The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

“And now, behold, I go unto my people. Come therefore, and I will warn thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days,” Numbers 24:14;

— these Words, prophecised by Balaam, especially in regards to the house of Jacob, “in the latter days,” are prophecies for our times!

Numbers 31

¹ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

² “Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.” — avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; the time had now come for the fulfilment of the command which had already been given (Numbers 25:16-18), after which Moses was to be gathered unto his people, as it had been revealed to him (Numbers 27:13);

— after Balaam had been dismissed by Balak, Balaam appears to have gone, not to the Moabites, but to the Midianites; and it was in consequence of the counsel which he gave to the Midianites (Numbers 25:1-5) that the Israelites were reduced into the idolatrous and lascivious worship of Baal Peor.

³ And Moses spoke unto the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites and avenge the Lord on Midian. — there were many among the Midianites who were personally guilty as regards to Israel; as their rulers deliberately adopted the counsel of Balaam against Israel, and their behests had been but too readily obeyed by their subjects; their sin therefore was national, and the retribution could be no less so.

⁴ From every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.” — of every tribe a thousand; so that the whole number of those that were armed were 12,000 as after given;

⁵ So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. — a thousand of every tribe, to prevent emulations or divisions. God would send no more, though it is apparent that the Midianites were numerous and strong, because he would try and exercise their trust in him;

⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe — them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the war, with the holy instruments and the trumpets to blow in his hand. — them and Phinehas; who had the charge, not of the army, as general, (an office never committed to a priest in all the Old Testament,) but of the holy instruments, and was sent to encourage and quicken them in their enterprise.

⁷ And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. — if it were historically true, Midian would have disappeared from history; but they are found not long afterwards as one of Israel’s most troublesome neighbours, so perhaps all the males that came to their presence; or all the males that came to war; thus they slew all the males to all those who came engaged in the war;

⁸ And they slew the kings of Midian besides the rest of those who were slain, namely: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian. Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. —

— and from Targum Jonathan

And the [Israelites] slew the kings of the Midianites with the slain of their armies, Evi, Rekem, Zur, who is Balak, and Hur and Reba, five kings of Midian; and [Balaam] bar Beor they killed with the sword. And it was when [Balaam] the guilty saw Phinehas the priest pursuing him, he made use of his magical arts (lit., made words of enchantment), and flew in the air of the heavens;

But Phinehas forthwith pronounced the Great and Holy Name, and flew after him, and seized [Balaam] by his head, and bringing him down drew the sword, and sought to kill him; but [Balaam] opened his mouth with words of deprecation [deception], and said to Phinehas: If thou wilt spare my life, I swear to thee that all the days I live I will not curse thy people.

[Phinehas] answered [Balaam], and said: Art thou not Laban the Amarite [or Aramean] who didst seek to destroy Jakob our father, who wentest down into Mizraim, to destroy his children, and, after they had come out of Mizraim, didst send the wicked Amalek against them; and hast thou not now been sent to curse them?

But after thou hadst seen that thy works did not prosper, and that the Word of the Lord would not hear thee, thou didst give the evil counsel to Balak to set his daughters in the way to make them go wrong, when there fell of them twentyfour thousand. Therefore, it cannot be that thy life may be spared; and at once he drew the sword and slew him.

⁹ And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captive, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods. — and the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives; the word “all” is not in the original text;

¹⁰ And they burned all their cities wherein they dwelt and all their goodly strongholds with fire. — and all their goodly castles with fire; which were either the palaces of their princes and nobles, or such like great personages; or they were fortified places, for the security of their cities and country: the Targum of Jonathan interpret them of their houses of worship, their temples, and their altars;

¹¹ And they took all the spoil and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. — and they took all the spoil; in their cities and castles; and all the prey, both of men and of beasts; all sorts of cattle, oxen, sheep, and asses.

