Numbers 31:32

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.

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

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.

Verse 32. The booty] It appears from the enumeration here that the Israelites, in this war against the Midianites, took 32,000 female prisoners, 61,000 asses, 72,000 beeves, 675,000 sheep and small cattle; besides the immense number of males who fell in battle, and the women and children who were slain by the Divine command, Nu 31:17. And it does not appear that in this expedition, a single man of Israel fell! This was naturally to be expected, because the battle was the Lord's, Nu 31:49.

As the booty was divided into two equal parts, Nu 31:22, one for the soldiers employed in the expedition, and the other for those who, being equally willing to be employed, were ordered to stay in the camp; so each of the parties in this booty was to give a certain proportion to the Lord. The soldiers to give to the Lord one out of every five hundred persons, beeves, asses, and sheep, Nu 31:28. The people, who by staying at home risked nothing, and had no fatigue, were to give one out of fifty of the above, Nu 31:30. The booty, its divisions among the soldiers and people, the proportion given by each to the Lord and to the Levites, will be seen in one view by the following table, which I copy from Houbigant.

Total of sheep 675,000

To the soldiers .. 337,500

To the people ... 337,500

.. of beeves ... 72,000

To the soldiers .... 36,000

To the people ..... 36,000

.. of asses ..... 61,000

To the soldiers .... 30,500

To the people ..... 30,500

.. of persons .. 32,000

To the soldiers .... 16,000

To the people ..... 16,000

..... sheep .......

To the Lord from the soldiers ....... 675

To the Levites from the people .. 6,750

..... beeves ......

To the Lord from the soldiers ........ 72

To the Levites from the people .... 720

..... asses .......

To the Lord from the soldiers ........ 61

To the Levites from the people .... 610

..... persons .....

To the Lord from the soldiers ........ 32

To the Levites from the people .... 320

In this table the booty is equally divided between the people and the soldiers; a five-hundredth part being given to the Lord, and a fiftieth part to the Levites.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(32) And the booty, being the rest of the prey . . . —The reference may be to the residue of the captives after the slaughter of all the males and of a large number of the women, and to the cattle which were brought to the camp, some, it may be, having been lost or slaughtered for food; or it may be to the booty which had been taken in captives and animals, as distinguished from the gold and silver, &c.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. over and above the booty] the remainder of the booty. The revisers connected the words with Num_31:53 (see marg. there), but that is concerned only with the private looting of gold ornaments. Here ‘the booty’ is synonymous with ‘the prey,’ and the words may be paraphrased ‘the prey, or rather that which remained of it.’ That which was captured on the field of battle would be diminished from a variety of causes, e.g. the necessary slaughter of animals for food, possibly the death from hardships on the return journey of some among the prisoners who were ill or infirm; also by the slaughter commanded in Num_31:17.

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.

And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord,.... The whole amount, weight, and value of it put together:

even of the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, and perhaps of every common soldier, who might contribute his part, though it is not mentioned, but included in the oblation of the officers:

was 16,750 shekels; which, according to the calculation of a very learned man (i), were 7,780 ounces, four drachms, two scruples, and thirty five grains.

(i) Scheuchzer. Physica Sacr. vol. 2. p. 399.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Compare Num 31:11, and render “And the prey” (i. e., the live prey) “in addition to the spoil which the men of war seized, etc.” The “spoil” is described in Num 31:50.

The number of sheep, beeves, asses, and persons taken is given in this and following verses in round thousands. Hence, the Lord’s tribute (Num 31:29, Num 31:37-38, etc.), being the 500th part of the half, comes out also in round numbers. The enormous amount both of live stock and of personal ornament was characteristic of the Midianites. When they invaded Israel in the days of the Judges, their wealth was still of the same kind (Jdg 6:5; Jdg 8:24 ff). The Bedouins, notwithstanding their wild nomadic life, retain their ancestral love of finery to the present day.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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).

The rest of the prey; all which was now left of the prey. It is so expressed because they took more, but some of the persons were since killed, Num 31:17, and some of the cattle was spent for the necessary provisions of the army.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The booty, being the rest of the prey. Rather, "the prey (jwOqlMh, see on verse 11), to wit, the rest of the booty". (zBh, as in Num_14:3, Num_14:31) Septuagint, to pleonasma thv pronomhv , i.e., what actually remained to be divided. The numbers given are obviously round numbers, such as the Israelites seem always to have employed in enumeration. The immense quantity of cattle captured was in accordance with the habits of the Midianites in the days of Gideon (Jud_1:6:5) and of their modem representatives today.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now

This word is used here to mark a break in the main teaching. Here Moses begins listing the amount of plunder and how much went to the soldiers, to the people, and to Yahweh.

675,000 sheep

"six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep" (See: Numbers)

seventy-two thousand oxen, sixty-one thousand donkeys, and thirty-two thousand women

"72,000 oxen, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 women" (See: Numbers)

women who had never slept with any man

This refers to women who are virgins. (See: Euphemism)

translationWords

ewe

cow

donkey

had relations with

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ויהי המלקוח יתר הבז AND THE PREY, OVER AND ABOVE THE BOOTY … WAS [SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND etc.] — Because they had not been commanded (v. 28) to levy a tribute from the movables but only from the מלקוח (the men and cattle; cf. Rashi on v. 11) it (Scripture) writes this expression: ויהי המלקוח, that which came under the law of being divided (v. 27) and which also came under the law of tribute — which was over and above (יתר) the booty of the movables, אשר בזזו עם הצבא איש לו WHICH THE MEN OF THE HOST HAD PLUNDERED, EACH FOR HIMSELF, and which did not come under the law of being divided, — the number of sheep was etc. (i.e. צאן at the beginning of the second half of the verse means: the number of sheep).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.