And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:
Officers ... said ... there lacketh not one man of us. A victory so signal, and the glory of which was untarnished by the loss of a single Israelite soldier, was an astonishing miracle; and, so clearly betokening the direct interposition of heaven, might well awaken the liveliest feelings of grateful acknowledgment to God for the preservation of "our souls" х `al (H5921) napshiteeynuw (H5315)] - our lives (Psalms 44:2-3). The oblation they brought for the Lord 'was partly an atonement,' or reparation for their error (Numbers 31:14-16), because it could not possess any expiatory virtue, and partly a tribute of gratitude for the stupendous service rendered them. It consisted of the "spoil," which, being the acquisition of individual valour, was not divided like the "prey," or live stock, each soldier retaining it in lieu of pay. It was offered х hatªruwmaah (H8641), a heave offering; Septuagint, afairema, an oblation] by the "captains" alone, whose pious feelings were evinced by the dedication of the spoil which fell to their share.
There were jewels to the amount of 16,750 skekels, equal to 87,869 pounds sterling, 16 shillings, 5d. The large size of the earrings worn in the East would make them alone, independently of the other articles enumerated, a splendid and valuable offering. The Midianites, like the other nomadic tribes, were conspicuous for these personal ornaments (Judges 8:24). 'There is not a man in a thousand who does not wear an earring or a finger ring; for without such an ornament a person would be classed among the most unfortunate of his race' (Roberts' 'Oriental Illustrations on Numbers 31:50 '); and if, as is most probable, the Israelites attached the same importance to earrings as the people generally do in that quarter of the world, we may judge of the extent of liberality on the part of "the officers," and the fullness of their gratitude in dedicating these as votive offerings to God.
This narrative of the war on Midian has ever been a favourite subject for the attacks of infidelity;-writers of a sceptical cast dwelling in unmeasured terms of abhorrence not only on what they allege is the manifestly merciless cruelty displayed by the Israelites during that campaign, but the unreliable character of the whole story, and the gross exaggerations of some of the details. It may be expedient, therefore, to advert to their leading objections:
(1) It is asserted to be impossible that so small a territory as that of Midian, extending, according to computation, eight leagues in length and somewhat less in breadth, could contain 30,000 girls; because since that would necessitate an equal number of boys, there would be 64,000 young persons of both sexes, constituting, according to the most approved statistics, the half of the population, which would thus amount to 128,000 persons. Now, 'a country of the estimated extent of Midian must contain about 248,000 acres of land, and an acre of good ground can maintain four persons; even if we limit it to three, 43,000 acres would have been more than sufficient to maintain 128,000 Midianites. Let us add 15,000 acres, as we may suppose that the lands of Midian did not yield crops annually, and that it was necessary to leave the third part of them fallow every year; we shall then have in all but 58,000 acres employed in the support of the inhabitants. Is it inconceivable that out of 248,000 acres there should be found 58,000 of common fertility? Therefore, 32,000 girls do not necessarily imply that there were too many inhabitants for a land of this extent.'
With regard to the number of cattle, the allegations may be met in a similar strain of reply. Agricultural statists say that an acre of land can support three oxen; therefore, 24,000 acres would suffice for 72,000 oxen, and 10,170 acres for 71,000 donkeys, even supposing that a donkey eats half as much as an ox. According to the same writers, an acre of land can support twelve sheep; therefore, 58,250 acres would suffice for 675,000 sheep. Put these sums together, and you will find that 90,420 acres would be sufficient for the whole stock of cattle; and if you add to this the 58,000 acres which were reserved for the support of the inhabitants, you will perceive that the sum of 148,420 acres only was employed for the maintenance of all together. Now, was it impossible that out of 248,000 acres, of which the country of Midian consisted, there should be 148,420 that were fit for pasture or tillage? And may it not be fairly concluded from this, that it is no way incredible that this country supported so many people and cattle as Moses says, and that his account cannot appear absurd to any except to those who are unacquainted with the resources of ancient or modern agriculture? (Abbe Guenee's 'Letters to Voltaire,' 7:, vol. 1:, p. 364, English edition.)
These general arguments are confirmed by the accounts given of the actual state of nomadic tribes in the pastoral regions of the East. 'Anyone,' says Porter, 'who has had an opportunity of visiting the great Arab tribes of the Syrian desert, can see that the difficulties arising from the number of young women and cattle are purely imaginary. On one occasion I rode for two successive days in a straight line through the flocks of a section of the Anazeh tribe, and the encampment of the chief was then at a noted fountain thirty miles distant at right angles to my course; yet the country was swarming with men and women, boys and girls, looking after the cattles.'
