Números 31

ARC · Chapter 31/36

1E fallou o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

2Vinga os filhos d'Israel dos midianitas: depois recolhido serás aos teus povos.

3Fallou pois Moysés ao povo, dizendo: Armem-se alguns de vós para a guerra, e saiam contra os midianitas, para fazerem a vingança do Senhor nos midianitas.

4Mil de cada tribu entre todas as tribus de Israel enviareis á guerra.

5Assim foram dados dos milhares d'Israel mil de cada tribu: doze mil armados para a peleja.

6E Moysés os mandou á guerra de cada tribu mil, a elles e a Phineas, filho d'Eleazar sacerdote, á guerra com os vasos sanctos, e com as trombetas do alarido na sua mão.

7E pelejaram contra os midianitas, como o Senhor ordenara a Moysés: e mataram a todo o macho.

8Mataram mais, além dos que já foram mortos, os reis dos midianitas, Evi, e a Requem, e a Zur, e a Hur, e a Reba, cinco reis dos midianitas: tambem a Balaão filho de Beor mataram á espada.

9Porém os filhos d'Israel levaram presas as mulheres dos midianitas, e as suas creanças: tambem roubaram todos os seus animaes, e todo o seu gado, e toda a sua fazenda.

10E queimaram a fogo todas as suas cidades com todas as suas habitações, e todos os seus acampamentos.

11E tomaram todo o despojo e toda a presa d'homens e d'animais.

12E trouxeram a Moysés e a Eleazar o sacerdote e á congregação dos filhos de Israel os captiveiros, e a presa, e o despojo para o arraial, nas campinas de Moab, que estão junto do Jordão de Jericó.

13Porém Moysés e Eleazar, o sacerdote, e todos os maioraes da congregação sairam a recebel-os até fóra do arraial.

14E indignou-se Moysés grandemente contra os officiaes do exercito, capitães dos milhares e capitães das centenas, que vinham do serviço d'aquella guerra.

15E Moysés disse-lhes: Deixastes viver todas as mulheres?

16Eis que estas foram as que por conselho de Balaão deram occasião aos filhos de Israel de traspassar contra o Senhor, no negocio de Peor: pelo que aquella praga houve entre a congregação do Senhor.

17Agora pois matae todo o macho entre as creanças; e matae toda a mulher, que conheceu algum homem, deitando-se com elle.

18Porém todas as creanças femeas, que não conheceram algum homem deitando-se com elle, para vós deixae viver.

19E vós alojae-vos sete dias fóra do arraial: qualquer que tiver matado alguma pessoa, e qualquer que tiver tocado algum morto, ao terceiro dia, e ao setimo dia vos purificareis, a vós e a vossos captivos.

20Tambem purificareis todo o vestido, e toda a obra de pelles, e toda a obra de pellos de cabras, e todo o vaso de madeira.

21E disse Eleazar, o sacerdote, aos homens da guerra, que partiram á peleja: Este é o estatuto da lei que o Senhor ordenou a Moysés.

22Comtudo o oiro, e a prata, o cobre, o ferro, o estanho, e o chumbo;

23Toda a cousa que pode supportar o fogo, para que fique limpo: todavia se expiará com a agua da separação: mas tudo que não pode supportar o fogo, o fareis passar pela agua.

24Tambem lavareis os vossos vestidos ao setimo dia, para que fiqueis limpos: e depois entrareis no arraial.

25Fallou mais o Senhor a Moysés dizendo:

26Toma a somma da presa dos prisioneiros, de homens, e d'animaes, tu e Eleazar, o sacerdote, e os Cabeças das casas dos paes da congregação;

27E divide a presa em duas metades, entre os que accometteram a peleja, e sairam á guerra, e toda a congregação.

28Então para o Senhor tomará o tributo dos homens de guerra, que sairam a esta guerra, de cada quinhentos uma alma, dos homens, e dos bois, e dos jumentos e das ovelhas.

29Da sua ametade o tomareis, e o dareis ao sacerdote, Eleazar, para a offerta alçada do Senhor.

30Mas da metade dos filhos de Israel tomarás de cada cincoenta um, dos homens, dos bois, dos jumentos, e das ovelhas, de todos os animaes; e os darás aos levitas que teem cuidado da guarda do tabernaculo do Senhor.

31E fizeram Moysés e Eleazar, o sacerdote, como o Senhor ordenara a Moysés.

32Foi pois a presa, o restante do despojo, que tomaram os homens de guerra, seiscentas e setenta e cinco mil ovelhas;

33E setenta e dois mil bois;

34E sessenta e um mil jumentos;

35E, das mulheres que não conheceram homem algum deitando-se com elle, todas as almas foram trinta e duas mil.

36E a metade, a parte dos que sairam á guerra, foi em numero de trezentas e trinta e sete mil e quinhentas ovelhas.

37E das ovelhas foi o tributo para o Senhor seiscentas e setenta e cinco.

38E foram os bois trinta e seis mil: e o seu tributo para o Senhor setenta e dois.

39E foram os jumentos trinta mil e quinhentos: e o seu tributo para o Senhor sessenta e um.

40E houve d'almas humanas dezeseis mil: e o seu tributo para o Senhor trinta e duas almas.

41E deu Moysés a Eleazar, o sacerdote, o tributo da offerta alçada do Senhor, como o Senhor ordenara a Moysés.

42E da metade dos filhos de Israel que Moysés partira da dos homens que pelejaram.

43(A metade para a congregação foi, das ovelhas, trezentas e trinta e sete mil e quinhentas;

44E dos bois trinta e seis mil;

45E dos jumentos trinta mil e quinhentos;

46E das almas humanas dezeseis mil),

47D'esta metade dos filhos de Israel, Moysés tomou um de cada cincoenta, d'homens e d'animaes, e os deu aos levitas, que tinham cuidado da guarda do tabernaculo do Senhor, como o Senhor ordenara a Moysés.

48Então chegaram-se a Moysés os capitães que estavam sobre os milhares do exercito, os tribunos e os centuriões;

49E disseram a Moysés: Teus servos tomaram a somma dos homens de guerra que estiveram sob a nossa mão; e nenhum falta de nós.

50Pelo que trouxemos uma offerta ao Senhor, cada um o que achou, vasos d'oiro, cadeias, ou manilhas, anneis, arrecadas, e collares, para fazer propiciação pelas nossas almas perante o Senhor.

51Assim Moysés e Eleazar o sacerdote tomaram d'elles o oiro; sendo todos os vasos bem obrados.

52E foi todo o oiro da offerta alçada, que offereceram ao Senhor, dezeseis mil e setecentos e cincoenta siclos, dos tribunos e dos centuriões.

53(Pois os homens de guerra, cada um tinha tomado presa para si).

54Tomaram pois Moysés e Eleazar o sacerdote o oiro dos tribunos e dos centuriões, e o trouxeram á tenda da congregação por lembrança para os filhos d'Israel perante o Senhor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God orders Israel to carry out vengeance against the Midianites for their role in the seduction at Baal-Peor. Israel wins the war, kills the five Midianite kings and Balaam, and after Moses rebukes them for sparing the women, purifies the plunder and divides it between the warriors and the congregation.

Explanation

This particular war against Midian is presented not as an ordinary territorial conquest, but as a response of justice for the spiritual and physical harm caused through the seduction plan revealed as orchestrated by Balaam (v. 16), directly linking this chapter to the events of chapter 25. Moses's order to kill the women who took part in the seduction, though troubling by modern standards, reflects the understanding that the specific threat came from them — this was not general ethnic vengeance, but the elimination of those who had been the direct instrument of Israel's spiritual corruption. The careful and proportional division of the plunder between those who fought and the whole congregation, including a tribute for the priests and Levites, shows an organized system of distributive justice even in wartime.

Fun facts

  • Balaam's death in this battle (v. 8) clarifies his final fate after all his earlier oracles — despite having blessed Israel by God's command, he perished among the Midianites because of the treacherous counsel he gave, showing narrative coherence between chapters 22-24 and 31.
  • The process of purifying metal objects captured in war through fire, and other materials through water (v. 21-24), demonstrates a practical understanding that different materials required different methods of ritual purification, adapting the general principle to the physical reality of the objects.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 31:1The LORD speaks to Moses, launching the war against Midian, already announced back in chapter 25 as a response to the episode at Baal-peor.
  2. Números 31:2God orders a war against the Midianites as retaliation for the episode at Baal-peor in chapter 25, in which Midianite women had drawn the people into another cult. It is presented as a specific act of vengeance for that event, not a war of territorial conquest like the earlier ones.
  3. Números 31:3Moses passes the order on to the people: some men were to arm themselves to carry out this specific act of the LORD’s vengeance against the Midianites.
  4. Números 31:4The call asks for a thousand men from each tribe of Israel to form the army for this war.
  5. Números 31:5In total, twelve thousand armed men are gathered, a thousand from each of the twelve tribes.
  6. Números 31:6Moses sends this army to war along with Phinehas, son of Eleazar, carrying the sacred objects and the trumpets for sounding the alarm.
  7. Números 31:7They fight against the Midianites exactly as the LORD had commanded, killing all the men.
  8. Números 31:8Among the dead were five kings of Midian, and also Balaam, son of Beor — the same prophet who had refused to curse Israel, but who apparently stayed nearby and ended up caught up in the Baal-peor scheme.
  9. Números 31:9The Israelites capture the Midianite women and children, as well as taking all the cattle, flocks, and goods as spoils of war.
  10. Números 31:10All the Midianite cities, dwellings, and encampments are burned completely.
  11. Números 31:11Israel gathers up all this plunder, both people and animals, to bring back with them.
  12. Números 31:12The captives and the plunder are brought to Moses, Eleazar, and the whole congregation, at the camp in the plains of Moab.
  13. Números 31:13Moses, Eleazar, and the leaders of the congregation go out to meet the army outside the camp itself.
  14. Números 31:14Moses becomes furious with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds who were returning from the war.
  15. Números 31:15He asks the commanders directly: why did you let all the women live?
  16. Números 31:16Moses explains the reason for his anger: it was precisely these women who, following Balaam’s advice, led Israel into sin in the episode at Baal-peor, causing the plague that killed thousands.
  17. Números 31:17After the victory, Moses orders the killing of every boy and every woman who had already been with a man, but sparing the young virgin girls. It is a shocking order by today’s standards; the text ties these women specifically to the episode at Baal-peor, treating them as responsible for drawing Israel into another cult, but there is no softening the harshness of the measure itself.
  18. Números 31:18Even with the harsh order in the previous verse, the girls who had not yet been with any man could be spared.
  19. Números 31:19The soldiers who had killed someone or touched a dead body had to stay seven days outside the main camp, going through a purification process before they could return. It was the same logic as other laws in the book: contact with death, even in war, left a person temporarily unclean.
  20. Números 31:20After the war, it was also necessary to purify clothing, leather goods, goat-hair items, and wooden articles, all contaminated by contact with death.
  21. Números 31:21Eleazar explains to the soldiers that this purification was part of a specific law the LORD had already given to Moses.
  22. Números 31:22The rule lists the metals captured as plunder: gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead.
  23. Números 31:23Anything that could withstand fire had to go through fire to become clean, and then also go through the water of purification; whatever could not withstand fire had to go through the water alone.
  24. Números 31:24The soldiers themselves still had to wash their clothes on the seventh day before they could finally return to the camp.
  25. Números 31:25The LORD speaks to Moses once more, now to explain how to divide all the captured plunder.
  26. Números 31:26The instruction is to take a full count of everything captured, people and animals, with the help of Eleazar and the family leaders.
  27. Números 31:27Once counted, the plunder was to be divided into two equal halves: one for the soldiers who went to war, the other for the rest of the congregation.
  28. Números 31:28A portion of what was taken in the war, both people and animals, was set apart as a tribute to the LORD, given to the priests and the Levites. It was a way of acknowledging that the victory came from God, dividing the spoils of war formally between those who had fought and the rest of the people.
  29. Números 31:29From the soldiers’ half, a specific portion was to be set apart and given to Eleazar, as a heave offering to the LORD.
  30. Números 31:30From the half that stayed with the rest of the people, the proportion was smaller: one out of every fifty, given to the Levites responsible for the tabernacle.
  31. Números 31:31Moses and Eleazar carry out this division exactly as the LORD had commanded.
  32. Números 31:32The total plunder captured by the soldiers came to 675,000 sheep.
  33. Números 31:33These 72,000 cattle are part of the plunder taken from the Midianites, along with sheep, donkeys, and captives — all later divided in half between the soldiers and the rest of the people.
  34. Números 31:34The 61,000 donkeys complete the list of plunder from Midian, together with cattle and an even larger number of sheep — 675,000 in all, according to this chapter’s account.
  35. Números 31:35Among the captured women, 32,000 were girls who had not yet been with any man.
  36. Números 31:36The half set aside for the soldiers who went to war totaled 337,500 sheep.
  37. Números 31:37From that half of the sheep, the tribute set apart for the LORD was 675 animals.
  38. Números 31:38The cattle in that half totaled 36,000, with a tribute of 72 for the LORD.
  39. Números 31:39Of the 30,500 donkeys, 61 went as tribute to the LORD — one out of every five hundred, the same proportion applied to everything that fell to the soldiers.
  40. Números 31:40The captured people totaled 16,000, with a tribute of 32 for the LORD.
  41. Números 31:41Moses hands over this specific tribute to Eleazar, exactly as the LORD had commanded.
  42. Números 31:42Moving now to the other half, set aside for the rest of the people who did not go to war,
  43. Números 31:43This half belonging to the congregation totaled 337,500 sheep — the same number as the soldiers’ half, since the division had been made in equal parts.
  44. Números 31:44These 36,000 cattle are exactly half of the 72,000 captured — the other half went to the soldiers who fought in the war; this half belonged to the rest of the people.
  45. Números 31:4530,500 is half of the 61,000 donkeys taken as plunder, set aside for the rest of the congregation — the other half went to those who actually fought against Midian.
  46. Números 31:46And the captured people totaled 16,000 — identical numbers to the other half.
  47. Números 31:47From this half belonging to the people, Moses sets apart one out of every fifty and gives it to the Levites, exactly as the LORD had commanded.
  48. Números 31:48The army commanders, in charge of the thousands and hundreds of soldiers, present themselves before Moses.
  49. Números 31:49They report that they took a count of the men under their command and that not a single soldier had been lost in the battle.
  50. Números 31:50Because of this, they bring an extra offering to the LORD: gold jewelry that each man found as plunder, offered as a way of making atonement for their own lives.
  51. Números 31:51Moses and Eleazar receive this gold, all of it already crafted into pieces.
  52. Números 31:52The total gold offered by the commanders came to 16,750 shekels.
  53. Números 31:53The text notes that, apart from this extra offering, each soldier had already kept his own personal plunder from the war.
  54. Números 31:54Moses and Eleazar bring this gold to the tent of meeting, keeping it as a permanent reminder before the LORD on behalf of the people of Israel.

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