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The LORD spoke to Moses:
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“Take vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people.”
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Then Moses said to the people, “Let some men among you arm themselves for war, so that they may go against Midian to carry out the LORD’s vengeance on Midian.
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From every tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send a thousand men to the war.”
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So a thousand from each tribe of the tribes of Israel were supplied, twelve thousand armed for war.
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Then Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, carrying the holy articles and the signal trumpets.
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They went to war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
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Besides those who were slain, they also killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
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Then Israel took captive the Midianite women and their children; and they plundered all their livestock, all their herds, and all their goods,
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and they burned all their towns where they lived, and all their encampments.
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Then all the spoil and all the plunder, both people and animals, were taken,
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and the captives, the spoil, and the plunder were brought to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel, to the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.
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Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went out of the camp to meet them.
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Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the battle.
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Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?
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Look, these women, at Balaam’s counsel, caused the Israelites to act unfaithfully against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so that the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.
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Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by lying with him.
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But all the young girls who have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
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And you, camp outside the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain person shall purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, both you and your captives;
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and every garment, and every article of leather, and every thing made of goats’ hair, and every article of wood, shall be purified.”
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Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone out to battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD commanded Moses.
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Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
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everything that can endure fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot endure fire you shall pass through the water.
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You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; afterward you may come into the camp.”
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The LORD spoke to Moses:
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“Take the count of the spoil that has been brought in, both of persons and of livestock—you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation.
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Then divide the spoil between the warriors who went out to battle and the whole congregation.
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And you shall set apart a tribute for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of every five hundred, whether of persons, of oxen, of donkeys, or of sheep;
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from their half you shall take it, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD.
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But from the other half, which belongs to the Israelites, you shall take one out of every fifty, whether of persons, of oxen, of donkeys, or of sheep—of all the livestock—and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”
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Then Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
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Now the spoil, the remainder of what the army had plundered, was: six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
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and seventy-two thousand oxen,
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and sixty-one thousand donkeys,
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and as for the persons, the women who had not known a man, all together thirty-two thousand.
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And the half, which was the portion of those who had gone out to battle, was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
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and the tribute for the LORD from the sheep was six hundred seventy-five;
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the oxen were thirty-six thousand, and the tribute for the LORD was seventy-two;
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the donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, and the tribute for the LORD was sixty-one;
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and the persons were sixteen thousand, and the tribute for the LORD was thirty-two.
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Then Moses gave the tribute that was set apart for the LORD to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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And the other half, which belonged to the Israelites, that Moses had separated from the men who had gone to war,
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that is, the half belonging to the rest of the congregation: sheep, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred;
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cattle, thirty-six thousand;
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donkeys, thirty thousand five hundred;
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and persons, sixteen thousand.
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Then Moses took from the half that belonged to the other Israelites one out of every fifty, both of persons and of animals, and gave them all to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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Then the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses
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and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of them is missing.
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Therefore we bring as an offering to the LORD what each man has found, namely articles of gold: armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our lives before the LORD.”
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So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all of it fashioned work.
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And all the gold of the special offering that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, amounted to sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.
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But the soldiers had each taken plunder for themselves.
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After Moses and Eleazar the priest had received the gold from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, they brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial before the LORD for the Israelites.
⚔️🔥🧾 Summary of Numbers 31 – Retribution against Midian and the Purification of the People
Numbers 31 records God’s command to Moses to punish the Midianites, who had previously led Israel astray through sexual deceit and idolatry (see Numbers 25). This is Moses’ final battle before his death.
The chapter also emphasizes the principles of holiness, obedience, and the fair distribution of the spoils of war.
📌 1. The LORD’s Command: Take Vengeance on Midian (verses 1–6)
- The LORD said to Moses:
“Carry out vengeance on the Midianites for the sake of the Israelites; afterward you will be gathered to your people.”
- Moses mobilized 12,000 men (1,000 from each tribe), led by Phinehas, who carried the sacred objects and the war trumpets.
🎯 This command was spiritual, not personal revenge — as a form of God’s judgment against sin.
📌 2. Complete Victory over Midian (verses 7–12)
- Israel killed all the men, including the five kings of Midian and Balaam son of Beor, who had caused Israel to fall into sin.
- They took the women and the children captive, and also took the livestock and the spoil.
🎯 Balaam, who once blessed Israel, finally perished through compromise — showing the importance of full faithfulness to God.
📌 3. Moses’ Rebuke over the Female Captives (verses 13–18)
- Moses was angry because the Midianite women had not been killed, though they were the ones who led the people astray at Peor.
- Moses commanded:
Kill all the male children and the women who have known a man,
Only the virgins were left alive.
🎯 This was not cruelty, but a form of cleansing from a destructive spiritual influence.
📌 4. Purification of the Self and the Spoil (verses 19–24)
- All soldiers who touched a corpse had to stay outside the camp for 7 days and purify themselves.
- Gold, silver, bronze, and metal objects had to be purified by fire, while the others by the water of cleansing.
🎯 After the battle, the people were taught that victory must be accompanied by purification, not only celebration.
📌 5. Distribution of the Spoils of War & Voluntary Offerings (verses 25–54)
- The plunder was divided in two:
Half for the soldiers,
Half for the rest of the people.
- A required offering was given:
1/500 of the soldiers’ portion for the Lord,
1/50 of the people’s portion for the Levites.
- The commanders of the army also brought additional gold as a voluntary offering because not one of them had fallen in the battle.
🎯 Sincere gratitude produces abundant and spontaneous offerings.
📖 Main Lessons
- Spiritual warfare is real and must be carried out by God’s command and wisdom.
- Victory must be accompanied by cleansing, not merely celebration.
- Sin and its influence must be completely removed — compromise only opens the way to ruin.
- The leadership of Moses and Phinehas shows an example in obedience and holiness.
- True gratitude produces voluntary offerings, not merely obligation.
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Testament)
- Midian is a picture of the world and the temptations that mislead God’s people — and we are called to wage spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12).
- Phinehas carried holy instruments in battle, symbolizing that we must lead a holy life in the warfare of faith.
- Balaam is an example of a false teacher (2 Peter 2:15; Revelation 2:14) — even a spiritually gifted person can fall if he pursues gain.
- The freewill offering of the leaders shows hearts that know the grace of the Lord — not only obeying, but giving with joy.