(2) It is declared to be incredible that 12,000 warriors could have not only committed such havoc as to have destroyed every man and boy in the Midianite nation, but at the same time have captured so many female prisoners; and not only collected, but secured and taken away, such an immense amount of booty.
Now, no one can tell, because the sacred history has not recorded, the numbers of the Midianite people. But Now, no one can tell, because the sacred history has not recorded, the numbers of the Midianite people. But we know those of their assailants; and although the Israelite warriors levied are stated exactly at 1,000 from each tribe, it does not follow that they had no attendants in this expedition. If so, their case would have been exceptional to the general character of eastern armies, which have always been accompanied by a large number of sutlers and other hangers-on with the camp, whose services would undoubtedly be available in helping to carry the spoil; and besides, as the vast number of prisoners they had made consisted of young women who had been accustomed from their early years to take care of cattle, we have only to suppose that these were kept in their usual employment, to find a natural and easy solution of the difficulty involved in the collection and removal of such immense droves as are stated in the narrative.
(3) Credibility is still further taxed, it is averred, by the circumstance specially recorded, that the Israelite army lost not a single man during this expedition. But there is nothing wonderful in this, because the war originated in the command, and was carried on under the direction, of Him who is the Lord of hosts, the God of battles; and while in the retributions of His righteous providence He cut off, by the sudden and resistless stroke of a fatal pestilence, all the Israelite profligates who had participated in the licentious rites of Peor, He employed the steadfast and faithful portion of them as the executioners of His vengeance on the guilty Midianites; and against them, therefore, while directly engaged in furthering His purposes, no wisdom, device, or opposition of man could prevail (cf. Psalms 140:7; Proverbs 21:31).
(4) It is objected that the reservation of the young female prisoners, by an express order of their leader, to the captors themselves, was an infamous act-an encouragement to debauchery. But there is not only no hint that such a purpose was contemplated, but it could not be, as the law for the protection and virtuous treatment of a female war-captive was stringent, and an Israelite incurred the risk of severe penalties, if he did not fulfill all the legal conditions which were required previous to obtaining conjugal possession of her person. In the instance of the Midianite girls who had not sinned as their mothers and sisters, their preservation was just, and their being brought into the service of a people with whom they would be better educated than among their idolatrous countrymen, was a privilege and a benefit, not a misfortune.
(5) Astonishment is expressed that Yahweh is represented as encouraging slavery, by the fact of 32 persons being apportioned for His tribute. It is not true, however, that any encouragement was given to slavery under the divine law; but as that system had existed from a very early period, and was so deeply rooted in practice that it could not be as once eradicated, many wise and excellent regulations were enacted, in the Mosaic dispensation, that tended to mitigate its severity and free it from much of its inherent evil (Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7).
Thus the 32,000 young women, who were not slaves in the modern sense of the term, but war-captives from Midian, were incorporated with a nation where they enjoyed the protection of a beneficent law, while on a select portion of them was conferred the special privilege of being appointed to the service of the sanctuary.
(6) It is maintained that the record of such a horrid massacre, which was committed by God's direction, is a libel on the character of the Divine Being. It must be admitted that God, the Sovereign Creator, has a right when He sees fit to take the life which He gave; and as we find that in the actual conduct of Providence multitudes are carried off in childhood, and the innocent offspring are often involved in the punishment of their parents' crimes, nothing occurred in the slaughter of the Midianites but what commonly happens in great and widespread calamities.
But there was a special reason for the Midianite boys being involved in the fate of their fathers; and that arose from the usage of Go'elism, which has been from time immemorial established among the nomadic tribes of the East, and according to which every young Midianite who should have been spared, when he grew up to manhood, would have lain under a solemn obligation to avenge the death of his slaughtered relatives. With regard to the men and women of Midian, the one of whom encouraged, while the others executed, the infamous plan of seduction, they were both base and malignant criminals, whom 'vengeance would not suffer to live.' But that man is a superficial, inattentive reader of the Scriptures who concludes from the order, to slay "all the males," that the tribe of Midian was utterly exterminated (Judges 6:3-6: cf. Numbers 21:26, where "all the nation who, by public authority, had the impious audacity to tempt, through an artful scheme of allurement, a people chosen by God to be the guardians of true religion, into the abominations of a grossly licentious idolatry, they incurred the righteous displeasure of heaven, and were doomed to suffer in their national capacity.
The judgments of God are sent to punish the sins of mankind, sometimes directly, as by earthquakes, pestilences, etc., and at other times indirectly, as by war, which He appoints as a scourge to the nations. In either way it is the doing of the Lord;" and in all of these cases every Christian mind will believe that, whether He acts instrumentally or not, "the Judge of all the earth will do right."