Numbers 31:37
in Numbers 31337,500 sheep, including a tribute to the LORD of 675,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and Jehovah’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
KJV
And the Lord’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
this plunder remained from the spoils
on Numbers 31:32-40
The plunder comes to 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys and 32,000 women. The soldiers’ half pays one in five hundred exactly: 675 sheep from 337,500.
This site's exposition
337,500 sheep, including a tribute to the LORD of 675
337,500 is half of the 675,000 sheep in verse 32. One in five hundred of 337,500 is 675, so the tribute repeats the digits of the whole flock at a thousandth of its size. Albert Barnes notes that the round thousands make the tribute come out even.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught--Some of the captives having been killed (Nu 31:17) and part of the cattle taken for the support of the army, the total amount of the booty remaining was in the following proportions:
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֛י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַמֶּ֥כֶס | hamekhes | the tax | H4371 → | 6 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | for Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַצֹּ֑אן | hatzon | the sheep | H6629 → | 274 times |
| שֵׁ֥שׁ | shesh | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| מֵא֖וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| חָמֵ֥שׁ | chamesh | five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| וְשִׁבְעִֽים׃ | veshivim | and seventy | H7657 → | 91 times |
וַיְהִ֛יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
הַמֶּ֥כֶסthe tax
hamekhesH4371 →6 times
לַֽיהוָ֖הfor Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַצֹּ֑אןthe sheep
hatzonH6629 →274 times
שֵׁ֥שׁsix
sheshH8337 →216 times
מֵא֖וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
חָמֵ֥שׁfive
chameshH2568 →343 times
וְשִׁבְעִֽים׃and seventy
veshivimH7657 →91 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
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 and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.