Numbers 31:28

_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:_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

28._And levy a tribute unto the Lord. _God now requires a tribute, or holy oblation, out of the spoil from both parties, but in unequal portions, the people paying ten times more than the soldiers. There was a twofold reason and object for this tribute; for it was not fair that the Levites alone should be sent away empty, as if their condition were worse than that of the rest, because they were occupied in the service of God, and in taking care of the holy things. But the part which He assigns to them, God commands to be offered to Himself, that men may not only regard equity amongst each other, but that religion may stand in the foremost place; for nothing can be more unreasonable than that the rights of men should be maintained inviolate, whilst God himself is overlooked. In order, then, to testify their piety, the offering was enjoined, as if God claimed for Himself the glory of the v...

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....

Verse Numbers 31:28. _AND LEVY A TRIBUTE UNTO THE LORD - ONE SOUL OF FIVE_ _HUNDRED, C._] The _person_ to be employed in the Lord's service, under the Levites-the _cattle_ either for sacrifice, or for the use of the Levites, Numbers 31:30. Some monsters have supposed that _one_ out of every _five hundred_ of the captives was offered in sacrifice to the Lord! but this is abominable. When God chose to have the life of a man, he took it in the way of _justice_, as in the case of Midianites above, but never in the way of _sacrifice_....

AND LEVY A TRIBUTE UNTO THE LORD OF THE MEN OF WAR, WHICH WENT OUT TO BATTLE,.... That is, out of the part of the prey which was divided to them: ONE SOUL OF FIVE HUNDRED, both "of the persons"; or one woman of five hundred, as the Targum of Jonathan: AND OF THE BEEVES, AND OF THE ASSES, AND OF THE SHEEP; that is, one out of five hundred, of each of them also....

7. THE WAR AGAINST THE MIDIANITES CHAPTER 31 _ 1. The command to fight Midian (Numbers 31:1)_ 2. The war (Numbers 31:7) 3. The cleansing (Numbers 31:13) 4. The spoil taken (Numbers 31:25) 5. The oblation of the officers (Numbers 31:48) War is commanded next by the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, “Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered to thy people.” This is, therefore, the last thing in the official life of Moses. This war against Midian had been com

THE DIVISION OF THE BOOTY. The principle of equal division between those who went forth to fight, and those who remained in the camp was observed by David (1 Samuel 30:22), who seems to have been the first to establish such a rule. The tax of ⅟? 500 of the combatants'share for the priests and of ⅟? 50 of the residue for the Levites is not elsewhere mentioned. NUMBERS 31:50. ANKLE CHAINS: the use of these made the steps of the wearers short and tripping (Isaiah 3:16 *, Isaiah 3:20). But some translate bracelets (_cf._ 2 Samuel 1:10),

TRIBUTE. computed value, assigned to Jehovah. Hebrew. _mekes._ Occurs only in this chapter. SOUL. Hebrew. _nephesh._ PERSONS. men. Hebrew. _'adam._...

_The apportionment of the spoil_. Those who fought and those who remained behind were to receive equal shares. This was an ancient custom, which was traced to the action of David (1 Samuel 30:24 f.). But before the appropriation by individuals, a religious tax was to be paid. The fighters were to pay from their share 1/500th to the priests, and the others 1/50th to the Levites. Such a tax is not mentioned elsewhere in the O.T., but perhaps, like the foregoing regulation, it had an ancient custom behind it. Mohammed, whose religion was ultimately based on the O.T., enjoined a similar tax of 1/5th (_Koran_viii. 42, cited by Gray)....

A TRIBUTE UNTO THE LORD—ONE SOUL OF FIVE HUNDRED— As the word _soul_ refers to the cattle as well as to the men, it would be better to render this, _one life,_ or _living being,_ of _five hundred._ God being the sovereign of the nation, this tribute was an homage of submission and gratitude justly due to him; and the custom was imitated by the heathens. The Philistines hung up the arms of Saul in the temple of Ashteroth; 1 Samuel 31:10 and the Greeks and Romans, in like manner, consecrated them to their different divinities. See Virg. AEn. iii. ver. 222. and Saurin's 67th Dissertation. _The Lord's tribute of persons_ was a tribute or donation for the use of the priests and Levites, to be employed by them as the ministers and servants; i.e. they were to be to the tribe of Levi what the rest of the captives were to the other tribes: they, as well as the other part o