Numbers 31:53
in Numbers 31Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)
KJV
(For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
6 notes on this verseFor the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. And which he kept for himself, and did not deliver in with the prey or booty, which was brought to Moses and Eleazar, the sum of which was taken by them; and this seems to confirm what has been hinted, that, as each soldier had taken spoil for himself, so everyone contributed his quota towards this freewill offering to the Lord.
This site's exposition
took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels
on Numbers 31:51-54
The gold weighs sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, brought by the captains of thousands and of hundreds. Verse 53 adds in a parenthesis that the men of war had taken spoil every man for himself, and readers divide over it, with Barnes taking it that the common soldiers made no offering and Gill taking it that every man contributed out of what he had kept. The gold is carried into the tabernacle for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, which is the use Exodus 30:16 gave for the atonement money of a people numbered.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 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.
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 Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This verse seems to imply that the soldiers, as distinct from the officers (compare Num 31:49), did not make any offering from their plunder. Of course besides the gold there would be much spoil of less precious materials; see Num 31:20, Num 31:22.
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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַנְשֵׁי֙ | ʾanshei | [the] men of | H582 → | 566 times |
| הַצָּבָ֔א | hatzava' | the army | H6635 → | 485 times |
| בָּזְז֖וּ | bazezu | they had taken plunder | H962 → | 43 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | everyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | for <the> himself |
אַנְשֵׁי֙[the] men of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
הַצָּבָ֔אthe army
hatzava'H6635 →485 times
בָּזְז֖וּthey had taken plunder
bazezuH962 →43 times
אִ֥ישׁeveryone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לֽוֹ׃for <the> himself
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Deuteronomy 20:14But the women, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God gives you.
it leads to
- Joshua 8:2
And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind…
- Joshua 22:8
saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
- Numbers 31:9
The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.
- 2 Chronicles 14:13–15
Then Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell and could not recover, for they were crushed before the LORD and His army. So the people of Judah carried…
- Numbers 31:35–54
and 32,000 women who had not slept with a man.
- Joshua 8:2
About Numbers
This page draws on 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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.