Numbers 31:25-47
New English Translation
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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- Numbers 31:26 tn The idiom here is “take up the head,” meaning take a census, or count the totals.
- 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.
- Numbers 31:32 tn Heb “people.”
- Numbers 31:32 tn Heb “had plundered.”
- 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.
- 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.
- Numbers 31:38 tn The word “numbered” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 31:40 tn Heb “soul.”
- Numbers 31:42 tn Heb “the men who were fighting.”
Numbers 31:25-47
Christian Standard Bible
25 The Lord told Moses, 26 “You, the priest Eleazar, and the family heads of the community are to take a count of what was captured, people and animals. 27 Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to war and the entire community.(A) 28 Set aside a tribute for the Lord from what belongs to the fighting men who went out to war: one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29 Take the tribute from their half and give it to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the Lord. 30 From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty from the people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats, all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who perform the duties of[a] the Lord’s tabernacle.”
31 So Moses and the priest Eleazar did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The captives remaining from the plunder the army had taken totaled:
675,000 sheep and goats,
33 72,000 cattle,
34 61,000 donkeys,
35 and 32,000 people, all the females who had not gone to bed with a man.
36 The half portion for those who went out to war numbered:
337,500 sheep and goats,
37 and the tribute to the Lord was 675
from the sheep and goats;
38 from the 36,000 cattle,
the tribute to the Lord was 72;
39 from the 30,500 donkeys,
the tribute to the Lord was 61;
40 and from the 16,000 people,
the tribute to the Lord was 32 people.
41 Moses gave the tribute to the priest Eleazar as a contribution for the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42 From the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from the men who fought, 43 the community’s half was:
337,500 sheep and goats,
44 36,000 cattle,
45 30,500 donkeys,
46 and 16,000 people.
47 Moses took one out of every fifty, selected from the people and the livestock of the Israelites’ half. He gave them to the Levites who perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle, as the Lord had commanded him.
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- 31:30 Or who protect
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