Numbers 31:32

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30 And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take ^aone of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites ^bwho keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

33 seventy-two thousand cattle,

34 sixty-one thousand donkeys,

35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately.

36 And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep;

37 and the Lord’s¹ tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.

38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was seventy-two.

39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord’s tribute was sixty-one.

40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’s tribute was thirty-two persons.

41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord’s heave offering to Eleazar the priest, ^aas the Lord commanded Moses.

42 And from the children of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who fought—

43 now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,

44 thirty-six thousand cattle,

45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,

46 and sixteen thousand persons—

47 and ^afrom the children of Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses;

49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing.

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Numbers 31:33 >>

Numbers 31:32

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, Numbers 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, Numbers 31:49.

As the booty was divided into two equal parts, Numbers 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, Numbers 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, Numbers 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 Lord from the soldiers - 675

To the people - 337,500

To the Levites from the people - 6,750

Total of beeves - 72, 00

To the soldiers - 36,000

To the Lord from the soldiers - 72

To the people - 36,000

To the Levites from the people - 720

Total of asses - 1,000

To the soldiers - 30,500

To the Lord from the soldiers - 61

To the people - 30,500

To the Levites from the people - 610

Total of persons - 32,000

To the soldiers.. 16,000

To the Lord from the soldiers - 32

To the Levites from the people - 320

To the people - 16,000

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.

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing Numbers 31:32:**

Judges 11:40
Revelation 2:14

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Numbers 31:33 >>

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