The Meaning of Numbers 31:46 Explained

Numbers 31:46

KJV: And sixteen thousand persons;)

YLT: and of human beings sixteen thousand --

Darby: and sixteen thousand human persons,)

ASV: and sixteen thousand persons),

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And sixteen  thousand  persons;  ) 

What does Numbers 31:46 Mean?

Context Summary

Numbers 31:21-54 - The Disposition Of The Spoils Of War
This law, which subjected the victors to a whole week of separation and to special purification, instead of an immediate welcome into the camp, was intended to wean the Hebrews from the practice of war, giving them a higher standard than that of surrounding nations. Thus God educates us, by placing before us an ever higher standard, as we are able to obey it. It is easy to say hard things against this treatment of Midian, but extermination is sometimes the only way to safety.
For us the lesson is one of rigid separation. Some may be able to stand God's searching fire; but others cannot bear that flame. Yet these may not go altogether free. See Numbers 31:23. As strangers and pilgrims we must abstain from fleshly lusts. God demands our holiness, but discriminates in the method of producing it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Numbers 31

1  The Midianites are spoiled, and Balaam slain
13  Moses is angry with the officers, for saving the women alive
19  How the soldiers, with their captives and spoil, are to be purified
25  The proportion in which the prey is to be divided
48  The voluntary offering unto the treasure of the Lord

What do the individual words in Numbers 31:46 mean?

and persons six [and] ten thousand
וְנֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֔ם שִׁשָּׁ֥ה עָשָׂ֖ר אָֽלֶף

אָדָ֔ם  persons 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
שִׁשָּׁ֥ה  six 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: שֵׁשׁ  
Sense: six.
עָשָׂ֖ר  [and]  ten 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂר 
Sense: ten, -teen (in combination with other numbers).
אָֽלֶף  thousand 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: אֶלֶף 
Sense: a thousand.

What are the major concepts related to Numbers 31:46?

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