Numbers 31:32
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
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,
American King James Version (AKJV)
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,
American Standard Version (ASV)
Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
Webster's Revision
And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had taken, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,
World English Bible
Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
English Revised Version (ERV)
Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,
Clarke's Numbers 31:32 Bible Commentary
The booty - It appears from the enumeration here that the Israelites, in this war against the Midianites, took 32,000 female prisoners, 61,000 asses, 72,000 beeves, 675,000 sheep and small cattle; besides the immense number of males who fell in battle, and the women and children who were slain by the Divine command, Numbers 31:17. And it does not appear that in this expedition, a single man of Israel fell! This was naturally to be expected, because the battle was the Lord's, Numbers 31:49.
As the booty was divided into two equal parts, Numbers 31:22, one for the soldiers employed in the expedition, and the other for those who, being equally willing to be employed, were ordered to stay in the camp; so each of the parties in this booty was to give a certain proportion to the Lord. The soldiers to give to the Lord one out of every five hundred persons, beeves, asses, and sheep, Numbers 31:28. The people, who by staying at home risked nothing, and had no fatigue, were to give one out of fifty of the above, Numbers 31:30. The booty, its divisions among the soldiers and people, the proportion given by each to the Lord and to the Levites, will be seen in one view by the following table, which I copy from Houbigant.
Total of sheep - 675,000
To the soldiers - 337,500
To the Lord from the soldiers - 675
To the people - 337,500
To the Levites from the people - 6,750
Total of beeves - 72, 00
To the soldiers - 36,000
To the Lord from the soldiers - 72
To the people - 36,000
To the Levites from the people - 720
Total of asses - 1,000
To the soldiers - 30,500
continued...
Barnes's Numbers 31:32 Bible Commentary
Compare Numbers 31:11, and render "And the prey" (i. e., the live prey) "in addition to the spoil which the men of war seized, etc." The "spoil" is described in Numbers 31:50.
The number of sheep, beeves, asses, and persons taken is given in this and following verses in round thousands. Hence, the Lord's tribute (Numbers 31:29, Numbers 31:37-38, etc.), being the 500th part of the half, comes out also in round numbers. The enormous amount both of live stock and of personal ornament was characteristic of the Midianites. When they invaded Israel in the days of the Judges, their wealth was still of the same kind (Judges 6:5; Judges 8:24 ff). The Bedouins, notwithstanding their wild nomadic life, retain their ancestral love of finery to the present day.