¹² And they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil unto Moses and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan near Jericho. — the Midianites’ wicked wiles were Balaam’s projects: it was just that Balaam should perish with them;

¹³ And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the congregation went forth to meet them outside the camp. — went forth to meet them outside the camp; partly to do honour to them, and to congratulate them on their victory, and partly to hinder them going into the camp directly, until they were purified;

¹⁴ And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who came from the battle. — these captains explain who the officers were, and these were one hundred and thirty two; that is, 12 plus 120;

¹⁵ And Moses said unto them, “Have ye saved all the women alive? — Have ye saved all the women alive? it was the women who had been the cause, at the instigation of Balaam, of the apostacy of the Israelites; and consequently the command to “avenge the Lord of Midiani” implied the punishment of those who had been the instruments employed in the seduction of the Israelites.

¹⁶ Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. — and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord; for that sin; and in that plague died 24,000 persons, Numbers 25:9.

¹⁷ Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who hath known a man by lying with him. — and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him; who had lain with Israelitish men; and as the adulterers had been put to death, so now the adulteresses;

¹⁸ But all the women children, who have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. — but all the women children; females among them that have not known a man by lying with him; keep for yourselves; either to be handmaids to them, or to be married among them when grown up, and become proselytes, and initiated into their religion.

¹⁹ And abide ye outside the camp seven days. Whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. — abide without the camp seven days. according to the law, Leviticus 15:13. Purify yourselves, with the water of sprinkling, Numbers 19:9.

²⁰ And purify all your raiment and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.” — includes vessels made of the horns, hoofs, and bones of these creatures: and all things made of wood; as beds, cups, dishes: that is, all which might be purified by washing; Leviticus 15:12.

²¹ And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses: — and Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war, to all the soldiers, officers, and common men;

²² Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, — only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead; these are excepted, and, though unclean, are not to be purified by washing, but in another way, by fire,

²³ every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation. And all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water. — nevertheless, it shall be purified with the water of separation; with the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer burnt, and sprinkled on it;

²⁴ And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.” — abide outside the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person; purify both yourselves and your captives;

²⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁶ “Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; — take the sum of the prey that was taken; that is, of the captives and cattle, sheep, oxen, and asses, which, having been first lumped together;

²⁷ and divide the prey into two parts, between those who took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation. — and divide the prey into two parts; into two equal parts, both the number of the people and of the animals, when taken:

²⁸ And levy a tribute unto the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep. — and levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war, which went out to battle; that is, out of the part of the prey which was divided to them:

²⁹ Take it from their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest for a heave offering of the Lord. — and take it of their half’of the half part of the prey divided to the soldiers; and give it unto Eleazar the priest for an heave offering of the Lord; by way of thanksgiving for the success and victory, God had given them, by means of which so much booty had fallen into their hands.

³⁰ And of the children of Israel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

— one portion of fifty; the Levites were much more numerous than the priests, and consequently it was ordered that they should have two per cent. of the spoil which fell to the congregation, whereas the priests had only one-fifth percent, of a like amount.

³¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

³³ and threescore and twelve thousand beeves,

³⁴ and threescore and one thousand asses,

³⁵ and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man by lying with him. — and 32,000 females who had never known man;

³⁶ And the half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep; — the half out of these, which fell to the share of the soldiers, were 337,500 sheep;

³⁷ and the Lord’S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

³⁸ And the beeves were thirty and six thousand, of which the Lord’S tribute was threescore and twelve.

³⁹ And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred, of which the Lord’S tribute was threescore and one.

⁴⁰ And the persons were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord’S tribute was thirty and two persons.

⁴¹ And Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord’S heave offering unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴² And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided from the men who warred

⁴³ (now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep, — the half divided unto the children of Israel consisted of 337,500 sheep;

⁴⁴ and thirty and six thousand beeves, — 36,000 beeves or oxen;

⁴⁵ and thirty thousand asses and five hundred, — 30,500 asses;

⁴⁶ and sixteen thousand persons), — and 16,000 women, out of which one in fifty, both of women and cattle, were given to the Levites;

⁴⁷ even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, who kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses. — out of which one in fifty, both of women and cattle, were given to the Levites; what that amounted to is not expressed, but may be easily reckoned;

⁴⁸ And the officers who were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near Moses; — and the officers which were over thousands of the host’over the twelve thousand, of which the host or army consisted: namely, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;

⁴⁹ and they said unto Moses, “Thy servants have taken the count of the men of war who are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us. — and there lacketh not one man of us; which is a most amazing and unheard of thing;

— that in waging war with a whole nation, slaying all their males, sacking and burning so many cities, plundering the inhabitants of their substance, taking and carrying off such a vast number of captives, yet not one should fall by the sword of the enemy, or by any disease or accident whatever, but all to a man should return to the camp of Israel again; this is not to be paralleled in any history.

