311 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 2 'Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites—afterwards thou art gathered unto thy people.' 3 And Moses speaketh unto the people, saying, 'Be ye armed some of you for the host, and they are against Midian, to put the vengeance of Jehovah on Midian; 4 a thousand for a tribe—a thousand for a tribe, to all the tribes of Israel—ye do send to the host.' 5 And there are given out of the thousands of Israel a thousand for a tribe, twelve thousand armed ones of the host; 6 and Moses sendeth them, a thousand for a tribe, to the host, them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the host; and the holy vessels, and the trumpets of the shouting, in his hand.
7 And they war against Midian, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses, and slay every male; 8 and the kings of Midian they have slain, besides their pierced ones, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; and Balaam son of Beor, they have slain with the sword. 9 And the sons of Israel take captive the women of Midian, and their infants; and all their cattle, and all their substance, and all their wealth they have plundered; 10 and all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, they have burnt with fire. 11 And they take all the spoil, and all the prey, among man and among beast; 12 and they bring in, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the company of the sons of Israel, the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto the camp, unto the plains of Moab, which 'are' by Jordan, 'near' Jericho.
13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the company, go out to meet them, unto the outside of the camp, 14 and Moses is wroth against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the host of the battle. 15 And Moses saith unto them, 'Have ye kept alive every female? 16 lo, they—they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the company of Jehovah. 17 'And now, slay ye every male among the infants, yea, every woman known of man by the lying of a male ye have slain;
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 31:1-17
Commentary on Numbers 31:1-6
(Read Numbers 31:1-6)
All who, without commission from God, dare to execute private revenge, and who, from ambition, covetousness, or resentment, wage war and desolate kingdoms, must one day answer for it. But if God, instead of sending an earthquake, a pestilence, or a famine, be pleased to authorize and command any people to avenge his cause, such a commission surely is just and right. The Israelites could show such a commission, though no persons now can do so. Their wars were begun and carried on expressly by Divine direction, and they were enabled to conquer by miracles. Unless it can be proved that the wicked Canaanites did not deserve their doom, objectors only prove their dislike to God, and their love to his enemies. Man makes light of the evil of sin, but God abhors it. This explains the terrible executions of the nations which had filled the measure of their sins.
Commentary on Numbers 31:7-12
(Read Numbers 31:7-12)
The Israelites slew the Kings of Midian. They slew Balaam. God's overruling providence brought him thither, and their just vengeance found him. Had he himself rightly believed what he had said of the happy state of Israel, he would not have thus herded with the enemies of Israel. The Midianites' wicked wiles were Balaam's projects: it was just that he should perish with them, Hosea 4:5. They took the women and children captives. They burnt their cities and castles, and returned to the camp.
Commentary on Numbers 31:13-18
(Read Numbers 31:13-18)
The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting others; it teaches us to avoid all occasions of evil, and to give no quarter to inward lusts. The women and children were not kept for sinful purposes, but for slaves, a custom every where practised in former times, as to captives. In the course of providence, when famine and plagues visit a nation for sin, children suffer in the common calamity. In this case parents are punished in their children; and for children dying before actual sin, full provision is made as to their eternal happiness, by the mercy of God in Christ.