Numbers 31:34 — Word Study
WLCוַחֲמֹרִ֕ים אֶחָ֥ד וְשִׁשִּׁ֖ים אָֽלֶף׃
BSA61,000 {}ʼechâd donkeyschămôwr [asses, male donkeys]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַחֲמֹרִ֕ים | and donkeys | Conjunction, noun common both plural absolute |
| אֶחָ֥ד | one | Adj |
| וְשִׁשִּׁ֖ים | and sixty | Conjunction |
| אָֽלֶף׃ | thousand |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | 61,000 donkeys, |
| KJV | And threescore and one thousand asses, |
| ASV | and threescore and one thousand asses, |
| YLT | and of asses one and sixty thousand; |
| WEB | sixty-one thousand donkeys, |
| BBE | And sixty-one thousand asses; |
Where they part company is with the word חֲמוֹר — see How Translations Differ.
The structure is straightforward, listing the count followed by the noun, with no additional clauses.
2 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Numbers 31:34
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Inventory of Spoils from Wargenerated
Numbers 31:34 lists the spoils taken after the Israelites defeated the Midianites. This verse specifically mentions the number of donkeys among the captured livestock, emphasizing the wealth acquired through victory. This inventory is part of a larger account that details the distribution of spoils among the Israelite soldiers and the community.
Cross References
The Key Word — חֲמוֹר, va.cha.mo.Rimgenerated
The word חֲמוֹר (chamor) refers specifically to a male donkey. It is derived from a root meaning 'to be red' or 'dun,' which connects to the animal's reddish-brown color. In this verse, it denotes the count of donkeys taken as spoils, highlighting their value in ancient Israelite society.
This noun is in the plural form, indicating a significant number of these animals. The parsing shows it as a common noun in the plural absolute, which is appropriate for the context of counting spoils.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The finite verb is absent in this enumeration, as the structure is primarily a noun phrase followed by numeral phrases. The sentence lists the count of donkeys as part of a broader inventory of spoils, emphasizing the total quantity.
The Hebrew word order places the count of donkeys prominently, indicating its significance in the overall tally of captured goods.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates חֲמוֹר as ὄνοι, which also means 'donkeys.' This choice aligns closely with the Hebrew meaning, maintaining the specific reference to this type of animal.
The use of ὄνοι shows a direct correspondence to the Hebrew term, indicating the translators aimed to preserve the original context of livestock in the spoils.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Numbers 31:34 tells us that after a battle, the Israelites counted 61,000 donkeys among the spoils. This count is part of a larger list of animals and goods taken, showing the wealth gained from their victory.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
It represents a significant quantity of donkeys taken as spoils from the battle, indicating the wealth and resources acquired by the Israelites.
Donkeys were valuable animals in ancient times, used for transportation and labor, making them important assets for the community.
This verse is part of a larger account detailing the spoils taken after the Israelites' victory over the Midianites, emphasizing the organization and distribution of resources.
The detailed listing of spoils reflects the importance of accounting for resources in ancient Israelite society and the blessings of victory.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What does the count of 61,000 donkeys tell us about the resources available to the Israelites after the battle?
- How can we understand the significance of livestock in ancient cultures based on this verse?
- In what ways can we see the importance of organization and accounting in our own lives?
- What lessons about stewardship can we draw from the Israelites' careful inventory of spoils?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Numbers 31:34 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd threescore and twelve thousand beeves, No JFB commentary on these verses.
Read Robert Jamieson on Numbers 31 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges25–54. The apportionment of the spoil. Those who fought and those who remained behind were to receive equal shares. This was an ancient custom, which was traced to the action of David (1 Samuel 30:24 f.). But before the appropriation by individuals, a religious tax was to be paid. The fighters were to pay from their share 1/500th to the priests, and the others 1/50th to the Levites. Such a tax is not mentioned elsewhere in the O.T., but perhaps, like the foregoing regulation, it had an ancient custom behind it. Mohammed, whose religion was ultimately based on the O.T., enjoined a similar tax of 1/5th (Koran viii. 42, cited by Gray).
