Numbers 31:49
in Numbers 31and said, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war that are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.
KJV
And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
There is no mention of any resistance on the part of the Midianites. The Israelites saw in this and in the preservation of all those engaged, proofs that the Lord had been with them in the work, and hence, the free-will oblation of Num 31:50.
This site's exposition
the officers which were over thousands of the host
on Numbers 31:48-50
The officers come to Moses without being sent for, having taken the sum of their men, and they report that there lacketh not one man of us. Barnes observes that the chapter records no resistance from Midian at all, and the officers read that outcome as the reason for the gift they bring. What they call the gift is an atonement for our souls, which is the language of Exodus 30:12, where taking the sum of Israel required a ransom for every man numbered so that there be no plague among them. That camp had buried twenty four thousand in the plague of 25:9.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The holy instruments - The holy breast-plate, wherein was the Urim and Thummim, which was easily carried, and very useful in war upon many emergent occasions. All the males - Namely all who lived in those parts, for colonies of them, were sent forth to remoter places, which therefore had no hand either in their former sin, or in this present ruling.
And they said unto Moses,....
It is an evidence of the tender feeling which these commanders had for their soldiers, and that their lives were very precious to them, that they looked upon it as a mercy to themselves that none of those under their charge miscarried. Of all that were given them they had lost none; so precious also is the blood of Christ's subjects and soldiers to him, Ps. lxxii.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
officers . . . said . . . there lacketh not one man of us--A victory so signal, and the glory of which was untarnished by the loss of a single Israelitish soldier, was an astonishing miracle.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ | ʾavadeikha | servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| נָֽשְׂא֗וּ | naseu | they have lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֹ֛אשׁ | rosh | [the] head of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֥י | ʾanshei | [the] men of | H582 → | 566 times |
| הַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה | hamilchamah | <the> war | H4421 → | 320 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּיָדֵ֑נוּ | beyadenu | [were] in hand our | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִפְקַ֥ד | nifkad | he is missing | H6485 → | 303 times |
| מִמֶּ֖נּוּ | mimenu | from us | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| אִֽישׁ׃ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙and they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
עֲבָדֶ֣יךָservants your
ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
נָֽשְׂא֗וּthey have lifted up
naseuH5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֹ֛אשׁ[the] head of
roshH7218 →599 times
אַנְשֵׁ֥י[the] men of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
הַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה<the> war
hamilchamahH4421 →320 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּיָדֵ֑נוּ[were] in hand our
beyadenuH3027 →1618 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
נִפְקַ֥דhe is missing
nifkadH6485 →303 times
מִמֶּ֖נּוּfrom us
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
אִֽישׁ׃anyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 stopsEach 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
John 18:9This was to fulfill the word He had spoken: “I have not lost one of those You have given Me.”
it leads to
- John 17:12
While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture…
- John 17:12
Through
Psalms 72:14He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in his sight.
it leads to
- Psalms 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
- Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
- Luke 1:68–75
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15–16
who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- 2 Samuel 4:9
But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,
- Psalms 116:15
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.