Went forth to meet them Partly to put respect upon them, and congratulate them on their happy success; and partly to prevent the pollution of the camp by the untimely entrance of the warriors into it.
Moses was wroth with the officers Because they had spared those who were most criminal, and who, by the law of God, were worthy of death, as idolaters, and as persons who had seduced God's people to idolatry, Numbers 25:6; Numbers 25:17-18.