Read Cambridge on Numbers 31 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
61,000 donkeys,
sixty-one thousand donkeys,
61,000 donkeys,
61,000 donkeys,
Tyndale line
And threescore and one thousand asses,
and threescore and one thousand asses,
and threescore and one thousand asses,
And sixty one thousand asses,
And three score and one thousand asses,
Strictly literal
and sixty-one thousand asses,
and of asses one and sixty thousand;
and sixty-one thousand donkeys;
And of asses, sixty and one thousand,
sixty-one thousand donkeys,
From the Latin
Sixty-one thousand asses:
Simplified
61,000 donkeys,
And sixty-one thousand asses;
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text is supported by the Samaritan Pentateuch, which agrees word for word. The Septuagint matches all four words, while the Dead Sea Scrolls show no surviving text for this verse, indicating it was restored by an editor.
וַחֲמֹרִ֕ים אֶחָ֥ד וְשִׁשִּׁ֖ים אָֽלֶף׃
4 of the 4 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
וחמרים אחד ושׁשׁים אלף
Agrees with the Masoretic Text here, word for word.
[וחמורים] [אחד] [וששים] [אלף]
nothing on the leather here — 4 supplied entire by an editor.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Numbers 31:34
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
חֲמוֹר (chamor) refers to a male donkey, derived from a root meaning 'to be red' or 'dun.' The term is consistently translated as 'ass' or 'donkey' across various lexicons, indicating its specific reference to this animal in the Old Testament.
חֲמוֹר n.m. (he)-ass
base
H2543 חֲמוֹר (he)-ass
2543 chamowr kham-ore'
or (shortened) chamor {kham-ore}; from 2560; a male ass (from
its dun red):--(he)ass.
see HEBREW for 02560
חֲמוֹר (cha.mor) — donkey.
(he) ass
Conj | N-cp — Conjunction · noun common both plural absoluteHC/Ncbpa
אֶחָד (echad) means 'one' and is derived from a numeral. It encompasses meanings such as each, every, a certain, and can serve as an indefinite article. It is also used as an ordinal to denote 'first' and appears in various combinations, including eleven. The entries consistently emphasize its numerical and qualitative aspects.
אֶחָד 972 adj.num. one
one
= each, every
= a certain
= indef. art.
only, & (fem.) once
one … another, one … the other
as ordinal first
in combin.
base
H259 אֶחָד one . one
. = each, every
. = a certain
. = indef. art.
. only, & (fem.) once
. one … another, one … the other
. as ordinal first
. in combin.
259 'echad ekh-awd'
a numeral from 258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an
ordinal) first:--a, alike, alone, altogether, and,
any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-)ly, each (one), +
eleven, every, few, first, + highway, a man, once, one, only,
other, some, together,
see HEBREW for 0258
אֶחָד (e.chad) — one.
1) one (number)
1a) one (number)
1b) each, every
1c) a certain
1d) an (indefinite article)
1e) only, once, once for all
1f) one...another, the one...the other, one after another, one by one
1g) first
1h) eleven (in combination), eleventh (ordinal)
Adj — AdjHAcfsa
wun.
See NUMBER.
שִׁשִּׁים (shishshiym) means 'sixty' in Hebrew. It is a numeral derived from the root associated with the number 8337. The term is used in various contexts in the Old Testament to denote the quantity of sixty, also referred to as 'three score.' There is an Aramaic equivalent, שִׁתִּין (shit.tin), which also means sixty.
שִׁשִּׁים 59 n.indecl. sixty
base
H8346 שִׁשִּׁים sixty
8346 shishshiym shish-sheem'
multiple of 8337; sixty:--sixty, three score.
see HEBREW for 08337
שִׁשִּׁים (shish.shim) — sixty.
sixty, three score
Aramaic equivalent: shit.tin (שִׁתִּין "sixty" H8361)
HC/Acmpa — ConjunctionHC/Acmpa
siks'-ti (shishshim; hexekonta).
See NUMBER.
אֶ֫לֶף (eleph) means 'thousand' in Hebrew. It can refer to the numeral itself or denote a company or clan, particularly a group of men under one leader. The word is built from the concept of a thousand, and it is associated with the ox's head, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
אֶ֫לֶף n.m. thousand
base
H505 אֶ֫לֶף thousand
505 'eleph eh'-lef
prop, the same as 504; hence (the ox's head being the first
letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral)
a thousand:--thousand.
see HEBREW for 0504
אֶ֫לֶף (e.leph) — thousand.
: thousand
1) a thousand
1a) as numeral
2) a thousand, company
2a) as a company of men under one leader, troops
אֶ֫לֶף (e.leph) — thousand: clan.
: clan
1) a thousand
1a) as numeral
2) a thousand, company
2a) as a company of men under one leader, troops
HAcbsa — HAcbsa
thou'-zand ('eleph; chilioi).
See NUMBER.