26 "You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. 27 Divide the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. 28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. 29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord's part. 30 From the Israelites' half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord's tabernacle." 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man. 36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was: 337,500 sheep, 37 of which the tribute for the Lord was 675; 38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72; 39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61; 40 16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32. 41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord's part, as the Lord commanded Moses. 42 The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men- 43 the community's half-was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the Israelites' half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord's tabernacle.
26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation: 27 And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation: 28 And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep: 29 Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the Lord. 30 And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks,
26 "Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. 30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord." 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 and the Lord's tribute of sheep was 675. 38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord's tribute was 61. 40 The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 32 persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses. 42 From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army-- 43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons-- 47 from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
26 "I want you and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders in the community to count the captives, people and animals. 27 Split the plunder between the soldiers who fought the battle and the rest of the congregation. 28 "Then tax the booty that goes to the soldiers at the rate of one life out of five hundred, whether humans, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. 29 It's a God-tax taken from their half-share to be turned over to Eleazar the priest on behalf of God. 30 Tax the congregation's half-share at the rate of one life out of fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, or other animals. Give this to the Levites who are in charge of the care of God's Dwelling." 31 Moses and Eleazar followed through with what God had commanded Moses. 32 The rest of the plunder taken by the army: 675,000 sheep 33 72,000 cattle 34 61,000 donkeys 35 32,000 women who were virgins 36 The half-share for those who had fought in the war: 37 with a tax of 675 for God 38 36,000 cattle, with a tax of 72 for God 39 30,500 donkeys, with a tax of 61 for God 40 16,000 people, with a tax of 32 for God 41 Moses turned the tax over to Eleazar the priest as God's part, following God's instructions to Moses. 42 The other half-share for the Israelite community that Moses set apart from what was given to the men who fought the war was: 43 337,500 sheep 44 36,000 cattle 45 30,500 donkeys 46 16,000 people 47 From the half-share going to the People of Israel, Moses, just as God had instructed him, picked one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites, who were in charge of maintaining God's Dwelling.
26 "Count up the plunder that was taken--of man and beast--you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; 27 and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 28 And levy a tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; 29 take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord. 30 And from the children of Israel's half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord." 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately. 36 And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep; 37 and the Lord's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was seventy-two. 39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord's tribute was sixty-one. 40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord's heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses. 42 And from the children of Israel's half, which Moses separated from the men who fought-- 43 now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons-- 47 and from the children of Israel's half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
26 "You and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of each tribe are to make a list of all the plunder taken in the battle, including the people and animals. 27 Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people. 28 From the army's portion, first give the Lord his share of the plunder-one of every 500Â of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29 Give this share of the army's half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord . 30 From the half that belongs to the people of Israel, take one of every fifty of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and other animals. Give this share to the Levites, who are in charge of maintaining the Lord 's Tabernacle." 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The plunder remaining from everything the fighting men had taken totaled 675,000 sheep and goats, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 virgin girls. 36 Half of the plunder was given to the fighting men. It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, 37 of which 675Â were the Lord 's share; 38 36,000 cattle, of which 72Â were the Lord 's share; 39 30,500 donkeys, of which 61Â were the Lord 's share; 40 and 16,000 virgin girls, of whom 32Â were the Lord 's share. 41 Moses gave all the Lord 's share to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had directed him. 42 Half of the plunder belonged to the people of Israel, and Moses separated it from the half belonging to the fighting men. 43 It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 virgin girls. 47 From the half-share given to the people, Moses took one of every fifty prisoners and animals and gave them to the Levites, who maintained the Lord 's Tabernacle. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 31:26-47
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.