Numbers 31:36

This was the half portion for those who had gone to war: 337,500 sheep,

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator records the division of war spoils following the campaign against Midian, specifying the combatants' share. This accounting occurs immediately after listing the captured livestock and people.

The words — הַמְּחֱצָה (ham-mechetsah) translates as "the half," marking the structural split of the spoils. חֵלֶק (chelek) means "portion," designating the specific allotment assigned to the soldiers.

The thread — This half-and-half division framework appears in Numbers 31:35 and 31:37, which bracket the verse by listing the captives and the sacred tribute. The numerical breakdown anchors the broader spoils distribution narrative.

Why it lands — The text requires exact tracking of material allocation after military action. It asks the reader to observe how resources are partitioned without offering ethical evaluation.

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

וַתְּהִי֙va./te.Hiand/ it was הַֽמֶּחֱצָ֔הha./me.che.Tzahthe/ half חֵ֕לֶקChe.lek[the] portion of הַיֹּצְאִ֖יםhai./yo.tze.'Imthose/ [who] had gone out בַּצָּבָ֑אba./tza.Va'in the/ army מִסְפַּ֣רmis.Par[the] number of הַצֹּ֗אןha./Tzonthe/ sheep שְׁלֹשׁ־she.losh-[was] three מֵא֥וֹתme.'othundred<s>אֶ֙לֶף֙'e.lefthousand וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםu./she.lo.Shimand/ thirty אֶ֔לֶף'E.lefthousand וְשִׁבְעַ֥תve./shiv.'Atand/ seven אֲלָפִ֖ים'a.la.Fimthousand<s>וַחֲמֵ֥שׁva./cha.Meshand/ five מֵאֽוֹת׃me.'othundred<s>

King James Version

And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep: