Numbers 31:1

And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the plague upon Israel for their fornication and idolatry, into which they were drawn by the daughters of Moab and Midian, and after the sum of the people was

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge ... of the Midianites - a semi-nomadic people, descended from Abraham and Keturah, occupying a tract of country east

XXXI.(1) Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites.—The time had now come for the fulfilment of the command which had already been given (see Numbers 25:16-18), after which Moses was to be gathered unto his people, as it had been revealed to him (Numbers 27:13). After Balaam had been dismissed by Balak, he appears to have gone, not to the Moabites, but to the Midianites; and it was in consequence of the counsel which he gave to the Midianites (Numbers 5:16) that the Israelites were reduced into the idolatrous and lascivious worship of Baal Peor. It is possible, also, that the Midianites, as the descendants of Abraham, may have possessed clearer light and greater privileges than the Moabites. They may have had many men as enlightened as Jethro amongst them, and consequently they may have incurred the greater guilt, and rendered themselves obnoxious to the severer punishment of those who, “after they have known the way of righteousness, turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:21). But whether satisfactory reasons can or cannot be assigned why a more exemplary judgment should have been inflicted upon the Midianites than upon the Moabites, who were not left unpunished (see Deuteronomy 23:3-4), those only can maintain that the destruction of the Midianites is inconsistent with the justice or the goodness of God who deny that He has absolute control over the destinies of all the creatures of His hands, and that when it is His pleasure to recall the life which He has bestowed, it is for Him to determine what agents or what instruments it is best to employ.

CHAPTER XXXI The command of the Lord to make war on the Midianites, 1, 2. One thousand men are chosen out of each of the twelve tribes, and sent with Phinehas against the Midianites, 3-6. They slay all the males, 7; their five kings and Balaam, 8. They take all the women captives, with the flocks and goods, 9; burn their cities, and bring away the spoil, 10,11. They bring the captives, c., to Moses, who is wroth with the officers for sparing the women, who had formerly been the cause of their transgression and punishment, 12-16. He commands all the male children and all the grown up females to be slain, 17, 18. How the soldiers were to purify themselves, 19, 20 and the different articles taken in war, 21-24. They are commanded to take the sum of the prey, to divide it into two parts; one for the 12,000 warriors, and the other for the rest of the congregation, 25-27. One of 500, both of persons and cattle, of the share of the warriors, to be given to the Lord, 28, 29; and one part of fifty, of the people's share, to be given to the Levites, 30. The sum of the prey remaining after the above division; sheep 675,000, beeves 72,000, asses 61,000, young women 32,000, ver. 31-35. How the soldiers' part was divided, 36-40. How the part belonging to the congregation was divided, 41-47. The officers report that they had not lost a man in this war, 48, 49. They bring a voluntary oblation to God, of gold and ornaments, 50, 51; the amount of which was 16,750 shekels, 52, 53. Moses and Eleazar bring the gold into the tabernacle for a memorial, 54. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXI

1–18. The utter destruction of every Midianite, with the exception of the virgins who are to be kept as spoil.

MIDIAN AND BALAAM SLAIN, Numbers 31:1-12. 2. Avenge the children of Israel — This is stronger than an ordinary declaration of war. It is the execution of the righteous sentence of Jehovah.