Bible Strands
Numbers 31:21
Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Eleazar the priest speaks to the returning soldiers, framing the upcoming purification procedures as divinely mandated protocol immediately after detailing material cleansing.
The words — The Hebrew חֹק הַתּוֹרָה (ḥoq hat-Torah) literally renders "statute of the law," functioning as a formal marker that shifts the narrative from ritual instruction to binding legal decree.
The thread — This declaration of commanded statute recurs in Numbers 30:16, where Moses similarly relays divine regulations concerning household and covenantal boundaries.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that post-victory actions and recovered resources fall under established legal order rather than military discretion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses;
Cross-references
- Numbers 30:16 These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.