The Wilderness · c. 1407 BC
Chapter 12
War with Midian
“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out.
For parents
Israel’s army goes to war against Midian at the Lord’s command. It kills every male, the five kings of Midian and Balaam, takes the women and children captive and burns their towns (Numbers 31:1–12). Then Moses, angry that the women were kept alive, orders the officers to kill every boy among the children and every woman who has slept with a man, and to keep alive for themselves the girls who have not (31:14–18). It is told plainly, in soft words, without comment. Afterward 32,000 women who had not slept with a man are counted and divided with the plunder: 32 of them are given to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s share, and one in fifty of the community’s half, people included, goes to the Levites (31:35–47).
The spoke to . “Take revenge on the for the ,” he said. “After that you will die and join your ancestors.”
Moses spoke to the people. “Arm some of your men for war,” he said, “so they can go against Midian and carry out the Lord’s revenge on Midian. Send a thousand men to the war from every one of the of Israel.”
So out of the thousands of Israel, each tribe gave a thousand men: twelve thousand men armed for war. Moses sent them off to the war, a thousand from every tribe. the son of the went with them, carrying the holy things from the and the trumpets for sounding the alarm.
They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses. They killed every male. They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed the son of Beor with the sword.
The Israelites took the Midianite women and their little ones captive. They took all their livestock, all their flocks and all their goods as plunder. They set fire to all the towns where the Midianites had lived, and to all their camps.
They took all the captives and all the plunder, people and animals. They brought the captives and everything they had taken to Moses, to Eleazar the priest and to the community of Israel. The camp was in the plains of , beside the at .
Moses and Eleazar the priest went out of the camp with all the leaders of the community to meet them. Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come back from the war.
“Have you let all the women live?” Moses said to them. “Look, these are the ones who led the Israelites to sin against the Lord in what happened at . They did it on Balaam’s advice. That is why the struck the Lord’s community.
“So now kill every boy among the little ones, and kill each woman who has slept with a man. But keep alive for yourselves every girl who has not slept with a man.”
“Stay outside the camp for seven days,” Moses told them. “All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, and purify your captives too. Purify all your clothes, and everything made of animal skin, goats’ hair or wood.”
Eleazar the priest told the fighting men who went into the battle, “This is the rule of the law the Lord has commanded Moses. Put everything that won’t burn through the fire: gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead. Then it will be clean. But it must still be purified with the water for removing . Put everything that will burn through the water.
“Wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be clean. After that you may come into the camp.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Count the plunder that was taken, people and animals. Do it with Eleazar the priest and the heads of the families of the community. Then divide it into two halves, one for the fighting men who went out to battle and one for the whole community.
“From the soldiers who went out to battle, set aside a share for the Lord: one of every five hundred of the people, the cattle, the donkeys and the flocks. Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for the Lord’s . From the Israelites’ half, take one of every fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys and the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the , who do the work of the Lord’s .”
Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. Not counting the loot the soldiers had taken, the plunder came to 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 people in all, women who had not slept with a man.
The half that belonged to the men who went out to the war was 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys and 16,000 people. The Lord’s share of it was 675 sheep, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys and 32 people. Moses gave this share, the Lord’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded him.
Moses had divided the community’s half off from the fighting men’s half, and it was the same: 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys and 16,000 people. From that half Moses took one of every fifty, people and animals, and gave them to the Levites, who did the work of the Lord’s tabernacle. He did as the Lord had commanded him.
The officers in charge of the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, came to Moses. “We have counted the fighting men under our command,” they said, “and not one of us is missing. We have brought an offering for the Lord, the things each man found: gold jewelry, armbands, bracelets, , earrings and necklaces, to make for our souls in the Lord’s presence.”
Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all of it made into jewelry. The captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds offered up all this gold to the Lord as a wave offering. It came to 16,750 , about 368 pounds.
The soldiers had each taken loot for themselves. Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the , to be a memorial for the Israelites in the Lord’s presence.
The tribes of and had a huge number of animals. They looked at the land of and the land of . It was a good place for livestock.
The Gadites and the Reubenites came to speak with Moses, with Eleazar the priest and with the leaders of the community. They said, “The Lord has conquered this land for the community of Israel: Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, , Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon. It is good land for livestock, and we have livestock.”
“If you’re willing,” they said, “let us have this land as our own. Don’t take us across the Jordan.”
Moses said to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Should your brothers go to war while you sit here? Why would you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them?
“Your fathers did the same when I sent them from to see the land. They went up to the valley of and saw the land, and then they discouraged the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them.
“The Lord’s anger burned that day, and he swore, ‘Not one of the men who came up out of , twenty years old or more, will see the land I promised with an oath to , and , because they have not followed me fully. Only the son of Jephunneh, the , and the son of will see it, because they have followed the Lord fully.’
“The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness for forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in the Lord’s sight had died.
“And now look: you have taken your fathers’ place, another crop of sinful men, to make the Lord’s fierce anger against Israel even greater. If you stop following him, he will leave them in the wilderness again, and you will destroy all these people.”
They came up to Moses and said, “We will build pens here for our livestock, and towns for our little ones. But we ourselves will be armed and ready to lead the way for the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones will live in the walled towns, because of the people who live in the land.
“We won’t go back to our homes until all the Israelites have received their share of the land. We won’t take a share with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our share has come to us here, east of the Jordan.”
“If you will do this,” Moses said to them, “then arm yourselves to go to war in the Lord’s presence. Every armed man among you is to go over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies ahead of him and the land has been conquered in the Lord’s presence. After that you may come back. You will be free of your duty to the Lord and to Israel. Then this land will be yours in the Lord’s presence.
“But if you won’t do this, look, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. Build the towns for your little ones and the pens for your sheep, and do what you have said you will do.”
The Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “We will do as you command, my lord. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks and all our livestock will be there in the towns of Gilead. But every one of us who is armed for war will cross over to battle in the Lord’s presence, as you say, my lord.”
So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the tribes of Israel. He said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle in the Lord’s presence, and the land is conquered ahead of you, then give them the land of Gilead as their own. But if they won’t cross over with you armed, they will have their share of land among you in the land of .”
The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “We will do what the Lord has said to us. We will cross over armed in the Lord’s presence into the land of Canaan, and the land we inherit will stay ours, on the east side of the Jordan.”
Moses gave the kingdom of , king of the , and the kingdom of , king of , to the Gadites, the Reubenites and half the tribe of the son of . He gave them the land with its towns and borders, and the towns of the land all around.
The Gadites built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran: walled towns, and pens for sheep.
The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo and Baal Meon, which were given new names, and Sibmah. They gave other names to the towns they built.
The descendants of the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and Machir lived there.
Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair. Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.