The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder. All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire. They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal. They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho. Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp. Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
“Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. You shall purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 15, 16, 17 Or, palaces and gorgeous buildings.
Or, palaces and gorgeous buildings.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19 Num 31:9 And the children of Israel took [all]…
Num 31:9 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.
Ver. 9. Took all the women.] The Jews are a nation, to this day noted for effeminate; and yet they hold that women are of a lower creation, made for the propagation and pleasure of man; and, therefore, they suffer them not to enter their synagogues but appoint them a gallery without. {a}
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{a} Blunt’s Voyage.
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 vv10, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 Partly, to blot out the name and memory of…
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.
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 vv9–20 And the children of Israel took all the women…
And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives,.... The word "all" is not in the original text, nor should it be supplied; for if all had been taken, and carried captive, and put to death, as those were afterwards, how could there have been such an increase of the Midianites as there was in some time after this? see Jdg 6:1 but the meaning is, that as many as fell into their hands they took and carried captive:
and their little ones; both male and female:
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and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks; their oxen and their sheep, and also their asses, as appears by the following account:
and all their goods: in their houses, their wealth and substance, gold, silver, &c.
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 vv13, 17, 20 Without the camp - Partly to put respect upon…
Without the camp - Partly to put respect upon them, and congratulate with them for their happy success; and partly to prevent the pollution of the camp by the untimely entrance of the warriors into it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v17 Verse 17. Kill every male among the little ones]…
Verse 17. Kill every male among the little ones] For this action I account simply on the principle that God, who is the author and supporter of life, has a right to dispose of it when and how he thinks proper; and the Judge of all the earth can do nothing but what is right. Of the women killed on this occasion it may be safely said, their lives were forfeited by their personal transgressions; and yet even in this case there can be little doubt that God showed mercy to their souls. The little ones were safely lodged; they were taken to heaven and saved from the evil to come.
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 vv13, 16, 17, 19 Num 31:13-14. Went forth to meet them — Partly…
Num 31:13-14. Went forth to meet them — Partly to put respect upon them, and congratulate them on their happy success; and partly to prevent the pollution of the camp by the untimely entrance of the warriors into it.
Moses was wroth with the officers — Because they had spared those who were most criminal, and who, by the law of God, were worthy of death, as idolaters, and as persons who had seduced God’s people to idolatry, Num 25:6; Num 25:17-18.
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 vv10, 11, 16 Goodly castles - Rather, both here and in Gen…
Goodly castles - Rather, both here and in Gen 25:16, hamlets. The word is derived from a word טוּר ṭûr,) 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.
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 vv9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19 Possessions. Literally, "all that they could, they plundered." It…
Possessions. Literally, "all that they could, they plundered." It seems they did not advance very far into the country; or many saved themselves by flight; for we find the Madianites soon powerful enough to enslave the Hebrews, Judges vi. 1.
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 vv13, 14, 19 Moses, and Eleazar the priest, . . . went…
Moses, and Eleazar the priest, . . . went forth to meet them without the camp--partly as a token of respect and congratulation on their victory, partly to see how they had executed the Lord's commands, and partly to prevent the defilement of the camp by the entrance of warriors stained with blood.
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 vv10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 10. Cities wherein they dwelt — Literally, towns in…
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.
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 vv10, 15, 16, 19, 20 10. their encampments] A word specially used to denote…
10. their encampments] A word specially used to denote the circular encampment of a nomad tribe: cf. Gen_25:16.
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 vv10, 12, 15, 18 (10) All their cities wherein they dwelt.—Better, all their…
(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.
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 vv10, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20 Their goodly castles. Septuagint, epauleiv . This word, which…
Their goodly castles. Septuagint, epauleiv . This word, which occurs only here and in Gen_25:16, no doubt signifies the pastoral villages, constructed partly of rude stone walls, partly of goats-hair cloth, which the nomadic tribes of that country have used from time immemorial. Probably these were the proper habitations of the Midianites; the "cities" would have belonged to the previous inhabitants of the land.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v16 The counsel of Balaam.
Num_31:16
The counsel of Balaam.
