Numbers · chapter 31 of 36
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Numbers 31 tells how Israel, by God's command, sends twelve thousand men against Midian, with the priest Phinehas. They kill the kings of Midian and Balaam, and return with spoil. Moses orders the warriors and objects purified, and the spoil is divided between the fighters and the congregation, with a share for the Lord and the Levites. The officers also offer gold as atonement because not one soldier was lost.
Midian had seduced Israel into idolatry at Peor (chapter 25), and God had commanded that they be treated as enemies. Numbers 31 is the fulfillment of that command and Moses' last task before he dies. It is a difficult chapter, combining judgment, purification and distribution, and it must be read in its historical and theological context.
The Lord tells Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites, and afterward he will be gathered to his people. Moses orders a thousand men from each tribe, twelve thousand in all, to go to war. Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, goes with them with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets. They fight against Midian as the Lord commanded and kill every male, among them five kings of Midian; they also kill Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword.
The Israelites take the women and children captive and carry off the spoil, and they burn the cities. Moses is angry with the officers because they let the women live, who on Balaam's advice made Israel sin at Peor. He orders the male children killed, along with the women who have lain with a man, but the young girls who are virgins are kept alive.
All who killed or touched the dead must stay outside the camp seven days and purify themselves on the third and seventh days. Eleazar also explains how to purify metals and objects with fire and the water of purification. Then Moses, Eleazar and the chiefs count the spoil and divide it in half between the fighters and the congregation; from the soldiers' half one five-hundredth is set apart for the Lord, and from the congregation's one fiftieth for the Levites.
The officers count their men and not one is missing, so they bring to the Lord the gold each had taken, as atonement for their lives and as a memorial before the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord tells Moses to avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites, and afterward he will be gathered to his people. The chapter is presented as Moses' last task and as the answer to the deception at Peor.
Among the dead are five kings of Midian and also Balaam, son of Beor. The diviner who blessed Israel at God's order ends up on the side of his people's enemies.
Moses recalls that it was the women who, on Balaam's advice, made Israel sin against the Lord in the matter of Peor. The text thus explains the reason for the judgment, tied to the deception that led to the plague.
The officers count their men and not one is missing. The preservation of every soldier leads to a response of gratitude: they present gold to the Lord in acknowledgment of his care.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Twelve thousand, a thousand from each tribe. — Numbers 31:4-5
Answer: Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar. — Numbers 31:6
Answer: Five kings of Midian and Balaam, son of Beor. — Numbers 31:8
Answer: Because they let the women live who, on Balaam's advice, made Israel sin at Peor. — Numbers 31:14-16
Answer: Seven days, purifying themselves on the third and seventh days. — Numbers 31:19
Answer: Because none of their soldiers was missing, and they did it as atonement for their lives. — Numbers 31:49-50
This chapter is difficult to read and must not be used to justify violence today. The text presents it as a specific judgment of God on Midian, tied to the deception at Peor, within a unique moment in Israel's history. In a group it is wise to read it honestly, acknowledging how hard the account is and remembering that God is just and judges evil.
There are also more direct lessons: the importance of purity, the fair distribution of what is received, and gratitude for God's care. The officers did not credit their own strength that no man was missing; they gave thanks. Ask yourselves when you have credited yourselves for what God gave you.
Numbers 31 closes the last campaign led by Moses with an army intact, a purified congregation and a fair division. In chapter 32 the tribes of Reuben and Gad ask to stay east of the Jordan, and Moses must decide whether that request endangers the unity of the people.
The text presents the war as God's judgment on Midian for leading Israel into idolatry and immorality at Peor, which cost twenty-four thousand lives. It is a specific episode, not a model of religious war for today. Christian believers read these passages in the light of Christ, who taught us to love our enemies.
The text says Balaam was killed by the sword along with the kings of Midian, and that his counsel caused the sin at Peor (Numbers 31:16). The New Testament recalls him as an example of someone swayed by pay (Jude 1:11 and Revelation 2:14).
The officers said it was to make atonement for their lives and presented it as a memorial before the Lord. After a war with no losses, they acknowledged God's grace and their need of him.