1324 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, c. ) So far as they went into the country, which, perhaps, might not be the whole land of Midian: and all their goodly castles with fire which were either the palaces of their princes and nobles, or such like great personages; or they were fortified places, for the security of their cities and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they took all the spoil,.... In their cities and castles; and all the prey, both of men and of beasts; all sorts of cattle, oxen, sheep, and asses.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ver. 12 And they brought the captives, the prey, and the spoil,.... The women and children, who were the captives, and the beasts which were the prey, and the gold, silver, c. which were the spoil: unto Moses and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel that is, they were bringing the above persons things unto them,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation,.... Attended, no doubt, with a proper retinue: went forth to meet them without the camp; partly to do honour to them, and to congratulate them on their victory, and partly to hinder them going into the camp directly, until they were purified; see Genesis 14:17.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host,.... The general officers who had the command of the army, for there does not appear to be anyone that was one general over the whole, otherwise the displeasure would have fallen upon him: [with] the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle; rather "with"...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses said unto them, have ye saved all the women alive?] Which either had been reported to him, or he concluded, by seeing so many with them; and this question is put, not for information, but by way of reproof, and as chiding them for what they had done; for they might have received orders from him to put them to death, when he sent them...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam,.... Who advised the Midianites to send their women into the camp of Israel, and allure them to uncleanness, and so draw them into idolatry, which counsel they followed and it succeeded; for, by this means, they were brought to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones,.... Which they had taken and brought captives, Numbers 31:9 and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him; who might be such, at least many of them, who had lain with Israelitish men; and as the adulterers had been put to death, so now the adulteresses; or they were ordered to, be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But all the women children,.... The females among the little ones: that have not known a man by lying with him; which might be pretty clear, and easily concluded, from their age: keep for yourselves; either to be handmaids to them, or to be married among them when grown up, and become proselytes, and initiated into their religion.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And do ye abide without the camp seven days..... Which was the time that anyone that touched a dead body remained unclean, Numbers 19:11, whosoever hath killed any person; as most of them if not all must have done; all the males of Midian that fell into their hands being slain by them, that were men grown: and whosoever hath touched any slain; as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And purify all your raiment,.... By washing them; and this may intend not so much their own wearing apparel, as the raiment they took off of the dead bodies of the Midianites, since the person that touched a dead body was not obliged to wash his clothes, but the clean person that sprinkled the water of purification on him, Numbers 19:19, some...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war, which went to the battle,.... To all the soldiers, officers, and common men: this is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord commanded Moses; concerning the purification of unclean persons and things, hereby confirming what Moses had said.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead. These are excepted, and, though unclean, are not to be purified by washing, but in another way, by fire, as follows; all these metals were well known in those early times, and were made use of for instruments and vessels of various sorts.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire,.... Either through the smoke of the fire, and so be purified by suffumigation; or be put into the fire itself, where though they might be melted as the above things, yet not consumed as raiment, and vessels of skins, goats' hair, and wood, would be: and it shall be clean;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day,.... As the leper did, Leviticus 14:9: and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp; into the camp of Israel, into the camp of the Levites, and into the camp of God, the tabernacle.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the purification of the soldiers, their captives, and spoil: saying; as follows.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and beast,.... The number of the females that were taken captive and spared, and of the cattle, the sheep, oxen, and asses: thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation; who were all men of authority and character, and fit to be employed in such service, and of whose...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And divide the prey into two parts,.... Into two equal parts, both the number of the people and of the cattle, when taken: between them that took the war upon them, and went out to battle; the soldiers; and by this it appears that they went voluntarily and cheerfully: and between all the congregation; so that the part of them that went to battle,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And take it of their half,.... Of the half part of the prey divided to the soldiers: and give it unto Eleazar the priest for an heave offering of the Lord; by way of thanksgiving for the success and victory, God had given them, by means of which so much booty had fallen into their hands.