Numbers 31:39
in Numbers 3130,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which Jehovah’s tribute was threescore and one.
KJV
And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the Lord’s tribute was threescore and one.
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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
30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61
One in five hundred of 30,500 is 61. Donkeys were unclean by Leviticus 11:3, so they could not go on the altar. Adam Clarke allows that tribute animals went either to sacrifice or to the use of the Levites, and the donkeys fit only the second.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַחֲמֹרִ֕ים | vachamorim | and donkeys | H2543 → | 96 times |
| שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים | sheloshim | [were] thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| אֶ֖לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| וַחֲמֵ֣שׁ | vachamesh | and five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| מֵא֑וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| וּמִכְסָ֥ם | umikhsam | and tax their | H4371 → | 6 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | for Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶחָ֥ד | ʾechad | [was] one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וְשִׁשִּֽׁים׃ | veshishim | and sixty | H8346 → | 59 times |
וַחֲמֹרִ֕יםand donkeys
vachamorimH2543 →96 times
שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים[were] thirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
אֶ֖לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
וַחֲמֵ֣שׁand five
vachameshH2568 →343 times
מֵא֑וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
וּמִכְסָ֥םand tax their
umikhsamH4371 →6 times
לַֽיהוָ֖הfor Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶחָ֥ד[was] one
ʾechadH259 →971 times
וְשִׁשִּֽׁים׃and sixty
veshishimH8346 →59 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 and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.