⁵⁰ We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord.” — to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord; not only this offering was brought as a token of gratitude and thankfulness;

— for sparing of everyone of their lives, and giving them such success and victory, and so large a spoil of the enemy; but also to expiate any sins they had been guilty of in going out, and coming in, and particularly for sparing the women they should have put to death, for which Moses was wroth with them, Numbers 31:14-17.

⁵¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even all wrought jewels. — and Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them; for it seems the several things before mentioned were all of gold: even all wrought jewels; or “vessels of work” or wrought vessels, or instruments, “chains, bracelets” which were all of gold, and curiously wrought.

⁵² And all the gold from the offering that they offered up to the Lord, of the captains of thousands and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. — amounted in all to 16,750 shekels; and the men of war had received their own booty in addition to this.

⁵³ (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) — for the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. And which he kept for himself, and did not deliver in with the prey or booty, which was brought to Moses and Eleazar;

⁵⁴ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord. — and Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds; which they so freely and generously offered: and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation; and laid it up in some chamber there.

Numbers 32

¹ Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for cattle,

— now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad; these tribes had occupied a contiguous position in their encampments for the space of thirty-eight years (Numbers 2:10; Numbers 2:14), and it was natural that they should desire to be permanently located near each other.

² the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke unto Moses and to Eleazar the priest and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, — the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses; the children of Gad are mentioned first, though Reuben was the firstborn, and had a standard under which Gad pitched:

³ “Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,

⁴ even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.” — it is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle; to stock it, with and great numbers of them;

⁵ Therefore, said they, “If we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over the Jordan.” — bring us not over Jordan; these words may be understood either simply as a request that the inheritance of the speakers might be assigned to them on the eastern side of the Jordan;

— or, as they appear to have been understood by Moses, and as they were in all probability designed to be understood, as a request that the conquest of the western side of the Jordan might be left to the other tribes, and that the Reubenites and Gadites might be permitted to establish themselves in the land which had already been subjugated.

⁶ And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? — shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? it is not reasonable that your brethren should be left by you and engage in a war with your common enemies, to dispossess them of their land before they can settle in it and you remain here easy and quiet in the possession of a fruitful country.

⁷ And why discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? — wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel; which he suggests it would, should they settle on that side Jordan, since they would lose the assistance of two of their tribes;

⁸ Thus did your fathers when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. — when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land; called only Kadesh, Numbers 13:26;

⁹ For when they went up unto the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them. — when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol and saw the land; searching it earlier for the space of forty days:

— they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel; by telling them that there were giants in the land, and that the people in common were strong, and their cities walled, and that they were not able to go up against them and overcome them; and by this means they disheartened the people;

¹⁰ And the Lord’S anger was kindled the same time, and He swore, saying, — your fathers; the generation of the Exodus was now substantially extinct.

¹¹ ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, — because they have not wholly followed me; the laws which he prescribed them, the directions he gave them, and particularly the orders they had to go up and possess the land at once, Deuteronomy 1:21.

¹² save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun; for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ — the Kenezite; Kenaz Genesis 36:11 was the name of one of the “dukes of Edom” but Israel and Edom were of kindred origin, and the use of similar names by the two peoples could be confusing.

¹³ And the Lord’S anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. — and the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel; for murmuring against the report of the spies;

¹⁴ And behold, ye have risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. — an increase of sinful men; this new generation was greatly increased, for when the number was taken; but then they were not only an increase of men, but of sinful men, like fathers like sons;

¹⁵ For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness, and ye shall destroy all this people.” — and ye shall destroy all this people, if the Lord should in such a manner resent this step of theirs, as to order them back into the wilderness again, though they were now as they were before, on the border of the land of Canaan; it would be the cause of another destruction.

