25 And the Lord said to Moses, 26 Get an account of everything which was taken in the war, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of families of the people: 27 And let division be made of it into two parts, one for the men of war who went out to the fight, and one for all the people: 28 And from the men of war who went out let there be offered to the Lord one out of every five hundred, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep: 29 Take this from their part and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to be lifted up to the Lord. 30 And from the part given to the children of Israel, take one out of every fifty, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep, and give it to the Levites who have the care of the House of the Lord. 31 So Eleazar and Moses did as the Lord had given orders to Moses. 32 Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 And seventy-two thousand oxen, 34 And sixty-one thousand asses; 35 And thirty-two thousand persons, that is, women who had never had sex relations with a man. 36 And the half given as their part to the men who went to the war, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep, 37 Of which the Lord's part was six hundred and seventy-five. 38 The number of oxen was thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's part was seventy-two; 39 The number of asses was thirty thousand, five hundred, of which the Lord's part was sixty-one. 40 And the number of persons was sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's part was thirty-two persons. 41 And Moses gave the Lord's part, lifted up as an offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had given orders to Moses. 42 And from the half given to the children of Israel, which Moses had kept separate from that given to the fighting-men, 43 (Now the people's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep, 44 And thirty-six thousand oxen, 45 And thirty thousand, five hundred asses, 46 And sixteen thousand persons;) 47 Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 31:25-47
Commentary on Numbers 31:25-47
(Read Numbers 31:25-47)
Whatever we have, God justly claims a part. Out of the people's share God required one in fifty, but out of the soldiers' share only one in five hundred. The less opportunity we have of honouring God with personal services, the more should we give in money or value.