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The counsel of Balaam
It would seem, then, that this people that was to dwell alone and not be reckoned among the nations had not dwelt alone; and that one man, at least, of the people in whom God had not beheld iniquity nor seen perverseness, had been guilty of the most flagrant iniquity and perverseness. For not only had he, an Israelitish prince, brought the daughter of a Midianitish prince unto his brethren--which was in itself an unlawful act--but he had done this openly and shamelessly, in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of Israel (Num_25:6). But how came it to pass that these Moabites and Midianites, who, only yesterday as it were, displayed such relentless hostility to Israel, should, to-day, be upon such friendly terms with them? How was it that, whereas but yesterday--so to speak--the king of Moab sent princes of Moab and Midian to Balaam, the son of Beor to Pethor in Mesopotamia, entreating him to come and curse the Israelites--sparing nothing to secure this end--these hostile princes are now giving their daughters to the Israelites in the most intimate companionship? Surely there must be some treachery in this proceeding! And so it seemed there was. Balaam, after his repulse by Balak, had fled, not to his own land, but to Midian, the confederate of Moab; and, not daring to curse the people himself, had suggested to the Midianites a method of leading them into iniquity, as a means of bringing a curse on them from God. And this new scheme had propitiated Balak, who had been so fiercely enraged against Balaam, and who now consulted (Mic_6:5) with Balaam; who counselled (Num_31:16) this expedient of mischief. So the matter came out upon the death of Balaam, and so is it explained in my text.
1. Balaam plainly committed this crime with his eyes open to the wrong be was doing. Out of his own mouth we may judge him. In a moment of prophetic inspiration he protested to Balak that his eyes were open; that he had heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High. Balaams sin, then, was committed knowingly, consciously, wilfully. He was not overtaken in a fault. He set himself to do wickedly.
2. And he was influenced to take this course by the meanest of motives. He loved the wages of unrighteousness.
3. And if anything could have aggravated the meanness of the motive that influenced Balaam in betraying Israel, it was the baseness of the method he adopted to accomplish that design. God had revealed to him, in prophetic insight, the secret of Israels greatness and strength. And Balaam used the very inspiration which God gave him to injure, fatally, Gods own chosen people. And the cowardice of his procedure was in keeping with its baseness. He would not touch Israel himself. He dare not utter a word against them; but be could whisper suggestions of evil into the ears of others, that they might execute the diabolical design. (W. Roberts.)
Balaams devilish policy
This policy was fetched from the bottom of hell. It is not for lack of desire that I curse not Israel; thou dost not more wish their destruction, than I do thy wealth and honour; but so long as they hold firm with God, there is no sorcery against Jacob: withdraw God from them, and they shall fall alone, and curse themselves; draw them into sin, and thou shalt withdraw God from them. There is no sin more plausible than wantonness. One fornication shall draw in another, and both shall fetch the anger of God after them; their sight shall draw them to lust, their lust to folly, their folly to idolatry; and now God shall curse them for thee unasked. Where Balaam did speak well, there was never any prophet spake more divinely; where he spake ill, there was never any devil spake more desperately. Ill counsel seldom succeedeth not; good seed often falls out of the way, and roots not; but the tares never light amiss. This project of the wicked magician was too prosperous. (Bp. Hall.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv13, 19 The Manner of Dealing with the Captives
The Manner of Dealing with the Captives
v. 13. And Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and all the princes of the congregation went forth to meet them without the camp, full of eagerness to see the evidence of God’s avenging justice.
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v. 14. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds which came from the battle.
v. 15. And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? It was a decided expression of disapproval at this course of action.
v. 16. Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord, they had given the Israelites occasion to become unfaithful to Jehovah, in the matter of Peor, in the immoral service of this idol, Numbers 25, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
v. 17. Now, therefore, kill every male among the little ones, to prevent the reestablishment of the nation, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him, in carnal intercourse, for there was the danger that any one of these women may have been engaged in the shameless practices connected with the service of Peor and that the children of Israel would thus be contaminated by these women.
v. 18. But all the women children that have not known a man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves, as slaves or handmaids, for marriage with such was not forbidden. The great God is terrible in His judgments, a fact which should teach us to fear His wrath and not act contrary to His commandments.
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 vv9, 11, 13, 16, 18 They took these as plunder
They took these as plunder
"They took the Midianites' possessions as their own"
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They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps
"Israel's army burned all the Midianites' cities where the Midianites lived and all the Midianites' camps"
translationWords
Israel
captive
Midian
cow
flocks
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 vv9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 19 31:9-13 After the battle, the Hebrews began the practice…
31:9-13 After the battle, the Hebrews began the practice that they sometimes followed throughout the period of conquest and beyond (e.g., Josh 6; 8; 10–11). They destroyed their enemies (sometimes the total population), burned towns, and set aside spoils for their own use or as dedicated to the Lord.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.