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Numbers 31:27

in Numbers 31

Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation.

KJV

And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:

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This verse in Numbers 31

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And divide the prey into two parts,.... Into two equal parts, both the number of the people and of the cattle, when taken: between them that took the war upon them, and went out to battle; the soldiers; and by this it appears that they went voluntarily and cheerfully: and between all the congregation; so that the part of them that went to battle, and of those that stayed in the camp, were alike, and which in process of time became a statute and ordinance, 1Sa 30:24.

This site's exposition

take a count of what was captured

on Numbers 31:26-31

The soldiers’ half gives "one out of every five hundred" to Eleazar, and the congregation’s half gives "one out of every fifty" to the Levites. The levy on those who stayed is ten times the levy on those who went.

This site's exposition

divide the captives between the troops

John Gill makes the two halves equal, so twelve thousand soldiers took as much as the rest of the congregation together. Matthew Henry reasons that the war was waged for the whole congregation, which likely helped by its prayers. David makes it a statute at 1 Samuel 30:24-25.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Take the sum of the prey that was taken--that is, of the captives and cattle, which, having been first lumped together according to ancient usage (Ex 15:9;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

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.

  • וְחָצִ֙יתָ֙and you will divide

    vechatzitaH2673 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמַּלְק֔וֹחַthe booty

    hamalkoachH4455 →8 times

  • בֵּ֚יןbetween

    beinH996 →407 times

  • תֹּפְשֵׂ֣י[those] skilled of

    tofeseiH8610 →

  • הַמִּלְחָמָ֔הthe battle

    hamilchamahH4421 →320 times

  • הַיֹּצְאִ֖יםwho went out

    haiyotzeimH3318 →1067 times

  • לַצָּבָ֑אto <the> war

    latzava'H6635 →485 times

  • וּבֵ֖יןand between

    uveinH996 →407 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעֵדָֽה׃the congregation

    haedahH5712 →149 times

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

Related verses

4 in all, six open

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

    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.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 30:24

      Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Proverbs 3:16

      Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

    • Deuteronomy 8:17–18

      You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”

    • Deuteronomy 8:9–14

      a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.

    • 1 Samuel 30:16

      So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines…

  • Through

    Psalms 68:12

    “Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 10:16

      Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.

    • Judges 5:19

      Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 30:4

    So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 11:4

      When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 31 →

This page draws on 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 31 →