seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Numbers 31:25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. 27 Divide the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. 28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. 29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part. 30 From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. 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 plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.
36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was:
337,500 sheep, 37 of which the tribute for the Lord was 675;
38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;
39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;
40 16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32.
41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men— 43 the community’s half—was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.
48 Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses 49 and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing. 50 So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. 52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.[a] 53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.
32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.
36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was:
337,500 sheep, 37 of which the tribute for the Lord was 675;
38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;
39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;
40 16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32.
41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men— 43 the community’s half—was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.
48 Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses 49 and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing. 50 So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. 52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.[a] 53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.
a. Numbers 31:52 That is, about 420 pounds or about 190 kilograms
Ok, consider a bracelet, how much does it weigh? Now consider the gift of crafted articles weighed 420 pounds. That gold weighed more than any one person I know. I would say I could probably easily find two people who together don't weigh 420 pounds.
There were 12,000 men who went to war and 12,000 returned. That's quite a victory.
Here's what the easy English commentary says about these verses.
It was the custom to share the spoils between the soldiers and the people who did not fight. Only 12 000 Israelites fought in this battle. But there were 601,730 men who could fight in Israel’s army (26:51). And of course, there were women and children too. Clearly, the soldiers who actually fought in the battle deserved their reward. But the people who remained in the camp would receive something too.
God told Moses to share the spoils equally between the soldiers and the people. Then, both the soldiers and the people had to give a part of their share to the priests and to Levi’s tribe. When they gave this to the priests and their helpers, they were giving it to God really.
The priests received one five-hundredth (that is, one part out of 500) of the soldiers’ share. Levi’s tribe received one-fiftieth (that is, one part out of 50) of the people’s share. When the soldiers and the people gave their gifts, they were thanking God. He had protected them all and he had helped them to defeat their enemies.
It seems that each share included animals and prisoners only. The soldiers had kept the gold and other precious things for themselves. But they brought to Moses all the gold jewellery that they had taken. (Jewellery is the name for precious metal objects that people wear, such as rings.)
God had kept every soldier safe. Not one soldier had died (verse 49). After the people had counted the soldiers, it was essential to make this payment to God (compare Exodus 30:11-16). The soldiers had to fight and to kill. Although God had ordered this, still the act made them unclean. Also, they were responsible for what they had done.
They had to make a special payment, called the ‘atonement payment’. An atonement payment was like the money that people had to pay after the census in Exodus 30:11-16. The soldiers had received mercy that they did not deserve from God. (Mercy is kindness to someone who deserves punishment.) God allowed them to live. They had to give a payment to show that they realised this. If they did not do this, they would be guilty of sin.
Moses and Eleazar put this gold in God’s Tent as a memorial (an object that reminds people or God about an important event). God would remember about the atonement payment. The people had spilled human blood when they had killed the Midianites. But they had paid the atonement payment. So God would have mercy on the Israelites. (Mercy is kindness to someone who deserves punishment.) They should not be happy because of the death of their enemies, even during a war.
God told Moses to share the spoils equally between the soldiers and the people. Then, both the soldiers and the people had to give a part of their share to the priests and to Levi’s tribe. When they gave this to the priests and their helpers, they were giving it to God really.
The priests received one five-hundredth (that is, one part out of 500) of the soldiers’ share. Levi’s tribe received one-fiftieth (that is, one part out of 50) of the people’s share. When the soldiers and the people gave their gifts, they were thanking God. He had protected them all and he had helped them to defeat their enemies.
It seems that each share included animals and prisoners only. The soldiers had kept the gold and other precious things for themselves. But they brought to Moses all the gold jewellery that they had taken. (Jewellery is the name for precious metal objects that people wear, such as rings.)
God had kept every soldier safe. Not one soldier had died (verse 49). After the people had counted the soldiers, it was essential to make this payment to God (compare Exodus 30:11-16). The soldiers had to fight and to kill. Although God had ordered this, still the act made them unclean. Also, they were responsible for what they had done.
They had to make a special payment, called the ‘atonement payment’. An atonement payment was like the money that people had to pay after the census in Exodus 30:11-16. The soldiers had received mercy that they did not deserve from God. (Mercy is kindness to someone who deserves punishment.) God allowed them to live. They had to give a payment to show that they realised this. If they did not do this, they would be guilty of sin.
Moses and Eleazar put this gold in God’s Tent as a memorial (an object that reminds people or God about an important event). God would remember about the atonement payment. The people had spilled human blood when they had killed the Midianites. But they had paid the atonement payment. So God would have mercy on the Israelites. (Mercy is kindness to someone who deserves punishment.) They should not be happy because of the death of their enemies, even during a war.
I got this last little tidbit from biblehub.com.
Divide the prey into two parts. This division was founded roughly upon the equity of the case; on the one hand, all Israel had suffered from Midian; on the other, only the twelve thousand had risked their lives to smite Midian. For the application of a like principle to other cases see Joshua 22:8; 1 Samuel 30:24
I have to remember.... Balak, the king, asked Balaam, the prophet for hire, to curse the Israelites who had escaped from slavery in Egypt. Balak, the king, was afraid that the Israelites would overrun his country. God wouldn't let Balaam, the prophet for hire, accomplish one cursing. Balaam, the prophet for hire, was a greedy sole. He wasn't going to get paid if he couldn't make Balak, the king, happy.
Balaam, the prophet for hire, got the people of Midian to take their pagan religious practices into the Israelite camp. Part of that religious practice involved sex in the service and 24,000 Israelites died. The plague that killed the 24,000 was stopped by God when the priest skewered a man and the Midianite woman he brought into camp.
The priest that skewered the couple causing God to stop the plague was chosen to lead 12,000 men into battle. They were victorious. Moses made sure that God's rules of engagement were followed. The spoils of war were separated with God, the priest, the soldiers and those who stayed back in camp.
