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Numbers 31 Bible study: The war against Midian
Moses called the war "the LORD’s vengeance on Midian" (31:3), and named what lay behind Peor: "the counsel of Balaam" (31:16). Whoever had killed or touched the slain was purified (31:19). And when the officers found "there lacks not one man of us" (31:49), their gold went in "for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD" (31:54), the words of the census law (Exodus 30:16).
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“They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us.”
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“Numbers says Balaam the son of Beor was killed in Israel's war against Midian.”
Is that in Numbers 31, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Before Moses is gathered to his people
The LORD's command comes with a word about Moses himself: "Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people" (31:2). The LORD had already told him, "you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered" (27:13). The war goes back to Peor, where the LORD had said, "Harass the Midianites, and strike them; for they harassed you with their wiles" (25:17-18). Moses passes the command on in other words: "to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian" (31:3). In Hebrew, 31:2 and 31:3 use the same noun, neqamah, "vengeance": literally, 31:2 says "avenge the vengeance of the children of Israel", and 31:3 calls it the vengeance of the LORD.
Where it leads to Jesus
Not one lost
Numbers 31:49leads toJohn 18:9
The officers counted their men after the war and told Moses, "there lacks not one man of us" (31:49). On the night he was arrested, Jesus said of his disciples, "If therefore you seek me, let these go their way" (John 18:8), and John adds that this fulfilled what he had said: "Of those whom you have given me, I have lost none" (John 18:9); earlier Jesus had said it was his Father's will "that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing" (John 6:39). Neither Jesus nor John cites Numbers 31, so this is a reading. Some set the two side by side, since both say that of all in their charge none was missing; others keep them apart, since the officers counted soldiers after a battle, while Jesus speaks of those the Father gave him.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Numbers 31
That was a taste
The rest of Numbers 31 is waiting in Favor
- A thousand from each tribe, and a priest with trumpets
- "Through the counsel of Balaam"
- The words of the census law
- Half for those who fought, half for everyone
- 17 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
נְקָמָהneqamahsay ne-ka-MAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "vengeance". Strong's: "avengement, whether the act or the passion". It comes twice in Numbers, both at the start of this chapter. The LORD says, "Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites" (31:2): in Hebrew, the verb naqam with this noun, literally "avenge the vengeance of the children of Israel". Then Moses sends the army "to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian" (31:3). The same noun is in the psalm, "LORD, you God to whom vengeance belongs" (Psalm 94:1).
For your group
Numbers 31 Bible study questions
- 1The harm at Peor came "through the counsel of Balaam" (31:16), not through an army. Whose counsel shapes your choices most right now, and how do you test it?
- 2The law for the dead in Numbers 19 applied even to men sent to war at the LORD's command: they stayed outside the camp seven days and were made clean before they came back in (31:19, 31:24). What do you make of it, that even they had to be made clean?
- 3The officers counted and found "there lacks not one man of us" (31:49), and they brought an offering (31:50). When has God kept you, or people in your care, and how could you mark it?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Numbers 31 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home