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Numbers 31

Numbers 31 recounts YHWH’s judgment on Midian, then places the returning army and its plunder under his commands.

YHWH commands Moses to wage war against Midian before his death. Twelve thousand Israelites go out with Phinehas and kill Midian’s kings and Balaam. When the army returns, Moses connects the women captives with Israel’s trespass at Peor and orders the killing of the boys and women who have slept with men; the girls are kept alive. Instructions follow for purification and the division of captives and livestock. The officers then bring gold for atonement after reporting that no soldier is missing.

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2“Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
3Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian.
4You shall send one thousand out of every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”
6Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
7They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses. They killed every male.
8They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
9The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder.
10All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.
12They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
13Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp.
14Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
15Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive?
16Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.
17Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
18But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19“Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
20You shall purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.”
22However the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23everything that may withstand the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.
24You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.”
27and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
28Levy a tribute to the LORD of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks.
29Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for the LORD’s wave offering.
30Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle.”
41Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.
47even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD commanded Moses.
49They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us.
50We have brought the LORD’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before the LORD.”
54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
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Key verses
Numbers 31:16Moses identifies Balaam’s counsel behind Israel’s trespass at Peor, explaining the connection between Midian and the plague.
Numbers 31:8Balaam dies alongside Midian’s five kings, linking his fate with the people whose actions Moses connects to his counsel.
Numbers 31:50The officers bring gold for atonement after counting their men, and their offering becomes a memorial before YHWH.
Where this chapter reaches

Joshua also records the deaths of Midian’s kings and Balaam, while Revelation shares the account of Balaam leading Israel into sin. Exodus connects the counting of Israel’s people with an atonement payment, a shared concern with the officers’ count and offering here.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What questions remain for you about the judgment on Midian, especially the treatment of the captives?

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What do the purification commands and the officers’ offering show about Israel’s position before YHWH after battle?

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Questions people ask about Numbers 31

Why did Moses order the killing of children in Numbers 31?

Moses orders the killing of the male children within a war YHWH commands as vengeance against Midian. He connects the women with Israel’s trespass at Peor through Balaam’s counsel. The chapter gives no separate explanation for killing the boys and does not describe them as participants in that trespass.

What happened to the girls spared in Numbers 31?

The girls who had not slept with men were kept alive as captives. They were counted among the plunder and divided between the soldiers and the congregation, with portions assigned to Eleazar and the Levites. The chapter does not describe their later lives or say that they became wives.

Why was Balaam killed in Numbers 31?

Verse 8 reports Balaam’s death alongside the five kings of Midian. Verse 16 supplies the connection: Moses says Balaam’s counsel led the women to cause Israel’s trespass against YHWH at Peor. The chapter does not explain why Balaam was present with Midian when the army attacked.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).