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Numbers 31:13

in Numbers 31

And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

KJV

And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

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This verse in Numbers 31

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Moses, and Eleazar the priest, . . . went forth to meet them without the camp--partly as a token of respect and congratulation on their victory, partly to see how they had executed the Lord's commands, and partly to prevent the defilement of the camp by the entrance of warriors stained with blood.

This site's exposition

went forth to meet them without the camp

on Numbers 31:13-16

The army is met outside the camp with the women of Midian alive among the captives, and Moses is angry with the officers. Verse 16 supplies what chapters 22 to 24 never said, that these women acted through the counsel of Balaam in the matter of Peor. Chapter 25 had told the seduction without naming its author, and the New Testament follows this verse rather than the narrative at 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 11 and Revelation 2:14, where Balaam is the man who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

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 Gen 14:17.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is very probable that Moses had commanded them to kill the women, at least this was implied in the general order to avenge Israel of the Midianites; the execution having reference to that crime, their drawing them in to the worship of Peor, it was easy to conclude that the women, who were the principal criminals, must not be spared.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֵּ֨צְא֜וּand they went out

    vaiyetzeuH3318 →1067 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֨הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • וְאֶלְעָזָ֧רand Eleazar

    veelazarH499 →72 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֛ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • נְשִׂיאֵ֥י[the] leaders of

    nesieiH5387 →134 times

  • הָעֵדָ֖הthe congregation

    haedahH5712 →149 times

  • לִקְרָאתָ֑םto meet them

    likratamH7122 →139 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מִח֖וּץfrom [the] outside

    michutzH2351 →164 times

  • לַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃of the camp

    lamachanehH4264 →215 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 5:2“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.2 works1 Samuel 30:21When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him from the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,2 worksNumbers 31:12They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.2 works1 Samuel 15:12Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”2 worksGenesis 14:17After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).2 worksNumbers 19:11Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Numbers 31:22–24Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—2 worksLeviticus 4:22When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 15:12

    Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone…

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 18:18

      During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joshua 15:55

      Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

  • Through

    Numbers 5:2

    “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 21:1

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,

    • Leviticus 13:46

      As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.

    • Numbers 12:14

      But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days;…

    • Numbers 9:6–10

      But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day

    • Numbers 31:19

      All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both…

  • Through

    Numbers 31:12

    They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 22:1

      Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.

About Numbers

The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 31 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 31 →