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Division of the War-Booty

25 Yahweh said to Moses, saying, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the families[a] of the community, take count[b] of the war-booty that was captured, both humans[c] and the domestic animals;[d] 27 divide the war-booty between those who engaged in the war, who went out to the battle, and all the community. 28 Exact a tribute for Yahweh from the men of the war, those who went out to the battle, one from five hundred persons, and from the cattle and from the male donkeys and from the flock; 29 take from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to Yahweh. 30 From half of the Israelites,[e] take one share drawn by lot from the fifty from the humans,[f] from the cattle, from the male donkeys, from the flock, from all the domestic animals,[g] and give them to the Levities who keep the responsibilities of the tabernacle of Yahweh.” 31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

32 Thus the war-booty that remained of the plunder that the people of the battle plundered was six hundred and seventy-five thousand flocks of sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand male donkeys, 35 and the life of humankind, from the women who did not have sexual intercourse with a man,[h] all the persons[i] were thirty-two thousand.

36 The half of the share that was going out to the battle: the number of the flock of sheep was thee hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred; 37 the tribute to Yahweh from the flock was six hundred and seventy-five; 38 and the cattle were thirty-six thousand; and the tribute to Yahweh was seventy-two. 39 Of the male donkeys there were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute to Yahweh was sixty-one; 40 the humans[j] were sixteen thousand, and the tribute to Yahweh was thirty-two persons. 41 And Moses gave away the tribute of the contribution of Yahweh to Eleazar the priest, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

42 From the half of the Israelites,[k] which Moses divided from the men who were fighting, 43 the half that belonged to the community was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred from the flock, 44 and thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 and thirty thousand five hundred male donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand humans.[l] 47 From the half that belonged to the Israelites,[m] Moses took one share drawn by lot out of every fifty humans[n] and domestic animals, and he gave them to the Levites, who keep the responsibility of the tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:26 Literally “fathers”
  2. Numbers 31:26 Literally “lift up the head”
  3. Numbers 31:26 Hebrew “human”
  4. Numbers 31:26 Hebrew “animal”
  5. Numbers 31:30 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  6. Numbers 31:30 Hebrew “human”
  7. Numbers 31:30 Hebrew “animal”
  8. Numbers 31:35 Literally “who has known the bed of a male”
  9. Numbers 31:35 Hebrew “person”
  10. Numbers 31:40 Hebrew “human”
  11. Numbers 31:42 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  12. Numbers 31:46 Hebrew “human”
  13. Numbers 31:47 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  14. Numbers 31:47 Hebrew “human”

The Distribution of Spoils

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 26 “You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum[a] of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals. 27 Divide the plunder into two parts, one for those who took part in the war—who went out to battle—and the other for all the community.

28 “You must exact[b] a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of 500, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep. 29 You are to take it from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest for a raised offering to the Lord. 30 From the Israelites’ half share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep—from every kind of animal—and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The spoil that remained of the plunder that the fighting men[c] had gathered[d] was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000[e] young women who had not experienced a man’s bed.[f]

36 The half portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep; 37 the Lord’s tribute from the sheep was 675. 38 The cattle numbered[g] 36,000; the Lord’s tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61. 40 The people were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 people.[h]

41 So Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord’s raised offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

42 From the Israelites’ half share that Moses had separated from the fighting men,[i] 43 there were 337,500 sheep from the portion belonging to the community, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 people.

47 From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 31:26 tn The idiom here is “take up the head,” meaning take a census, or count the totals.
  2. Numbers 31:28 tn The verb is the Hiphil, “you shall cause to be taken up.” The perfect with vav (ו) continues the sequence of the instructions. This raised offering was to be a tax of one-fifth of one percent for the Lord.
  3. Numbers 31:32 tn Heb “people.”
  4. Numbers 31:32 tn Heb “had plundered.”
  5. Numbers 31:35 sn Here again we encounter one of the difficulties of the book, the use of the large numbers. Only 12,000 soldiers fought the Midianites, but they brought back this amount of plunder, including 32,000 girls. Until a solution for numbers in the book can be found, or the current translation confirmed, one must remain cautious in interpretation.
  6. Numbers 31:35 tn Heb “who have not known a man’s bed.” The verb יָדָע (yadaʿ) “to know,” “be intimate with,” is used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
  7. Numbers 31:38 tn The word “numbered” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  8. Numbers 31:40 tn Heb “soul.”
  9. Numbers 31:42 tn Heb “the men who were fighting.”