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Numbers 31:5

in Numbers 31

So a thousand men were recruited from each tribe of Israel—twelve thousand armed for war.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

KJV

So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

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This verse in Numbers 31

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

delivered out of the thousands of Israel

on Numbers 31:5-12

Twelve thousand men go out, and Phinehas goes with them carrying the holy instruments and the trumpets, which Numbers 10:9 had appointed for war so that Israel would be remembered before the Lord. Phinehas is the man who stopped the plague at Peor in chapter 25, and Balaam falls in this battle among the five kings of Midian. Joshua 13:21-22 lists the same five as princes of Midian who were dukes of Sihon, and names Balaam the soothsayer slain with the sword among them. The narrative had last left him at 24:25, rising up and returning to his place.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

So they were delivered out of the thousands of Israel,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

there were delivered--that is, drafted, chosen, an equal amount from each tribe, to prevent the outbreak of mutual jealousy or strife. Considering the numerical force of the enemy, this was a small quota to furnish. But the design was to exercise their faith and animate them to the approaching invasion of Canaan.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

10 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.

  • וַיִּמָּֽסְרוּ֙and they were selected

    vaiyimaseruH4560 →

  • מֵאַלְפֵ֣יfrom [the] thousands of

    mealfeiH505 →505 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אֶ֖לֶףone thousand

    ʾelefH505 →505 times

  • לַמַּטֶּ֑הto the tribe

    lamatehH4294 →252 times

  • שְׁנֵים־two [plus]

    sheneim-H8147 →768 times

  • עָשָׂ֥רten

    ʾasarH6240 →338 times

  • אֶ֖לֶףthousand

    ʾelefH505 →505 times

  • חֲלוּצֵ֥יarmed [men] of

    chalutzeiH2502 →44 times

  • צָבָֽא׃war

    tzava'H6635 →485 times

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

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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Numbers 31 →