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Numbers 31:50

in Numbers 31

So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And we have brought Jehovah’s oblation, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.

KJV

We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord.

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This verse in Numbers 31

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

We have - brought an oblation for the Lord - So it appears there was a great deal of booty taken which did not come into the general account; and of this the soldiers, of their own will, made a very extensive offering to God, because he had preserved them from falling in battle. That not one man should have been slain is a most extraordinary circumstance, and powerfully marks the peculiar superintendence of God’s especial providence. The Midianites must certainly have made some resistance; but that was ineffectual, because it was against the Lord.

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 Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

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.
We have therefore brought an oblation to the Lord,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

We should never take any thing to ourselves, in war or trade, which we cannot in faith consecrate a part of to God, who hates robbery for burnt-offerings; but, when God has remarkably preserved and prospered us, he expects that we should make some particular return of gratitude to him. As to this oblation, (1.) The captains offered it to make an atonement for their souls,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The war was undertaken on the behalf of the whole congregation; they would all have been ready to go to the help of the Lord against the mighty, if they had been so ordered, and they did help, it is likely, by their prayers; and therefore God appoints that those that tarried at home should divide the spoil, Ps. lxviii.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The “chains” were “armlets” 2Sa 1:10. The “rings” were “finger-rings,” or “seal-rings;” and the “tablets” were worn suspended from the neck Exo 35:22. To make an atonement for our souls before the Lord - Compare Exo 30:11-16. The atonement was not for any special offence committed (which would have called for a sacrifice of blood-shedding), but rather like the half-shekel given at the census in the Book of Exodus (loc. cite), was an acknowledgment of having received undeserved mercies. These, if unacknowledged, would have entailed guilt on the soul.

The words behind it

19 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.

  • וַנַּקְרֵ֞בand we have brought near

    vanakrevH7126 →280 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • קָרְבַּ֣ן[the] offering of

    karebanH7133 →82 times

  • יְהוָ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אִישׁ֩everyone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֨ר[that] which

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • מָצָ֤אhe found

    matza'H4672 →455 times

  • כְלִֽי־an article of

    kheli-H3627 →325 times

  • זָהָב֙gold

    zahavH2091 →389 times

  • אֶצְעָדָ֣הan armlet

    ʾetzadahH685 →

  • וְצָמִ֔ידand a bracelet

    vetzamidH6781 →

  • טַבַּ֖עַתa signet-ring

    tabaatH2885 →

  • עָגִ֣ילan earring

    ʾagilH5694 →

  • וְכוּמָ֑זand an ornament

    vekhumazH3558 →

  • לְכַפֵּ֥רto make atonement

    lekhaperH3722 →102 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • נַפְשֹׁתֵ֖ינוּselves our

    nafshoteinuH5315 →754 times

  • לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

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

Related verses

12 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.

Exodus 30:12“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.6 worksExodus 30:15In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.4 worksEzekiel 16:11I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.3 worksSong of Solomon 1:10Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.3 worksPsalms 107:21–22Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.2 worksPsalms 116:12How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me?2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Psalms 107:15Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.2 worksPsalms 116:17I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.2 worksLeviticus 17:11For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.2 worksExodus 35:22So all who had willing hearts, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings, rings and necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry. And they all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD.2 works2 Chronicles 15:11At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from all the plunder they had brought back.2 worksIsaiah 3:19their pendants, bracelets, and veils;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

    Psalms 116:12

    How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me?

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 6:20

      you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

    • Psalms 103:2

      Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—

    • 2 Corinthians 5:14–15

      For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.

    • Romans 12:1

      Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

    • 2 Chronicles 32:25

      But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

  • Through

    Exodus 30:12

    “When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 27:24

      Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. For because of this census wrath came upon Israel, and the number was not entered in the Book of the Chronicles…

    • Exodus 38:25–26

      The silver from those numbered among the congregation totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel—

    • 1 Peter 1:18–19

      For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

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; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.

Read on in Numbers 31 →