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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 31:48 - 31:54
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The Gifts Consecrated to the Lord
v. 48. And the officers which were over thousands of the host, (namely,) the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;
v. 49. and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us. "This is one of the features of this narrative which shows that we are dealing here with the execution of a divine sentence. It implies an extraordinary divine protection, which is in accordance with the view that they were in a peculiar sense the Lord's instruments. " (Gosman. )
v. 50. We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of the individual plunder which they had made, of jewels of gold, chains, armbands, and bracelets, seal-rings, rings, such as were fastened in the noses, earrings, and tablets, small golden spheres which were used for personal adornment, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord, for the blessing of their safe return, since they felt that they were not worthy of such divine goodness.
v. 51. And Moses and Eleazar, the priest, took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels, gold that had been fashioned into jewelry.
v. 52. And all the gold of 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 (16,750), or more than $160,000, not too large a sum, by any means; for the nomadic tribes were rich in jewelry as well as in herds and flocks.
v. 53. (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. )
v. 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, into the treasury of the Sanctuary, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord. It pleases the Lord, even now, if believers, for special manifestations of God's goodness and mercy, show their appreciation in special gifts of gratitude, for the work of the Lord.