¹⁶ And they came near unto him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and cities for our little ones, — and they came near unto him; the heads of the tribes of Gad and Reuben came a little nearer to Moses, We will build sheepfolds; these sheepfolds were commonly constructed of loose stones piled up on one another;

¹⁷ but we ourselves will go ready and armed before the children of Israel until we have brought them unto their place; and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. — yet they promised ourselves will go ready armed before the othe tribes of Israel, until all have brought them unto their place.

¹⁸ We will not return unto our houses until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. — We, Gad and Reuben, will not return unto our houses until all the children of Israel have inherited their inheritance;

¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on yonder side of the Jordan or forward, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.” — because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward; they seem to speak as if they were assured by Providence, and wanted nothing but the consent of Moses, and the princes of the congregation.

²⁰ And Moses said unto them, “If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war, — if ye will go armed before the Lord to war; they had said they would go ready armed before the children of Israel, but Moses expresses it “before the Lord;”

— which is more agreeable to their encampment and order in marching, for not the standard of Reuben but that of Judah went foremost, yet the standard of Reuben marched directly before the sanctuary bore by the Kohathites, Numbers 10:18, and so might be properly said to go before the Lord, who dwelt there.

²¹ and will go all of you armed over the Jordan before the Lord, until He hath driven out His enemies from before Him — go before the Lord to war; the phrase was used in allusion to the order of march in which the tribes of Reuben and Gad preceded immediately the ark;

²² and the land be subdued before the Lord, then afterward ye shall return and be guiltless before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. — and this land shall be your possession before the Lord; be established and settled in it as their inheritance, the Lord seeing and approving of it, and protecting them in their enjoyment.

²³ But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. — and be sure your sin will find you out; fly in their faces, and bring deserved punishment upon them: sin may be put, as it often is, for the punishment of sin, which sooner or later will find out and come upon the impenitent and unpardoned sinner.

²⁴ Build you cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.” — build ye cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; for their safety and security, as they proposed to do: and do that which proceedeth out of your mouth; all that they had promised.

²⁵ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke unto Moses, saying, “Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. — Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, with sincerity and zeal, and they replied, thy servants will do as my lord commandeth;

²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead; — in the cities of Gilead; such as are before mentioned, Numbers 32:3 and which they proposed to repair and fortify, to preserve their families and possessions from the Amorites about them;

²⁷ but thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith.” — but thy servants will pass over; the river Jordan, and go into the land of Canaan;

²⁸ So concerning them, Moses commanded Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. — with the division of the land of Canaan, to give the Gadites and Reubenites the land of Gilead for a possession, after the conquest of Canaan, if they should go along with them across the Jordan equipped for battle.

²⁹ And Moses said unto them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man armed for battle before the Lord and the land shall be subdued before you, then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession.

³⁰ But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” — they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan; take their lot there, but have no inheritance or possessions on this side Jordan.

³¹ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.

³² We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours.” — that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours; that is, that the possession and inheritance they desired, on the eastern side of the Jordan, might be ratified and confirmed unto them on their fulfilment of them.

³³ And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with the cities thereof in the borders, even the cities of the country round about.

³⁴ And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

³⁵ and Atroth, Shophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,

³⁶ and Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.

³⁷ And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,

³⁸ and Nebo, and Baalmeon (their names being changed), and Shibmah, and gave other names unto the cities which they built.

³⁹ And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. — and the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it; that part of it which Moses gave unto the half tribe of Manasseh, which till now was in the hand of the Amorites;

⁴⁰ And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt therein.— for half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, were given to the Reubenites and Gadites, which is the land of Gilead they desired, and which was already conquered;

⁴¹ And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havothjair. — and Jair the son of Manasseh; by his mother’s side, otherwise he was of the family of Judah; for Hezron, of the family of Judah, married a daughter of Machir, the son of Manasseh;

⁴² And Nobah went and took Kenath and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name. —Nobah, whose family is never referred to, but who probably belonged, like Jair, to one of the families of Machirites, took the town of Kenath and its daughters, that is, the smaller towns dependent upon it (Numbers 21:25), and gave it his own name Nobah.

~ by Japheth on March 30, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses