Numbers 31:14
◄  Numbers 31:14  ►
New International Version (©2011)
Moses was angry with the officers of the army--the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds--who returned from the battle.

New Living Translation (©2007)
But Moses was furious with all the generals and captains who had returned from the battle.

English Standard Version (©2001)
And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
But Moses became furious with the officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the military campaign. "

International Standard Version (©2012)
But Moses became livid with anger at the officers of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds who had returned from servicing in the battle.

NET Bible (©2006)
But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of the companies and battalions, who were returning from battle.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, who came from the battle.

American King James Version
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.

American Standard Version
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,

Darby Bible Translation
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the army, with the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war;

English Revised Version
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, which came from the service of the war.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, who came from the battle.

World English Bible
Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

Young's Literal Translation
and Moses is wroth against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the host of the battle.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

31:13-18 The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting others; it teaches us to avoid all occasions of evil, and to give no quarter to inward lusts. The women and children were not kept for sinful purposes, but for slaves, a custom every where practised in former times, as to captives. In the course of providence, when famine and plagues visit a nation for sin, children suffer in the common calamity. In this case parents are punished in their children; and for children dying before actual sin, full provision is made as to their eternal happiness, by the mercy of God in Christ.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - Officers of the host. Literally, "inspectors." Septuagint, τοῖς ἐπισκόποις τῆς δυνάμεως

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host,.... The general officers who had the command of the army, for there does not appear to be anyone that was one general over the whole, otherwise the displeasure would have fallen upon him:

with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle; rather "with" should be left out, not being in the text; and these captains only explain who the officers were, and these were one hundred and thirty two, as Aben Ezra observes; twelve who were captains over thousands, and were more properly the general officers; and one hundred and twenty over so many hundreds, into which the whole were subdivided.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14-18. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host—The displeasure of the great leader, though it appears the ebullition of a fierce and sanguinary temper, arose in reality from a pious and enlightened regard to the best interests of Israel. No order had been given for the slaughter of the women, and in ancient war they were commonly reserved for slaves. By their antecedent conduct, however, the Midianitish women had forfeited all claims to mild or merciful treatment; and the sacred character, the avowed object of the war (Nu 31:2, 3), made their slaughter necessary without any special order. But why "kill every male among the little ones"? It was designed to be a war of extermination, such as God Himself had ordered against the people of Canaan, whom the Midianites equalled in the enormity of their wickedness.

Numbers 31:14 Parallel Commentaries

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Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Vengeance on Midian
…13And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. 14And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. 15And Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive? …

Numbers 31:13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.
Numbers 31:15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them.
1 Samuel 8:12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
2 Samuel 18:1 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.