52 the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds
the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds
Possible meanings are 1) these numbers represent the exact amount of soldiers that these commanders and captains led. AT: "the commanders over 1,000 soldiers and the captains over 100 soldiers" or 2) the words translated as "thousands" and "hundreds" do not represent exact numbers, but are the names of larger and smaller military divisions. AT: "the commanders over large military divisions and the captains over smaller military divisions" See how you translated a similar phrase in Numbers 31:14. (See: Numbers)
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Your servants have counted
The commanders refer to themselves as "your servants." This is a polite way to speak to someone with greater authority.
not one man is missing
This can be stated in a positive statement. "we know for certain that every man is here" (See: Litotes)
translationWords
commander
servant
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 vv48, 50 31:48-49 Though it is unusual for no soldiers from…
31:48-49 Though it is unusual for no soldiers from an army to be killed in battle, it is not impossible. Classical authors also reported battles in which few or no Roman soldiers were killed. If the Israelites had the advantages of preparation, surprise, and overwhelming force, they could have defeated the Midianites and lost no troops, especially in light of God’s blessing.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.